Definition(s)


Water Stress

Occurs when the demand for water exceeds the available amount of water over a given period, or when the poor quality of available water restricts its use (AWS, 2013). Leflaive et al. (2012) explain that water stress can be quantified by taking a ratio of water demand to water availability, and define four categories of water stress ranging from ‘no stress’ to ‘severe stress’ based on these ratios. Another measure is the Falkenmark Indicator, which defines water stress as when annual water supplies in a country or region drop below 1,700 cubic metres per person per year (United Nations).

Source: Identifying and assessing water sources: Guidance document for the onshore oil and gas industry, International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA), 2014. Global Standards

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