Water risk present measures the overall water risk by aggregating all selected indicators from the three macro-categories of the WRI Aqueduct framework: Physical Risks — Quantity, Physical Risks — Quality, and Regulatory and Reputational Risks. Higher values indicate greater water risk: areas with high water stress, elevated flood or drought probability, and unfavourable regulatory contexts receive worse scores.
Water risk is one of the main environmental vulnerability factors for ecosystems and human activities: freshwater scarcity, seasonal variability, and qualitative pressures have direct impacts on biodiversity, agricultural production, and the resilience of natural habitats. The KPI is inverted: lower values indicate better water conditions.
Data come from the WRI Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas (Hofste et al., 2019), the global reference dataset for water risk assessment. For each study polygon, the following 19 indicators are extracted and aggregated across three categories:
Physical Risks — Quantity:
| Indicator | Unit | Range | Inverted |
|---|---|---|---|
awr_overall_water_risk | — | [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5] | Yes |
awr_physical_risks_quantity | — | [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5] | Yes |
awr_water_stress | % | [0, 10, 20, 40, 80, 100] | Yes |
awr_water_depletion | % | [0, 5, 25, 50, 75, 100] | Yes |
awr_interannual_variability | — | [0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 2] | Yes |
awr_seasonal_variability | — | [0, 0.33, 0.66, 1, 1.33, 2] | Yes |
awr_groundwater_table_decline | cm/y | [-1, 0, 1, 4, 6, 10] | Yes |
awr_riverine_flood_risk | % | [0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.6, 1, 100] | Yes |
awr_coastal_flood_risk | % | [0, 0.0009, 0.007, 0.03, 0.2, 100] | Yes |
awr_drought_risk | — | [0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1] | Yes |
awr_water_supply | cm | [0, 3, 20, 60, 500, 1000] | No |
awr_water_demand | cm | [0, 1, 3, 10, 30, 100] | Yes |
Physical Risks — Quality:
| Indicator | Unit | Range | Inverted |
|---|---|---|---|
awr_physical_risks_quality | — | [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5] | Yes |
awr_untreated_connected_wastewater | % | [0, 30, 60, 90, 99, 100] | Yes |
awr_coastal_eutrophication_potential | % | [-10, -5, 0, 1, 5, 10] | Yes |
Regulatory and Reputational Risks:
| Indicator | Unit | Range | Inverted |
|---|---|---|---|
awr_regulatory_and_reputational_risk | — | [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5] | Yes |
awr_unimproved_no_drinking_water | % | [0, 2.5, 5, 10, 20, 100] | Yes |
awr_unimproved_no_sanitation | % | [0, 2.5, 5, 10, 20, 100] | Yes |
awr_peak_reprisk_country_esg_risk_index | % | [0, 25, 50, 60, 75, 100] | Yes |
Note: awr_water_supply is the only non-inverted indicator (higher water supply = better conditions).
For each area, values are normalised over their respective ranges and aggregated into a composite index. The primary indicator awr_overall_water_risk summarises overall risk on a [0–5] scale.
| Code | Name | Provider | Resolution | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
WRD_AQDCT_99 | Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas | WRI (World Resources Institute) | variable | global, current |
| Indicator | Unit | Range | Inverted |
|---|---|---|---|
awr_overall_water_risk | — | [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5] | Yes |
awr_water_stress | % | [0, 10, 20, 40, 80, 100] | Yes |
awr_water_depletion | % | [0, 5, 25, 50, 75, 100] | Yes |
awr_drought_risk | — | [0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1] | Yes |
awr_water_supply | cm | [0, 3, 20, 60, 500, 1000] | No |
Inverted = Yes: a lower value indicates lower water risk and better conditions. Inverted = No (awr_water_supply only): higher water supply = better situation.
| Level | Risk | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| A (Excellent) | Very low | Abundant water resources, low variability, no regulatory pressure |
| B (Good) | Low | Favourable water conditions with slight seasonal pressures |
| C (Moderate) | Medium | Moderate water pressures; management required |
| D (Poor) | High | High water stress, significant flood or drought risk |
| E (Critical) | Very high | Water crisis; multiple quantitative, qualitative, and regulatory pressures |
awr_overall_water_risk is a composite index already aggregated by WRI; other indicators provide per-category detailawr_water_supply is inverted relative to all others: high values are positive (greater water availability)awr_coastal_eutrophication_potential indicator can take negative values (nutrient sinks)awr_overall_water_risk
awr_physical_risks_quantity
awr_physical_risks_quality
awr_regulatory_and_reputational_risk
awr_water_stress
(%)awr_water_depletion
(%)awr_drought_risk
awr_water_supply
(cm)awr_water_demand
(cm)Data from WRI Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas (WRD_AQDCT_99). Aggregation of 19 indicators across three macro-categories: Physical Risks — Quantity (water stress, depletion, interannual and seasonal variability, groundwater decline, riverine and coastal flood risk, drought, water supply and demand), Physical Risks — Quality (untreated wastewater, coastal eutrophication potential), Regulatory and Reputational Risks (ESG index, drinking water access, sanitation). All indicators are inverted (lower = lower risk = better) except awr_water_supply (higher = greater availability = better). Composite index normalised over defined ranges per indicator.