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UN-Water Task Force on Indicators, Monitoring and Reporting has proposed a set of key indicator for the water sector. This set is intended to be used in the short term. The indicators are considered relevent because they are descriptive of the major water issues. They have also been selected for their measurability. Data for these indicators are readily available and can be calculated by a majority of countries around the world. However, the quality of the data sets varies and are not yet able to indicate trends.

Over the medium term, the indicator set will be revisited. If needed, indicators marked by an asterisk (*) will be replaced by other indicators considered more relevant for assessing selected issues of the water sector but for which data are currently lacking. In some cases, data exist for these medium-term indicators for some countries or regions but do not allow for global coverage. It is hoped that specific data collection will be possible at the global level to fill data gaps and enable the calculation of the 'UN-Water best indicator set'.

UN-water is also developing indicators for governance indicators. However, this requires specific work involving country-level assessments and is not possible in the short term.

For more information go to 'Developing a set of key indicators for the water sector' o

If you have any comments or suggestions on the proposed set of key indicators, send them to:
Olcay Ünver at o.unver@unesco.org
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Water availability or situation of scarcity?  
  Indicators Unit Simple Definition Source
 
1-Total actual renewable water resources (TARWR) per person
(indicates the reality of human pressure on renewable but finite resources)
 m3/cap Total resources that are offered by the average annual inflow and runoff that feed each hydrosystem (catchment area or aquifer) and 'available' per person FAO/ AQUASTAT
  2. Storage capacity per person*
(imperfect measure of capacity to mitigate climate change risk)		 m3/cap Total cumulative storage capacity of all large surface resevoirs and groundwater per person (irrigated area per capita could also be used in areas with higher climate change risk) FAO/ AQUASTAT
International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre (IGRAC)
  3. Importance of national expenditure for water supply and sanitation * US$/cap Total public expenditures for water supply and sanitation as a percentage of total budget (breakdown between country expenditures and  Official Development Assistance). United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD);
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD);
Global Annual Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS)
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How intense is our water use? Is it sustainable?  
  Indicators Unit Simple Definition Source
  4-Intensity of use of actual water resources. % Percentage of TARWR that is used (sum of total withdrawals / abstraction) FAO/ AQUASTAT
  5- Use by abstraction from TARWR by main sector*
(indicates the relative importance of the various sectors)		 % Breakdown between uses (agriculture, domestic, industry, and energy when available).

It can be completed by breakdown per water sources used in each sector.		 FAO/ AQUASTAT
IGRAC
  6- Change in inland fish production*   Comparison of evolution of inland Fish catch (capture) and production (aquaculture) since 1960s. It shows that fisheries (on-stream water user) is becoming water consumptive with increased inland aquaculture. FAO/FishStat
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How effective is our water use?  
Social performance: Are we reaching the MDG target?  
  Indicators Unit Simple Definition Source
  7.Percentage of population using improved drinking water sources % Joint Monitoring Program definition of improved drinking water sources, such as public standpipes, handpumps, improved dug wells or springs. (MDG target 7C). WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for water supply and sanitation (JMP)
  8- Percentage of population using improved sanitation facilities % JMP definition of improved sanitation facilities. (MDG target 7C) JMP
Economic performance: are we producing enough value per m3 distributed, used or stored?  
  Indicators Unit Simple Definition Source
  9- Importance of external water footprint over total water footprint* m3/cap/yr The quantitative water footprint of a nation shows the water that is used inside the country and outside (external footprint) to produce the goods and services consumed by the inhabitants of the nation. UNESCO-IHE
(2008, data 2005)
  10- Change in water productivity in agriculture* US$/cap/m3

Crude proxy: value of agricultural production divided by the volume of water abstracted for agriculture (does not take into account the use of rainfall). In countries with important irrigated agriculture, the indicator would represent the water productivity in irrigated agriculture.
Calculation from World Bank and AQUASTAT data sets
  11- Change in water productivity in industrial sector* US$/cap/m3 Crude proxy: value of industrial production divided by the volume of water abstracted for industry (does not take into account the volume abstracted from municipal distribution systems) UNESCO-IHE
(2008, data 2005)
  12- Change in hydropower productivity* % Economically viable hydropower production developed (at current energy prices) compared with total potential Calculation from International Energy Agency (IEA)
World Energy Outlook (WEO)
Environment performance: How environmentally sustainable are human uses?  
  Indicators Unit Simple Definition Source
  13- Change in aquifers quality status  (quality/salinity) * % Identified groundwater resources unfit for drinking water and other uses due to salinity (> 5g/l TDS) compared to total groundwater resources. IGRAC
  14- Waste water treatment connection rates % The percentage of national population connected to public waste water treatment plants. The extent of secondary (biological), or tertiary (chemical) treatment provides an indication of efforts to reduce pollution loads from cities.

Regional data sets;
OECD;
Plan Bleu;
FAO/AQUASTAT
  15- Trends in freshwater species* % Freshwater species component of the living planet index (does not capture the most important species indicators for water-related purposes) WWF;
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) -WMCC
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The building of governance indicators requires specific work involving country-level assessments. This is not possible in the short term. In a preliminary phase, UN-Water look at country-level information at three levels of governance - global, regional, national. At the national level, UN-Water will map some of the water-related instruments in place (policies, regulatory frameworks and budgets) that support the 3 'E's: equity, economy, environment. There are several ongoing initiatives under way to develop governance indicators.  
  Issues Source
  Global International conventions and commitments relevant to water issues:
- Ramsar convention
- Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
- United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC)
- Rotterdam convention
- United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses
  Regional Transboundary regional agreements relevant to the water sector:
- UNECE convention (protection and use of transboundary water course)
- The eThekwini Declaration (Africa, water supply and sanitation)
- Agreements signed by three or more countries sharing transboundary basins
  National - Existence of instruments in place that support 3 'E's objective: equity, economy, environment
- Integrated Water Resources management (IWRM) concepts integrated
- Level of implementation of the 13th Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD 13) three policy blocks: water supply, sanitation, IWRM
- Existence of IWRM Plans (1-in place; 2-in preparation; 3-only initial steps)
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latest docs
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Status Report on Integrated Water Resources Management and Water Efficiency Plans
UN-Water Task Force on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), 2008
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pdf
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Water Monitoring: Mapping Existing Global Systems and Initiatives
UN-Water Task Force on Monitoring, 2006
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pdf
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FINAL REPORT Monitoring progress in the water sector: A selected set of indicators
UN-Water Task Force on Indicators, Monitoring and Reporting, 2010
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pdf
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ANNEX Monitoring progress in the water sector: A selected set of indicators
UN-Water Task Force on Indicators, Monitoring and Reporting, 2010
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pdf
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Concept Paper: Assessing progress in the water sector?
UN-Water Task Force on Monitoring, 2009
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pdf
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