Ratio of annual withdrawal to annual availability in a basin expressing relative freshwater scarcity
GB
Water withdrawal
Anthropogenic removal of water from any water body or from any drainage basin, either permanently or temporarily
Water use
Total input of freshwater into a product system
Water stress
General pressure resulting from water scarcity
Water stewardship
Detailed analysis of an organization’s water consumption taking into account the specific local situation in order to evaluate the environmental, operational, legal, and reputational risks. In an “out of the fence approach”, water stewardship identifies opportunities and solutions in cooperation with the public, authorities, and other water users within the basin
Water scarcity
Extent to which demand for water compares to the replenishment of water in an area, e.g. a drainage basin
Water quality
Physical (e.g. thermal), chemical and biological characteristics of water with respect to its suitability for an intended use by human or ecosystems
Water Footprint
Metric(s) that quantif(ies) the potential environmental impacts related to water
Water degradation / degradative water use
The part of withdrawal returned to the basin after quality degradation (e.g. waste water discharge)
Water consumption / consumptive water use
The share of total water use which is not returned to the originating drainage basin due to evapo(transpi)ration, product integration, or discharge into other basins and the sea