The current study is based on a rural water sustainability index (RWSI), in which tools like multicriteria decision analysis are used to simulate the future forecast of water availability. These are used to develop strategies to supply water to rural communities. The Delphi method (DM) is adopted to select subindicators for expert-based views. Subsequently, the square root judgment scale is modified to incorporate an expanded analytic hierarchy process (AHP) methodology to determine priority values. Despite the narrow range of the initial values, the proposed method effectively redistributed these scores on a final scale of 1 to 10. To use the RWSI technique and estimate water sustainability, researchers must first engage in public and expert consultation to modify the weight of indicators and subindicators. This process allows for adjustments based on the specific conditions and requirements of different countries and areas. Once these adjustments are made, the RWSI method can generate water sustainability maps for other locations as well. This method can be applied to water-stressed regions worldwide. The tool is applied to simulate the future forecast of water availability in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, India.
Dwivedi et al. (Thu,) studied this question.