Opening up the Water Poverty Index : co-producing knowledge on the capacity for community water management using the Water Prosperity Index

The Water Poverty Index is a tool enabling a multisectoral description of the watersituation in an area or region. Many aspects of a society’s capacity to manage water,however, require qualitative and explorative approaches. Additionally, the perceptionsof ‘‘the water poor’’ themselves may differ substantially from expert valuationsbuilt into the Water Poverty Index. The aim of this article is to open up the WaterPoverty Index with a special focus on the capacity to manage water in a robust way.This is done through a process of participatory research and by transforming theWater Poverty Index into a Water Prosperity Index using a local community incentral India as example. By opening up the assessment process, issues empiricallyidentified by community members, researchers, and local nongovernmental organization(NGO) staff can be discussed and qualitatively assessed, resulting in animproved knowledge of the water situation and an approach for participatoryplanning