Theory 89/Society & governance/Water scarcity
Scarcity Is Withdrawal Against Availability
The claim
Water scarcity is set by the ratio of withdrawal to renewable availability, and the thresholds used to define stress are policy choices rather than physical ones.
01Mechanism
The ratio measures pressure on supply; the threshold encodes acceptable risk.
02Prediction
Stress classification should track the ratio.
03Refutation
Scarcity tracking absolute withdrawal would remove availability.