Assessment of water poverty in rural communities of Ilam province: applying the water poverty index to socio-economic and environmental constraints

Graphical abstract illustrating the water poverty index framework applied to rural communities in Ilam Province, Iran. The figure presents the five WPI components - resources, access, use, environment, and capacity - alongside key findings related to disparities in water access, water-use intensity, environmental conditions, and policy recommendations for improving rural water security. This study evaluates water poverty across rural communities in Ilam Province, Iran, using the water poverty index (WPI) to examine socioeconomic and environmental constraints affecting water security. Data from 251 villages across 12 counties were collected through stratified random sampling and aggregated to compute WPI component scores for resources, access, use, environment, and capacity. Multiple weighting schemes were applied to assess robustness. Results reveal substantial geographic variation across rural districts. Accessibility scores were consistently low (mean = 10.88), while water use (mean = 20.10) and resource availability (mean = 16.19) showed the greatest variability. Some districts exhibited extremely high water-use intensity (>60), indicating localized resource pressure, whereas others showed critically low utilization (<2), reflecting structural constraints. Environmental conditions also varied considerably. Overall, access and capacity were the weakest components, highlighting significant infrastructural and socioeconomic limitations. Despite these disparities, the aggregated WPI value (74.52) falls within the ‘low water poverty’ category under the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology classification. Findings indicate pronounced intra-provincial inequalities and emphasize the need to improve water access and strengthen local adaptive capacity to support equitable rural water security.