Different countries face significant challenges in managing water-related natural hazards, such as floods and shortages, while ensuring adequate water quality and quantity to satisfy human needs and preserve ecosystems. Climate change projections exacerbate this situation by intensifying the hydrological cycle, resulting in substantial changes in precipitation patterns, evapotranspiration, and groundwater storage. This study reviews water security challenges across 43 countries, drawing on 128 articles obtained from databases including EBSCOHOST, Scopus and ResearchGate, as well as specific journals. Key search terms included “water security”, “water security and climate change”, “water scarcity”, “water risk index”, “water balance”, “water assessment”, and “land use and land cover change”. The analysis reveals the main water security issues present in 43 countries (flash floods, drought and water quality), and the response measures identified these challenges to water security. All the countries studied face one or more critical water-related effects. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, and Mexico were identified as the most severely affected, dealing with a combination of water scarcity, flooding, and water pollution. The most suggested strategies for improving water security include sustainable urban planning, improving consumption efficiency, strategic land-use planning, applying technologies to predict availability of water resources and planning according to variations in resource availability over time. In addition, other general actions include enhancing water storage infrastructure, improving consumption efficiency and adopting sustainable urban planning.

La cuenca del río Yuna, una de las más importantes de la República Dominicana, enfrenta una presión creciente derivada de descargas residuales domésticas, acumulación de residuos sólidos, actividades agrícolas e industriales y asentamientos humanos próximos a los cauces. Este estudio tuvo como objetivo describir la percepción comunitaria y las evidencias exploratorias de contaminación en seis ríos de la cuenca: Masipedro, Yuboa, Yuna, Camú, Jaya y Guzmán. Se aplicó un diseño no experimental, exploratorio y de enfoque cualitativo, basado en recorridos de campo, registros fotográficos y aéreos mediante dron, así como entrevistas semiestructuradas a líderes comunitarios y pobladores ribereños. Los resultados muestran un gradiente de deterioro ambiental y socialmente percibido: mientras que el río Masipedro conserva buena calidad y usos recreativos, el Yuboa refleja abandono por contaminación, el Yuna y el Camú presentan escenarios de ambivalencia con persistencia de usos pese a riesgos reconocidos, y los ríos Jaya y Guzmán son percibidos como inutilizables, descritos por los comunitarios como “estado de emergencia” y “cloaca a cielo abierto”, respectivamente. La contradicción observada en el Jaya, donde se identificaron personas bañándose y pescando a pesar de su estado crítico, evidencia procesos de normalización del riesgo. En conclusión, la percepción comunitaria constituye un insumo válido para el diagnóstico ambiental en fases exploratorias y la integración de observación directa con testimonios sociales permite construir una línea base indispensable para la planificación de futuras investigaciones físico-químicas y microbiológicas, así como para el diseño de programas de saneamiento y educación ambiental en la cuenca del Yuna.

Assessing water security requires integrated approaches capable of capturing its multiple dimensions, methodological perspectives, and spatial dependencies. This scoping review examines 170 publications from 2015 to 2026 to identify global trends in water security research, focusing on conceptual dimensions, indicators, methodological approaches, and spatial-scale dependency. Based on the reviewed literature and major international frameworks, water security was organized into five interconnected dimensions: availability and access, water quality, risk management and resilience, governance and ecosystems and sustainability. Results reveal a strong predominance of watershed-scale assessments, particularly for dimensions associated with biophysical and ecological processes. Methodologically, studies were grouped into six categories, with hydrological models dominating (64%), followed by statistical and climate trend analyses (11%), water security indices (8%), risk and scenario assessments (7%), socioeconomic models (6%), and ecological approaches (4%). Methodological selection showed scale dependency: hydrological models were strongly associated with watershed assessments; statistical and climate analyses and composite indexes were more transferable across scales; risk and scenario approaches gained prominence at broader scales; and socioeconomic models shifted from local stakeholder interactions toward macroeconomic dynamics. Several indicators, including water demand, water pressure, runoff, land-use change, and ecological flows, exhibited cross-dimensional linkages. Despite the multidimensional conceptualization of water security, governance and particularly ecosystems and sustainability remained comparatively underrepresented. These findings highlight the need for more integrated, coupled, and scale-sensitive methodologies capable of linking hydrological processes with socioeconomic dynamics, governance, ecosystem functioning, climate uncertainty, and compound risks to support adaptive and sustainable water management.

The intensive use of pesticides in agriculture has generated significant ecological impacts, particularly in rice ecosystems, where soil biodiversity plays an essential role in the stability and productivity of agroecosystems. This study presents a systematic review of the evidence regarding the ef fects of pesticides on soil biodiversity in rice cultivation systems. The impacts on microorganisms, earthworms, and nematodes were evaluated, together with reported sustainable mitigation strategies. The review was conducted following the PRISMA methodology and included 43 studies published between 2011 and February 2025 from Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. The results revealed that the recurrent use of pesticides such as chlorpyrifos, DDT, and glyphosate significantly altered the abundance, diversity, and ecological functions of soil organisms, thereby af fecting soil fertility, structure, and health. These ef fects were more pronounced in tropical regions, where climatic conditions and agricultural practices increase the persistence and toxicity of these compounds. Mitigation strategies identified included bioremediation, crop rotation, composting, integrated pest management, and the use of biofertilizers. The review also highlights the emerging role of stricter regulatory frameworks and agroecological approaches as viable alternatives. Overall, the findings underscore the urgent need to adopt sustainable agricultural practices that protect soil biodiversity and enhance the resilience of agricultural production systems.