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Environmental information systems
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Objective(s)
Aqueduct's Water Risk Atlas (a) identifies and maps open-source, globally comparable information on water risks like floods, droughts and water stress, (b) allows users to identify and prioritize locations facing the highest physical (water quantity and quality), regulatory, and reputational water risks, and (c) advances best practices in water-resource management to ensure sustainable growth in a water-constrained world.
Short description
Aqueduct's Water Risk Atlas provides catchment-level information on water-related risks and enables users to assess their exposure to water risk across multiple locations. The Atlas uses a robust, peer reviewed methodology and the best-available data to create high-resolution, customizable global maps of water risk. It is part of the Aqueduct Platform, a data platform run by the World Resources Institute (WRI).
Free keywords
water-related risks, maps, global, risk data
Readiness for use
Applications
Aqueduct’s tools and data have been used for years by companies, country, state, and local government officials; academics and students; and water sector practitioners. To read examples of how organizations use Aqueduct, please visit the "https://www.wri.org/aqueduct/user-stories" User Stories page.
Strengths and weaknesses, comparative added value to other similar tools
Strengths:
(+) Aqueduct is useful for comparing risks across large geographies because it uses globally consistent data and methods.
(+) Its strengths are in screening and prioritizing water risks.
Weaknesses:
(-) Aqueduct has limited applicability at the local level. Users are encouraged to supplement Aqueduct data with local water risk data for identified priority locations.
(-) Additionally, Aqueduct’s hydrological model does not consider inter-basin transfers of water or non-renewable resources like fossil groundwater, and the water stress indicator does not explicitly take into account environmental flow requirements.
For a full list of limitations, please consult the Aqueduct 4.0 technical note.
Integration:
Aqueduct’s risk indicators can be integrated with indicators from other tools, such as WWF’s Biodiversity Risk Filter.
Input(s)
For the regional level, the users can readily use the tool.
If the users want to use the tool for the local scale they need to upload addresses or coordinates of their locations if they would like to compare risks across specific sites.
Output(s)
The tool generates maps with selected water risk indicators at the HydroSHEDS 6 catchment level. Users can visualise their locations overlayed with selected water risks, can download the datadata as tables (CSV) and geospatial formats.
Screenshot of map of Europe with the indicator ‘water depletion’ in a future scenario.
Replicability: Cost/effort for (new) usage
None. The tool provides global data across all regions with available data sources.
The Aqueduct team can explore developing a localized model for a specific region. Costs will vary.
Materials or other support available
Aqueduct 4.0 technical note
Aqueduct 4.0 data dictionary and FAQ
The Aqueduct team also responds to user inquiries submitted via its user request form.
Website and maintenance
As URL on website:
https://www.wri.org/applications/aqueduct/water-risk-atlas/
The tool is currently available and last updated in August 2023. It is updated roughly every 4-5 years. The latest iteration of Aqueduct, Aqueduct 4.0, includes more granular data, higher resolution, new indicators, improved tool function and access to underlying hydrological models.
Contact
For any difficulties with using the tool, the website offers a form to fill out:
https://form.asana.com/?k=QWAlk9irSkhMNvxJqyFyEw&d=25496124013636 and specifies:
The Aqueduct team also works one-on-one with companies through the Aqueduct Alliance and Corporate Water Stewardship projects to create tailored risk assessments, studies, and more. For more information on working with WRI in this capacity, please contact Shivani Lakshman, Research Analyst, Corporate Water Stewardship.
Associated project(s)
The Aqueduct Global Water Risk Atlas is part of a suite of tools: in total there are 4 tools, the others are: Aqueduct Food, Aqueduct Floods and Aqueduct Country Rankings, all can be found:
https://www.wri.org/aqueduct/toolsAqueduct
Global, national, and regional (at the HydroSHEDS 6 catchment level)
Geographical area
All, if there is data (depending on the indicator selected). Especially groundwater table decline (in the baseline scenario) does not have data for all of Europe.
Droughts, Flooding, Water scarcity, sea level rise (as coastal flooding indicator)
no-sector specific, but results are water (freshwater and coastal) risks, water management
Aqueduct’s tools and data are used by companies; country, state, and local government officials; academics and students; and water sector practitioners. Some examples of how organizations use Aqueduct were published by WRI: https://www.wri.org/aqueduct/user-stories.
The private sector is Aqueduct’s primary user base. Companies often use the Water Risk Atlas to conduct operational and value chain risk assessments and prioritize sites to set water stewardship targets and strategies. In addition to its data offerings, WRI also convenes the Aqueduct Alliance, which brings together leading companies, governments and foundations to gain strategic guidance and industry insight from the Aqueduct team and water stewardship activities.
The tool is self-explanatory and has a good user interface.
To use the tool to compare risks across specific locations, users will need to input addresses or coordinates of their sites.
To understand the indicators, data sources, modelling bias and specific assumptions in the tool, the users can consult the Aqueduct 4.0 technical note.
Disclaimer
The contents and links to third-party items on this Mission webpage are developed by the MIP4Adapt team led by Ricardo, under contract CINEA/2022/OP/0013/SI2.884597 funded by the European Union and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union, CINEA, or those of the European Environment Agency (EEA) as host of the Climate-ADAPT Platform. Neither the European Union nor CINEA nor the EEA accepts responsibility or liability arising out of or in connection with the information on these pages.
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Exclusion of liability
This translation is generated by eTranslation, a machine translation tool provided by the European Commission.