From cloud to cup: rainwater harvesting as a Nature-Based Solutions for a water-secure future
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59741/agraria.v23iE1.746Keywords:
catchment, rainwater harvesting, socio-environmental resilence, urban-rural gradiente, sustainability, water managementAbstract
Increasing pressure on water supply systems, driven by urban growth, population concentration, and climate variability, calls for integrated approaches that recognize territorial heterogeneity in water resource management. In this context, the urban-rural gradient, understood as a socioecological continuum that explicitly includes the peri-urban transition, provides a framework to analyze how water availability, access, and management vary according to the intensity of urbanization. Along this gradient, Rainwater Harvesting Systems (SCALL) emerges as Nature-based Solution (NbS) capable of adapting to diverse contexts by reproducing key processes of the hydrological cycle, such as interception systems; in peri-urban areas, they function as hybrid systems that integrate formal and informal infrastructure; and in rural and indigenous contexts, they strengthen water self-sufficiency and community resilience. Based on the analysis of experiences in Mexico, this study shows that the effectiveness of rainwater harvesting is not uniform, but rather depends on its position within the urban-rural gradient and its articulation with social, institutional, and ecological processes. In this sense, rainwater harvesting is framed as an adaptable socioecological strategy, capable of contributing to more equitable, sustainable, and inclusive water management.
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