Water resources sustainability in a globalizing world: Who uses the water?

The planetary boundary and water footprint concepts have energized both scientific and policy circles, providing a tremendous opportunity to bring together diverse research in sustainable water resources. A major distinction between the two approaches is in their attribution of water ‘use’, which leads to inconsistencies in our understanding of the human appropriation of freshwater resources and hinders advancement towards water resources sustainability in a globalized world. To reconcile these differences, we presented a blueprint of a socio-hydrology model that could be used to explicitly track both the supply and demand flows of water resources to better understand the use of water, reconciling the planetary boundary and water footprint concepts. We hope these key socio-hydrology concepts will be incorporated into future model development efforts and help us to more clearly articulate water use and its degree of sustainability.