Aqueduct Country and River Basin Rankings: A Weighted Aggregation of Spatially Distinct Hydrological Indicators

The document presents a framework for aggregating localized water-risk scores into national and river basin-level rankings to support administrative decision-making and financial portfolio evaluation. It focuses on five objective physical indicators: baseline water stress, inter-annual variability, seasonal variability, flood occurrence (1985-2011), and drought severity (1901-2008). The rankings exclude subjective factors such as water governance, investment, or conservation efforts.

• The rankings provide data for 180 countries and two sets of 100 river basins—the largest by area and the most populous—across five specific measures of water supply and demand.
• The analysis relies exclusively on objective natural factors and does not account for subjective elements such as water governance, conservation efforts, or investment.
• The five physical water quantity risk indicators used are baseline water stress, inter-annual variability, seasonal variability, flood occurrence (recorded from 1985 to 2011), and drought severity (calculated from 1901 to 2008).

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Aqueduct Country and River Basin Rankings: A Weighted Aggregation of Spatially Distinct Hydrological Indicators. https://www.wri.org/research/aqueduct-country-and-river-basin-rankings

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Aqueduct Country and River Basin Rankings: A Weighted Aggregation of Spatially Distinct Hydrological Indicators. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/aqueduct-country-and-river-basin-rankings.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Aqueduct Country and River Basin Rankings: A Weighted Aggregation of Spatially Distinct Hydrological Indicators |url=https://www.wri.org/research/aqueduct-country-and-river-basin-rankings |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendaqueduct, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Aqueduct Country and River Basin Rankings: A Weighted Aggregation of Spatially Distinct Hydrological Indicators}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/aqueduct-country-and-river-basin-rankings}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }