Two New Ways to Get Aqueduct Data

WRI’s Aqueduct team has introduced two new ways to engage with our data: Pro Access and Pro Sponsorship. The Pro Access tier provides partners with Aqueduct’s behind-the-scenes data on water supply, demand, and baseline water stress. This type of information will help companies to compare and assess water risks across large geographies within their supply chains, develop plans to mitigate water risks, inform environmental disclosures, and more.

Contact us to become a data sponsor

WRI’s Aqueduct Pro Sponsorship is a strategic partnership between companies and our team. Sponsors like Microsoft and Moody’s Analytics provide critical support for tool and data development as well as platform updates to continue providing users with the best available data and features. Sponsors serve as first users, receiving early access to behind-the-scenes data, which includes higher spatial and temporal resolution than is currently available on the open-access Aqueduct suite of tools.

WRI’s Aqueduct team is preparing new projections on water stress, demand and supply, expected by early 2023, which will be some of the first water projections using the latest CMIP6 climate forcings from the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report. These future projections equip Aqueduct users (e.g. companies, investors, consulting firms and others) with the best available information on climate-related water risks that they can then factor into internal water strategies, sustainable water management plans, ESG ratings and contextual water targets.

Pro Access: Gain access to our granular, back-end Aqueduct data

WRI’s Aqueduct team provides high resolution, rich and granular data that can easily be incorporated into company-specific tools to assess global trends on water supply and demand. This helps rating agencies, consulting firms and financial companies assess water risk and incorporate robust data into models for ESG investment analyses. This data also enables consulting firms to compare water risks across large geographies; assess risks, impacts and opportunities within client operations and supply chains; develop plans to mitigate water risks; and inform environmental reporting and disclosures. Investors and financial service companies can use water stress data to evaluate the physical, regulatory and reputational risks associated with investment opportunities and prioritize accordingly.

Back-End Data Types and Access

WRI offers several back-end Aqueduct datasets at high spatial and temporal resolution:

Datasets Description Temporal Resolution Spatial Resolution
Aqueduct 2.1 baseline renewable surface water supplies Total available blue water supplies taking into account upstream consumption. Monthly from 1950 – 2010 Hydrological sub-basins*
Aqueduct 2.1 baseline sectoral water demand Consumptive and non-consumptive water withdrawals for irrigation, industrial, and domestic use. Baseline (2010) 1x1 km grid cells
Aqueduct 2.1 future projections of renewable surface water supplies CMIP 5 Climate model- and scenario-specific total blue water supplies taking into account upstream precipitation and evapotranspiration. Monthly from 2005 – 2100 Hydrological sub-basins*
Aqueduct 2.1 future projections of sectoral water demand CMIP 5 Scenario-specific consumptive and non-consumptive water withdrawals for irrigation, industrial, and domestic use. 2020, 2030, 2040 1x1 km grid cells
Aqueduct 3.0 baseline available renewable surface and groundwater supplies Available supplies including the impact of upstream consumptive water users and large dams on downstream water availability. Monthly from 1960 – 2014 Hydrological sub-basins^; 5x5 arc minute grid cells
Aqueduct 3.0 baseline sectoral demand Consumptive and non-consumptive water withdrawals for irrigation, livestock, industrial, and domestic use. Monthly from 1960 – 2014 Hydrological sub-basins^; 5x5 arc minute grid cells
Aqueduct 3.0 baseline monthly water stress Ratio of total water withdrawals to available renewable surface and groundwater supplies. Monthly from 1960 – 2014 Hydrological sub-basins^
Expanded Aqueduct Floods data Historic and CMIP 5 future projections flood risk data, allowing for risk assessment of multiple locations at a time. Baseline (2010), 2030, 2050, 2080 Hydrological sub-basins^; 30x30 arc seconds grid cells

*Global Drainage Basin Database
^HydroBASINS level 6

These back-end datasets are stored in tabular and geospatial formats and can be made available through Excel files, cloud folder sharing via Microsoft Azure, or APIs for easy use and integration with the organization’s own tools and applications.

Pro Sponsorship: Co-develop new datasets and tools with the Aqueduct team

WRI’s Aqueduct Pro Sponsorship is a strategic partnership between companies and our team. In this tier, sponsors provide the Aqueduct team with the resources and vision to enhance our offerings, supporting the strategic development of additional datasets and tools. Sponsors provide critical support for tool and data development as well as platform updates to continue providing users with the best available data and features. Sponsors serve as first users, receiving early access to behind-the-scenes data, which includes higher spatial and temporal resolution than is currently available on the open-access Aqueduct suite of tools. This data will help companies and communities strengthen their resilience to increasing climate risks.

Contact us to become a data sponsor

Microsoft and Moody’s Analytics have joined as inaugural sponsors, helping Aqueduct develop new projections on water stress, demand and supply, which will be some of the first water projections using the latest CMIP6 climate forcings from the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report. These future projections, expected by early 2023, equip Aqueduct users (e.g. companies, investors, consulting firms and others) with the best available information on climate-related water risks that they can then factor into internal water strategies, sustainable water management plans, ESG ratings and contextual water targets. Microsoft aims to include this data in its Planetary Computer platform, while Moody’s Analytics will use the data for its physical climate risk datasets.

Sponsors

Microsoft logo
Moody's Analytics

About Aqueduct

Since its inception in 2011, WRI’s Aqueduct tools have informed companies, governments, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) about water-related risks such as floods, droughts and stress through the following tools:

  • Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, which maps and analyzes current and future water risks across locations;
  • Aqueduct Food, which identifies current and future water risks to agriculture and food security;
  • Aqueduct Floods, which identifies coastal and riverine flood risks, and analyzes the costs and benefits of investing in flood protection; and
  • Aqueduct Country Rankings, which allows decision-makers to understand and compare national and subnational water risks.

Our Aqueduct tools use best-in-class, open-source, peer reviewed data, have reached hundreds of thousands of users across the globe and informed decision-makers in and beyond the water sector. Beyond the tools, the Aqueduct team works one-on-one with companies, governments and research partners through the Aqueduct Alliance to help advance best practices in water resource management and enable sustainable growth in a water-constrained world.