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Book (series)Incorporating environmental flows into “water stress” Indicator 6.4.2
The role of the environmental management class in the estimation of environmental flow requirements
2025Also available in:
No results found.The environmental flows concept entered water management discussions in the mid to late 20th century after extensive dam construction led to large scale obstruction of free-flowing rivers and a noticeable loss of ecosystem services and natural habitats and biodiversity. In 2019 FAO published guidelines to incorporate environmental flows into the calculation of water stress using the Global Environmental Flows Information System, which provides an estimation of the environmental flows at a global level using the incident biodiversity threat index to estimate the environmental management class for the present day. Understanding the concept of environmental management class and learning how to determine it is needed to assess the environmental flow and to calculate the level of water stress, so being crucial to manage water resources sustainably while allowing enough water for human needs. In water resource planning and management, environmental flow is often represented as a percentage of annual flow when calculating the annual indicator for water stress. In fact, there is no single amount or percentage of water that can describe the environmental flows of a river, since the ecological and hydrological context should always be considered in its complexity. This paper is addressed to river basin managers, environmental engineers and river ecologists. It complements the 2019 FAO guidelines by describing how the condition of the ecosystem as defined by the environmental management class influences the estimation of environmental flows, and illustrates how the environmental management class can be determined for a given branch of a river. -
Book (series)A disaggregation of indicator 6.4.2 “Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources” at river basin district level in Italy 2023
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No results found.This report is the presentation of the methodology applied in Italy to spatially disaggregate the computation of the level of water stress from the national to the subnational scale (SDG indicator 6.4.2). Compared to the national assessment, which results in a low level of water stress in the country, the spatial disaggregation of the indicator by the hydrological unit highlighted the presence of basins affected by water stress exceeding 60 per cent (district of the Po river basin). The analysis was performed considering the long-term average of the available fresh water resources calculated on different reference periods (1951-2020, 1961-90, 1991-2020), and this put in evidence the impact of climate change on the level of water stress. This report is part of the series SDG 6.4 MONITORING SUSTAINABLE USE OF WATER RESOURCES PAPERS that collects all the achievements on SDG 6.4. The study was implemented by the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), responsible for the model and data used to assess the total renewable freshwater resources, and the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), which has provided the methodology and the official statistics related to water withdrawals by economic sector (Agriculture, Services, and Industry). The study is the outcome of an agreement between FAO and ISPRA under the Integrated Monitoring Initiative for SDG 6 (IMI-SDG6), designed to produce a map of Italy showing the SDG indicator 6.4.2 “Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources” disaggregated at river basin district level. To learn more about the Integrated Monitoring Initiative for SDG 6, visit www.sdg6monitoring.org. -
Book (stand-alone)Progress on the level of water stress
Global status and acceleration needs for SDG indicator 6.4.2, 2021
2021The global indicator on water stress tracks the level of pressure that human activities exert over natural freshwater resources, indicating the environmental sustainability of the use of water resources. A high level of water stress has negative effects on social and economic development, increasing competition and potential conflict among users. This calls for effective supply and demand management policies. Securing environmental flow requirements is essential to maintaining ecosystem health, resilient, and available for future generations. This indicator addresses the environmental component of target 6.4. In this report, you can learn more about the progress on the level of water stress globally, by country, and by major basin. More information and the methodological guidance can be found at: www.fao.org/sustainable-development-goals/ indicators/642 This report is part of a series that tracks progress towards the various targets set out in SDG 6 using the SDG global indicators. To learn more about water and sanitation in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the Integrated Monitoring Initiative for SDG 6, visit our website: www.sdg6monitoring.org
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