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Human livelihood requires reliable water supply and protection from water-related hazards. Significant growth in population and anthropogenic activities along with unfolding effects of global environmental change have enormously increased the vulnerability of human systems to changes in water quantity and/or quality. Addressing such vulnerabilities has high management priority in urban regions due to the concertation of population and socio-economic activities. This has resulted into emerging various discussions around the concept of “urban water security”. Here we provide a brief overview on the water-related threats to human society and the context of water security, with a greater goal of recognizing operational and social challenges along with science needs in urban environments.