Indicator 6.4.1 - Change in water-use efficiency over time
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Global Metadata
This table provides information on metadata for SDG indicators as defined by the United Nations Statistical Commission. Complete global metadata documentation on all indicators in Goal 6, unless otherwise noted, is provided by the UN Statistics Division.
| SDG Indicator Name | Change in water-use efficiency over time |
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| SDG Target Addressed | By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity. |
| Definition of SDG Indicator | This indicator is defined as the output over time of a given major sector per volume of (net) water withdrawn (showing the trend in water use efficiency). Following ISIC 4 coding, sectors are defined as agriculture, forestry and fishing (ISIC 4-A); manufacturing, constructions, mining and quarrying (ISIC 4-B, 4-C and 4-F); electricity industry (ISIC 4-D); and the municipal sector (ISIC 4-E). For the purpose of this note, the following terminology is used: Water use: general non-specific term that describes any action through which water provides a service Water withdrawal: water abstracted from a river, lake, reservoir or aquifer(V) Return flow: water returning to a river, lake, reservoir or aquifer (R) Net water withdrawal: water withdrawn (V) minus return flow (R) Note: If no information is available on (R), then only (V) will be used. |
| UN Designated Tier | 3 |
| UN Custodial Agency | FAO (Partnering Agencies: UNEP, IUCN, UNSD, OECD, Eurostat) |
U.S. Metadata
This table provides metadata for the actual indicator available from U.S. statistics closest to the corresponding global SDG indicator. Please note that even when the global SDG indicator is fully available from U.S. statistics, this table should be consulted for information on national methodology and other US-specific metadata information
| Method of computation for global SDG indicator | The indicator is disaggregated by sector, in order to allow for different metrics in different sectors. Water efficiency in irrigated agriculture is calculated as the agricultural value added per agricultural (net) water withdrawn, expressed in USD/m3. In formula: Awe = GVAa x (1-Cr)Va-Ra Where: Awe = Irrigated agriculture water efficiency [USD/m3] GVAa = Gross value added by agriculture (excluding river and marine fisheries and forestry)[USD] Cr = Proportion of agricultural GVA produced by rainfed agriculture [-] Va = Volume of water withdrawn by the agricultural sector (including irrigation, livestock and aquaculture) [m3] Ra = Volume of water returned to the hydrologic system (return flow) [m3] The volume of water withdrawn by the agricultural sectors (V) is collected at country level through national records and reported in questionnaires, in units of km3/year or million m3/year (see example in AQUASTAT http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/sets/aq-5yr-quest_eng.xls). Agricultural value added in national currency is obtained from national statistics, converted to USD and deflated to the baseline year 2015. The Cr coefficient can be estimated as Cr= 37%, on the basis of the general FAO assumption on the ratio between rainfed and irrigated yield. More detailed estimations are however possible and encouraged at country level. Water efficiency of industries is calculated as the industrial value added per unit of industrial (net) water withdrawn, and expressed in USD/m3. In formula: Iwe = GVAiVi-Ri Where: Iwe = Irrigated water efficiency [USD/m3] GVAi = Gross value added by industry (excluding energy)[USD] Vi = Volume of water withdrawn by the industries (excluding energy) [m3] Ri = Volume of water returned to the hydrologic system (return flow) [m3] Industrial water withdrawal (V) is collected at country level through national records and reported in questionnaires, in units of km3/year or million m3/year (see example in AQUASTAT http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/sets/aq-5yr-quest_eng.xls). Industrial value added is obtained from national statistics, deflated to the baseline year 2015. Energy (power) water efficiency is calculated as the value added of power production per unit of (net) water withdrawn for energy production, and expressed in MWh/m3. In formula: Ewe = TEPVe-Re Where: Ewe = Energy water efficiency [MWh/m3] TEP = Total energy production [MWh] Ve = Volume of water withdrawn for energy production, i.e. for the cooling of power plants (including evaporation from reservoirs created behind dams for hydropower) [m3] Re = Volume of water returned to the hydrologic system (return flow) [m3] Volume of water withdrawn for energy production (V) is collected at country level through national records and reported in questionnaires, in units of km3/year or million m3/year (see example in AQUASTAT http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/sets/aq-5yr-quest_eng.xls). Value added of electricity production is obtained from national statistics, deflated to the baseline year 2015. Municipal water supply efficiency is the ratio between water effectively distributed to the municipal users and the water withdrawn for municipal use by water supply utilities (i.e. distribution efficiency, size of network losses). In formula: Mwe = MudVm Where: Mwe = Municipal water supply efficiency [-] Mud = Water distributed to municipal users [m3] Vm = Volume of water withdrawn by municipal utilities (i.e. the public distribution network) [m3] Data on volumes of withdrawn and distributed are collected at country level from the municipal supply utilities records. |
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