Urban Water Markets

Why

Indore’s municipal water supply relies primarily on the Narmada River, the Yeshwant Sagar Dam, and the Bilawali water storage tank, which together provide water to just over half of the city’s population. As a result, many residents rely on alternative sources to meet their daily water needs, including in-home storage, private supply providers, and water tankers.

These supplemental options have significant implications for equitable access to water, as lower-income communities are often unable to afford them. Continued population growth, the impacts of climate change on water availability, high energy use, reliance on single water sources, and deteriorating water infrastructure further challenge the city’s ability to provide a secure and reliable water supply for all residents.

Our Approach

To support water managers in addressing increasing social and environmental pressures on Indore’s water system, ISET-International led a multi-phase process that combined stakeholder engagement, shared learning, and a vulnerability assessment to inform the development of resilience interventions.

For this project, water managers were broadly defined to include individuals, government agencies, businesses, and organizations involved in water supply and demand decision-making. The approach emphasized understanding system-wide dynamics, elevating community perspectives, and grounding technical analysis in local context.

What Services Were Provided 

ISET-International designed and facilitated a set of activities to support the vulnerability assessment and inform the development of resilience interventions for Indore’s water sector.

Services provided included:

• Shared Learning Dialogues (SLDs) with water managers, community members, and other stakeholders

• Focus groups

• Vulnerability identification and analysis

• Literature reviews

• Climate projections

Together, these activities supported a deeper understanding of Indore’s water system, surfaced social and institutional dynamics affecting water access, and informed the development of strategies and tools to support water managers in planning for long-term water security.

Impact & Outcomes

The project provided water managers, community members, and stakeholders with a deeper understanding of the social, institutional, and environmental factors shaping Indore’s water system.

Key outcomes of the project included:

• Shared knowledge and understanding of vulnerabilities, impacts, and potential interventions developed through collaborative learning and engagement

• The development of a resilience strategy outlining potential actions to address identified water sector vulnerabilities

• Practical strategies and tools designed to support water managers in navigating increasing water insecurity, climate impacts, and population growth

• Inclusion of community perspectives in the assessment and strategy development process, elevating equity considerations within water-sector planning

Together, these outcomes supported more informed decision-making and created a foundation for addressing long-term water security challenges in Indore.