Water is affecting many aspects of human life, either in good or bad way. Water supports human life and become source of growth but water also takes away a lot of life which causes poverty. Water security itself means the capacity of population to harvest the benefits of water for human's life and environment and to protect themselves from water-related hazards at the same time(1,2).
Many developed countries which have invested earlier in both water infrastructure and institutions have achieved their water security status. As a result, they are able to harness the supportive side of water for economic growth. On the other hand, water investment in developing countries has not been able to fulfill basic requirements in the protection and access to water(3). Global change puts additional pressure for countries in achieving water security due to increasing uncertainties and frequency and magnitude of extreme events. Increasing population, change of life style due to economic development, and declining of water quality and quantity reduce the access to supportive side of water.
Government also plays central role in the early investment in achieving basic water security through its fiscal resources. Before achieving water security, public investment in water security will not significantly improve the economic growth of a country and therefore politically become unpopular. In addition to this, threats from global change will likely give adverse effects and shocks on economy unless these threats are not properly addressed in water investment. Analysis using decision support system in hydro-economic may help these governments to manage their investment strategically taking into account the associated risk of global change. Thus, this paper will review the existing hydro-economic models and their potential contribution in supporting decision in water investment related to water security concept. (C) 2015 Published by Elsevier B.V.