Methodology to Estimate Water Stress

The document introduces a new methodology and a Water Evaluation and Planning System (WEAP) plugin designed to estimate seasonal water stress. By improving the spatial separation of regions, the method aims to prevent the double-counting of freshwater resources and reveal regional disparities in water scarcity that are often hidden by national averages, thereby supporting UN Sustainable Development Goal Target 6.4.

• The proposed methodology addresses the issue where global or national water stress averages mask significant regional disparities, particularly in larger countries.
• The updated computational method focuses on the spatial separation of regions to ensure consistency across different geographic levels of water estimates and prevent the double-counting of freshwater resources.
• A 'Water Stress Plugin' has been developed for the Water Evaluation and Planning System (WEAP) tool, allowing users to apply this methodology across various management and climate scenarios.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2025). Methodology to Estimate Water Stress. https://www.sei.org/publications/methodology-estimate-water-stress/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Methodology to Estimate Water Stress. 2025. https://www.sei.org/publications/methodology-estimate-water-stress/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Methodology to Estimate Water Stress |date=21 May 2025 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/methodology-estimate-water-stress/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2025methodology, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Methodology to Estimate Water Stress}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2025}, month = may, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/methodology-estimate-water-stress/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }