We rely on access to water for so many important aspects of everyday life, for example: domestic water, food production, industrial production, transport, recreation, maintaining ecosystems, to name just a few. With increasing pressures on our water supplies from growing populations, climate changes and other factors, we need to continue to improve management of this precious resource if it is to remain a benefit to society. Good water management requires a sound knowledge of how much is present under different seasonal conditions, as well as how we use it and the consequences of this use, or potential overuse. Quantifying the highs and lows of the natural variability of water around us traditionally requires many decades of measurements to provide enough information to predict future availability. Unfortunately, this depth of water knowledge is not available for much of the world, and with our increasingly globalised societies this has consequences for all of us. Fortunately, improving international cooperation and a growing focus of water science on the global scale means that there are many recent developments that could be used to address this water knowledge gap. Scientists are developing increasingly accurate computer models of the global water cycle and proliferating satellites are measuring water from space in ever more detail. However, many people with a role in water management are not trained experts in either computer models or satellite data, limiting the value of this new data to everyday water challenges. This project will take the best data available from these exciting new science outputs, test it and make it available to all in an easy to use, online web map platform that will provide important water information anywhere in the world. Potential users of the platform will be involved at every stage of its development, ensuring it is directly useful and understandable. The easy to use platform will allow any user to get an independent, local estimate, of the range of water availability in their locality and help them understand the implications of the use of water as a resource, whether that is for irrigating crops, water for domestic supply or any other use. The project will also test the outputs of the platform for the Breede region of South Africa, where multiple, sometimes competing uses, of local water resources presents a challenge for fair access. An existing water stewardship project in the area, run by WWF-SA, has mobilised people and organisations with a direct interest in the fair management of water and they will be engaged in the local testing and improvement of the platform. The platform will be developed jointly by water@leeds scientists from the University of Leeds and the Earthwatch Institute, an international environmental charity with a track record of citizen involvement in global water science and the development of online platforms. Local South African expertise in water will be provided by Rhodes University, ensuring local relevance in the testing of the platform. The project will be guided by a number of key partners, WWF, Marks and Spencer, SSBN Ltd., as well as Richard Carter and Associates. The breadth of partners and their networks will ensure that a wide range of water issues will be represented, including; water risks to global food supply chains, environmental needs, and community water supply.

A reliable and acceptable quantity and quality of water, and managing water-related risks for all is considered by the United Nations to be "the critical determinant of success in achieving most other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)". Water is essential for human life, but also necessary for food and energy security, health and well-being, and prosperous economies. However, some 80% of the world's population live in areas with threats to water security; the impacts of which cost $500bn a year. Progress in meeting SDG6 (Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all), has been slow and in May 2018 the United Nations reported that "The world is not on track to achieve SDG6". Improvements that increase access to water or sanitation are undone by pollution, extreme weather, urbanization, over-abstraction of groundwater, land degradation etc. This is caused by significant barriers that include: (1) Insufficient data to understand social, cultural, environmental, hydrological processes; (2) Existing service delivery / business models are not fit for purpose - costs are too high, and poor understanding of local priorities leads to inappropriate investments; (3) Water governance is fragmented and communities are engage with, and take responsibility for, water security; (4) Pathways to water security are not adaptable and appropriate to local context and values. These barriers are inherently systemic, and will require a significant international and interdisciplinary endeavour. The GCRF Water Security and Sustainable Development Hub brings together leading researchers from Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Malaysia and the UK. Each international partner will host a Water Collaboratory (collaboration laboratories) which will provide a participatory process, open to all stakeholders, to jointly question, discuss, and construct new ideas to resolve water security issues. Through developing and demonstrating a systems and capacity building approach to better understand water systems; value all aspects of water; and strengthen water governance we will unlock systemic barriers to achieving water security in practice.