A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Water Engineering and Management

Thesis (M. Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2023

Water sustainability is a major environmental issue that is worsening due to increasing population, pollution, urbanization, and climate change. Even though community is an appropriate scale to manage key water issues, 30 to 40 percent of community-managed water systems around the world are failing considerably more quickly than they ought to. The difficulty in resolving this issue lies in establishing methods to define and quantify a community{u2019}s water system's potential for sustainability. Based on 2You can{u2019}t manage what you can{u2019}t measure3 concept, this study developed a sustainability assessment and strategic frameworks at community scale to assess the water supply system and enhance its sustainability. The assessment framework includes dimensions, indicators, and variables that convene into a Water Sustainability Index (WSI). Similarly, the strategic framework consists of dimensions, goals, and strategies. These frameworks relied on three specific dimensions, efficiency, resiliency, and community supports. Those were supported by thirteen indicators that in turn, measured using diverse variables. The identification of indicators/goals and variables were based on SMART concept which has been used by many water-related frameworks. While the dimensions and indicators/goals are to remain consistent regardless of study areas, variables and strategies should be site-specific and their selection needs to be based on each community{u2019}s situations and data availability. These frameworks suggested that the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) has achieved fair water sustainability status, but its efficiency aspect was reported to be poor and need urgent improvement. Overall, the findings of this study have the potential to aid policymakers in assessing the situation as it is and in identifying issues and areas that need to be addressed and help authorities{u2019} diagnosis solutions to move up the water sustainability ladder, ergo, closing the lacuna between knowledge generation and policy implications in terms of managing the community water supply system sustainably.