Developing an indicator-based assessment framework for assessing the sustainability of urban water management

Currently, Metropolitans throughout the globe are confronting crucial obstacles to accomplishing water management sustainability, encompassing climate change, explosive urbanization, and swelling populations. This study proposes a framework to evaluate the sustainability of urban water management (UWM), underscoring the significance of expert engagement in identifying appropriate indicators. The study adopts a novel two-step procedure for screening over 300 candidate indicators. A two-stage procedure was followed initially, underpinned by SMART criteria. In the second stage, 24 fit-to-purpose indicators were selected through the fuzzy Delphi method. The framework is subsequently finalized by categorizing the final indicators into seven categories, namely "Water Security," "Water Quality," "Drinking Water," Sanitation and Reuse, "Financial Management," "Governance," and "Risk and Disaster Management," thus facilitating better understanding and linking of UWM practices among diverse stakeholders. The paper demonstrates its application in Mashhad City as a real case. The rapid adoption of the proposed framework in Iran underscores its efficacy in facilitating stakeholders to cultivate collective commitment. This indicator-based framework can assist in identifying essential sustainability trade-offs. In addition, it can also be a practical approach for recognizing water-related priorities to achieve urban water management sustainability. The suggested framework can inspire further expansion of indicator-based frameworks for UWM.