Abstract
Effective water management and policy play a critical role in shaping society’s evolving relationship with water. Yet, the growing impacts of water-related risks worldwide show that many responses remain ineffective, often leading to unintended consequences that undermine stated policy objectives. These contradictions—referred to in the literature as water paradoxes—occur when well-intentioned efforts to manage water backfire. This Review argues that researchers should better characterize these paradoxes, and practitioners must integrate them in decision-making processes and economic evaluations of water policy. Four key paradoxes are examined: value, supply, efficiency and data. For each, relevant examples are highlighted, policy implications are explored and potential approaches for addressing them are suggested. Water management and policy should focus on addressing these paradoxes, rather than pursuing grand visions and missions detached from context.
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Acknowledgements
E.B. was supported by 4000133905/21/I-EF (EO AFRICA R&D Facility), project G918315; RCUK | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) – EP/X525686/1; and the INT/UCam Early Career Support Scheme (award no. G122390). Feedback on earlier versions of this work, from C. Rulli, D. D. Chiarelli, M. Giuliani, M. Muller and participants at the 2025 Tony Allan Workshop and 2025 PRIMA NEXUS-NESS Project Final Conference, is gratefully acknowledged. All views expressed in this paper belong to the author.
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Borgomeo, E. The paradoxes holding back progress on water security.
Nat Water (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-026-00598-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-026-00598-w
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