Abstract: This study introduces a water poverty index for evaluation of urban water security with
consideration of all the security factors. We distinguished external and internal security factors and analyzed
this new index and all the other indexes for an evaluation under the existing urban conditions in China, and
then adjusted these indexes to new values suitable for the conditions. To establish a corresponding
evaluation index system of 20 sub-indexes, selected were five subsystems: water resource status, utilization
capacity, utilization efficiency, water supply facilities, and ecological environment. Application to 14 cities
in Gansu province shows that this model and the index system can well reflect the water security factors and
their behaviors. With this approach, water security grade was determined for certain cities using its urban
water classification model. The system would provide a basis to development of early warning mechanisms
of urban water security.