Water scarcity: regional analyses in the Czech Republic from 2014 to 2018

Abstract

Research background: Water is a scarce natural resource essential for life and also many economic activities. Scarcity of drinking water is a problem that is ad-dressed at national and international levels. Global water demand continues to rise, but the quantity and quality of water resources is declining in many regions. Recent surveys of the population of the Czech Republic show that the most serious global problems are waste accumulation, water pollution, lack of drinking water and air pollution. Average temperatures continue to rise across Europe due to climate change and water is expected to become increasingly scarce in many areas. An adequate supply of good-quality water is a pre-requisite for economic and social development, and thus it is necessary to learn to save water and better manage our available resources in this area. Purpose of the article: The purpose of this study was to investigate to what degree environmental problems — especially the issue of drinking water scarcity — have been evaluated in the Czech Republic from 2014 to 2018 and whether the fear of a lack of drinking water has motivated water conservation. Methods: A regional analysis of water availability in the Czech Republic and the possible causes of water scarcity has been carried out. Subsequently, selected socio-economic factors that could have an impact on the assessment of drinking water scarcity are analyzed using Gamma and Kendall's Tau and logistic regression. The analyzed time period is from 2014 to 2018. Microdata was taken from the Centre for Research of Public Opinion, and selected regional-level statistics from the Czech Statistical Office have been added to this data to supplement it. Findings & Value added: The perception of drinking water shortages is not only influenced by indicators representing the volume and price of water in each region, but can also be determined by other socio-economic factors such as income, gender, age and education.