Why was AWRVI developed?

• No index exists to assess resilience and vulnerability of people in the Arctic to changes in water resources.
• Freshwater is critical to the sustainability of humans in the Arctic.
• People face uncertainty in their day-to-day lives due to environmental changes.
• The need for communities to determine their vulnerability to changes in freshwater resources is becoming more urgent.
• The Arctic presents a challenging set of factors: very remote communities with poorly developed infrastructure and high energy costs, a rapidly changing climate, and an often limited abundance of liquid water much of the year.

What is AWRVI?

• A composite water index to evaluate the well-being of Arctic communities with respect to fresh water.
• It integrates a range of existing and community-specific water-related data and information into a series of indicators to give an overall score.
• It provides a holistic profile of a community’s key water issues, allowing for intra-community and inter-community comparison and analysis.
• A community can use it to identify where strengths and weaknesses exist in water management.

 

Why use AWRVI?

• Water is one of our most critical resources.
• Being able to see the ‘big picture’ of the water that communities rely on is important to making good decisions.
• It provides a framework to map and assess water resources, use values and potential vulnerabilities under certain conditions.

 

How do I access AWRVI?

• AWRVI will be available on http://ram.uaa.alaska.edu.
• You can also call and request it be e-mailed or a hardcopy sent to you (see contact information below).

 

Who developed AWRVI?

• Researchers from the Resilience and Adaptive Management Group, the Water and Environmental Research Center, the Institute of Northern Engineering, and the International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska.
• The Center for the Study of Complex Systems, University of New Hampshire.
• Alaska Science Center, The U.S. Geological Survey.
• The developers come from diverse cultural backgrounds, including small, resource-dependent communities.