Searching for reliable global water data

I've just returned home from World Water Week 2013, which focused on collaboration as a tool for addressing the global water crisis. Rivers, lakes, and aquifers don't obey political lines on a map, and in an increasingly water-scarce world cooperation between governments and across industries is necessary to ensure that freshwater is available to the people who need it.

Water scarcity poses a business risk to industry World Water Week 2013 saw more engagement from the private sector than ever before. Leading companies are moving beyond corporate sustainability as a marketing tool, and approaching water scarcity as a business risk that drives long-term strategy. Water-intensive industries, oil and gas among them, are recognizing that future operations could be in jeopardy if current water supplies are cutoff. Especially important for large, multinational companies, it is critical to see water as a constraint in siting future infrastructure assets to ensure long-term sustainability, both environmental and economic.

"You can't manage what you can't measure" Access to reliable data on water availability-surface water and ground water-is critical for strategic water resource management. Most developed countries collect and provide data on their surface water resources. However, the data is often collected and held at the regional or local levels, and different kinds of readings are used, making it difficult to compare across regions often even within the same country. Moreover, water availability measurements have decreased significantly in the past several years in the United States due to funding constraints.

Worse yet, groundwater measurement is limited, even in the developed world. Seventy percent of freshwater resources worldwide are held in groundwater aquifers, yet in many areas groundwater resources are not centrally regulated. This is likely to change as withdrawals begin to deplete aquifers faster than precipitation recharges them in areas now facing increased, ongoing drought. Making sure groundwater resources don't disappear requires better data.

Networks of networks of data Several leading water scientists and organizations present at World Water Week are working to develop solutions to the water data challenge. One approach is to aggregate, standardize, and analyze networks of data that do exist, so that users can look across regions more easily. Some examples follow. • Global Groundwater Monitoring Network (GGMN). This is a UNESCO program for periodic assessment of global change of groundwater resources. The ultimate goal is to provide monthly levels all over the world. Hydrogeologists around the world serve as both users and producers of this information; regional point measurements can be uploaded to help develop better models. GGMN is currently establishing agreements to input automated data flow from national databases.

• Interoperable Groundwater Data Exchange Network in North America. This project has collected and standardized sensor-based groundwater data from federal, state, provincial, and local governments in Canada and the United States so that it is easy to use for scientists and planners. The network has been up and running in Canada for a couple years and came online in the U.S. a few months ago.

While the above networks are geared primarily towards scientists, several tools build-in visualization and risk-metrics designed for industry use. • Water Risk Filter Tool. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) recently released this tool for private-sector planners to visually map water risks, including physical risk, reputational risk, and regulatory risk. WWF independently chose data from a variety of in-situ and modeled sources, and coverage is global; however, in some areas the granularity only goes down to the country and not the basin level.

• Aqueduct. The World Resources Institute (WRI) developed a tool that visually maps water scarcity risk globally. The tool also allows users to identify the locations of their assets and export site-specific data to an Excel spreadsheet. In addition to current water stress, the tool projects water stress to 2050 using climate models and water demand models. The water supply data relies on NASA satellite data to model water availability. While these analyses may be useful for high-level strategic planning, the data is likely not robust enough for site-specific environmental planning, and there is currently no representation of the level of uncertainty or confidence in the data.

• Oil and Gas Water Management Framework. The International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA) has developed a water risk framework specific to the oil and gas industry. The tool provides some high-level global data sets, and allows industry users to input their own on-the-ground water measurements. The biggest advantage of this tool is that it is specific to oil and gas-it helps the industry screen and prioritize the physical, regulatory, and reputation risks throughout the oil and gas value chain.

Looking to space for a global view Like project Aqueduct, many tools are turning to data from NASA satellites to fill in the gaps in in-situ groundwater measurements. The NASA GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) mission uses satellites to measure changes in total terrestrial water storage at a 200 km2 resolution; the satellites act like "scales in the sky", pulled closer to the earth by gravity in places where water storage is greater. Combined with data or models on surface water and soil moisture, water storage can be used to calculate groundwater availability. While satellite data will never replace robust in-situ measurements, efforts to calibrate the data to on-the-ground measurements have yielded successful groundwater models in some regions, and further research will continue to improve reliability.

Progress continues but challenges remain These tools demonstrate remarkable progress in recent years and even months, both in aggregating robust in-situ measurements for public use, as well as developing modeling tools for a global picture. Awareness-as well as funding-from industry is driving the development and use of these tools. Right now, industry use is primarily as a screening tool to prioritize sites for further research and to promote awareness and action within the company. As the reliability, accessibility, and ease-of-use of these tools improve, so too will the range and impact of industrial water stewardship.

This article was published by S&P Global Commodity Insights and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.