Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas (WRI)

The Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas is a free online platform from the World Resources Institute (WRI) that maps water-related risk around the world. It combines hydrological, climate and socioeconomic data into a set of indicators that companies, investors and governments can use to understand where water stress, drought and flooding threaten their activities.

Its current version, Aqueduct 4.0, was launched in 2023 and provides 13 indicators of water risk covering both present conditions and future projections, based on the PCR-GLOBWB 2 global hydrological model.

Main indicators

• Baseline Water Stress (BWS): the ratio of water withdrawals to available renewable supply.
• Seasonal and inter-annual variability of supply.
• Drought risk and flood (riverine and coastal) risk.
• Future water stress, demand and supply under different climate and socioeconomic scenarios.
• Groundwater decline and water quality indicators.

How it works

Aqueduct aggregates global datasets and model outputs to the level of hydrological sub-basins, and then combines individual indicators into overall risk scores. Because indicators can be weighted, users can tailor the assessment to a particular sector, for example agriculture, mining, textiles or food and beverage, where water dependence and exposure differ.

Results are presented as easy-to-read maps and scores, and the underlying data and methodology are published openly so that analyses can be reproduced and integrated into other tools.

Corporate applications

Aqueduct is widely used to support corporate water management. Typical uses include:

• Screening sites and suppliers to find those located in high water-stress basins.
• Informing water risk assessment and prioritising where to act first.
• Supporting disclosure to frameworks such as CDP Water Disclosure.
• Guiding water stewardship and replenishment strategies and building water resilience into supply chains.

Limitations and good practice

• Resolution: Aqueduct works at a global, sub-basin scale, so its results should be complemented with local data for site-specific decisions.
• Time lag: some withdrawal statistics lag by a few years, so critical operations should also rely on real-time, local monitoring.
• Scope: Aqueduct focuses on physical water risk and does not fully capture governance or political factors, which should be assessed separately.

Aqueduct is a leading global reference for assessing water risk. Combining its data with internal indicators and financial models helps organisations anticipate disruption and design more resilient, water-secure operations. At Manglai we help companies measure their environmental footprint and prepare their sustainability reporting with rigorous, verifiable data. Discover how Manglai can help you.