1. Indicator

(a)     Name: Intensity of water use

(b)     Brief Definition: Total annual gross abstraction for different economic and human uss: public water supply, industry, agriculture, energy, etc., in relation to renewable fresh water resources.

(c)          Unit of Measurement: millions of m3/year.

(d)         Placement in the CSD Indicator Set:  The indicator is part of the set of indicators of consumption and production patterns.  It is not included in the general CSD indicator set.  

2. Policy Relevance

(a)          Purpose: This indicator measures the overall pressure on the fresh water resources, providing the proportion of water abstracted for all the economic sectors in relation to water resources. It gives an indication of the vulnerability of a country to water shortages and assesses the need for supply /demand adjustments in water management policies.  

(b)        Relevance to Sustainable/Unsustainable Development: Water is a resource essential to life. A sustainable use of water has to ensure:

- a balance between abstraction and natural rate of recharge, in the long-term

- a high level of environmental protection and a secure supply of high quality water for human consumption and economic purposes.

In many areas, groundwater abstraction exceeds recharging rates and the aquifer becomes overexploited. The consequent depletion of underground water resources can have a negative impact on biodiversity and the concerned aquatic ecosystems. At the same time, an unsustainable use of water undermines the basis for further economic development.

Water demand varies considerably between regions, depending on natural conditions, economic and demographic structures.

Water use for industry and domestic consumption are considerably higher in the developed countries than in the developing ones.

In developing countries, water use for agriculture is the main consuming sector and water consumption for domestic purposes is increasing, particularly in newly urbanised agglomerations.  

(c)        International Conventions and Agreements: Several international fora and conferences have outlined, also in the form of conventions and agreements, the main principles and guidelines on the sustainable use of water resources.

Inter alia, it’s worthwhile to mention: the ‘United Nations Water Conference’ (Mar del Plata, 1977), the ‘Declaration of New Delhi’ (1990, the ‘International Conference on Water and the Environment’(Dublin, 1992), the ‘Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes’

( Helsinki 1992).

At European Union level., several Directives and Regulations deal with water management issues and a new overall ‘Water Framework Directive’ will be soon approved .  

(d)     International Targets / Recommended Standards: no specific international targets have been established.

However, it is widely recognized the need for sound water management policies. The UN ‘Comprehensive Assessment’ distinguishes four categories of water stress (measured as the ratio of water abstracted to water availability on an annual basis):

-         low -- use of less than 10 per cent of available fresh water. In general, there is no major stress on available resources.

-          moderate -- use in the range of 10-20 per cent of available water. Availability is generally becoming a limiting factor, and significant effort and investments are needed to increase supply and reduce demand.

-         medium-high -- water withdrawals are in the range of 20-40 per cent, and management of both supply and demand are required to ensure that use is sustainable. There is increasingly a need to resolve competing human uses, and to ensure that aquatic ecosystems have adequate water flows.

-         high -- use of more than 40 per cent of available water . Serious scarcity is indicated, usually accompanied by an increasing dependence on desalination and use of groundwater faster than replenished. There is an urgent need for intensive management of supply and demand. Water scarcity becomes a limiting factor to economic growth.

§         The “Water Framework Directive” of the European Union defines the sustainable limit for abstraction as the minimum water flow conditions for surface waters and good quantitative status for groundwater.  

(e)     Linkages to Other Indicators: Water consumption per capita, Ground-water abstraction for agricultural and industrial purposes, Water use per household, per cent of population with access to adequate water supply.  

3. Methodological Description

(a)        Underlying Definitions and Concepts: The following definitions are used in the joint ‘OECD/ Eurostat Questionnaire on Inland Waters’:

“Abstraction of fresh water is the water removed from any source, either permanently or temporarily. Mine water and drainage water are included. Water abstractions from groundwater resources in any given time period are defined as the difference between the total amount of water withdrawn from aquifers and the total amount charged artificially or injected into aquifers. The amounts of water artificially charged or injected are attributed to abstractions from that water resource from which they were originally withdrawn”.

“Renewable fresh water resources can be defined as the total quantity of fresh water available for use in a country, over a period of one year or on long term average, as the net result of precipitation minus evapotranspiration plus annual inflow by rivers and underground flow into a country”.  

(b)        Measurement Methods: The indicator expresses the fresh water abstracted as a percentage of renewable water resources within a country.  Water abstraction can be measured (or estimated) through meters connected to water distribution networks, local surveys or sample surveys. Data is available from water authorities, water supply utilities or records kept by water supply development organizations.

Estimates of groundwater abstraction, which is most often subject to the delivery of a permit, are provided by users to the authority in charge of water management. These authorities also have their own estimates of the quantities withdrawn.

Water abstraction is measured in millions of m3 per year.  

Fresh water resources are estimated by countries from data on pluviometry, evapotranspiration, river flow data, and estimates concerning ground water reserves. Fresh water resources are measured in millions of m3 per year and/or on long term average.  

(c)        Limitation of the Indicator: This indicator -expressed as a percentage of total abstraction- does not provide the intensity of water use differentiated by source or economic sectors. The seasonal variations in water abstraction are also not considered. Therefore, it would be useful to add disaggregated figures for surface water and ground water as well as with a relevant sectoral breakdown. In addition, this indicator would likewise benefit from disaggregated calculations at regional/local level (regional water balances).

It has to be also underlined that:

* the use of long term average resources does not allow to assess annual evolution (and therefore to identify periodic droughts of major importance for a sustainable water management),

* there are problems of comparability among countries due to different calculation methods used to estimate fresh water resources,

* the direct abstraction (self-supply) figures by industry and agriculture are difficult to estimate.

An overall improvement of quantity and quality of the water data -both for abstraction and resources- is strongly needed in order to get a reliable overview of water intensity per country and regions.  

(d)        Status of the Methodology:  

(e)        Alternative Definitions / Indicators:

Total gross water abstraction from groundwater resources, Water abstracted for agriculture and industry from renewable fresh water resources.  

4. Assessment of Data

(a)          Data Needed to Compile the Indicator: 

            Fresh water abstraction

            Renewable water resources  

(b)        National and International Data Availability: Several international sources provide data on water resources and water abstraction: UNEP, The World Bank, FAO, WRI, OECD, EEA, Eurostat (EU15+Phare countries).

At national level, data is collected through National Statistical Institutes, Ministries of Environment and others.

Data for total abstraction is mostly available aggregated by public water supply, manufacturing industry, irrigation, and production of electricity. The data availability with a more detailed sectoral breakdown (NACE/ISIC nomenclature) is very limited.

Estimation of water resources is possible only on the long-term annual average, due to important gaps on annual data. There is the need for harmonized definitions and calculations methods over Europe and at international level.  

(c)     Data References:   

Several publications focused on environmental and water related issues and statistics are available from the following institutions:

-         UNEP: UN Environmental Programme, Nairobi (GEMS, GRID),

-         FAO, Food and Agricultural Organisation, Rome

-         World Bank (specialised UN agency), Washington D.C.

-         WRI, World resources institute, Washington D.C.

-         OECD, Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris

-         EEA, European Environmental Agency, Copenhagen

-     Eurostat, Statistical office of the European Union, Luxembourg  

5. Agencies Involved in the Development of the Indicator

Lead Agency:   Eurostat (the Statistical Office of the European Communities). The contact point is Mr. Mario Ronconi ( e-mail: mario.ronconi@eurostat.cec.be; tel. 0035 2 4301 35532, fax  0035 2 4301 37316) 

6. References

(a)                Readings:  

(b)               Internet sites:  

OECD:  http://www.oecd.org

UNEP: http://www.unep.org

FAO: http://www.fao.org

World Bank: http://www.worldbank.org

WRI: http://www.wri.org