indicators approach paper for possible application of the raf to … · 2018-04-30 · indicators...
TRANSCRIPT
Indicators Approach Paper
for
Possible Application of the RAF
to
Transboundary Freshwater Basins in the
International Waters Focal Area
A Strategy Document to the Global Environment Facility Consultant: Charles J. Vörösmarty (City College of New York, City University of New York) Tel: 212-650-7042 (w), 603-944-0554 (m) E-mail: [email protected] with the inputs of C. Revenga (The Nature Conservancy, Arlington VA) P. McIntyre (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor MI) B. Fekete (City College of New York, CUNY, New York NY) B. Lehner (McGill University, Montreal CANADA) P. Green (City College of New York, CUNY, New York NY) A. Prusevich [University of New Hampshire, Durham NH) A. deSherbinin (CIESIN / Columbia University NY) M. Levy (CIESIN / Columbia University NY) R. Chen (CIESIN / Columbia University NY) J. Rockström (Stockholm Environment Institute [SEI])
5 November 2008
1
TABLE OF CONTENTS Description Page I. Introduction and Rationale 2
The Need for a Basin-Oriented, Water Benefits Accounting Framework 2 TABLE 1: Key water resource supplies 3 Integrated Data Frameworks to Support the IW Focal Area 4
II. Design Criteria for Framework 4 III. A Brief Review of Mapping Resources Contributing to a GBI 5 IV. Prototype Tests 7
TABLE 2A: Major themes, subsidiary driver data sets and their key attributes 8
TABLE 2B: Major data centers 11 BOX 1: The Global-RIMS Toolkit 13
V. Key Affiliates and Partnerships: Data Providers and Users 14 VI. Conclusions and Recommendations 14 Targeted Outputs 14 Key Recommendations for Next 2-5 Years 15 Acronyms 16 References 17
2
I. Introduction and Rationale
Water is arguably the essential ingredient uniting the physics, biology and human systems of the planet. In addition to greenhouse warming and concerns about an "accelerated" hydrologic cycle, many other anthropogenic factors directly change the state of water resources. Prominent among these are widespread land cover change, urbanization, industrialization, plus a host of hydraulic engineering schemes -like reservoir construction, irrigation, and interbasin transfers- each designed to optimize the use of fresh water by humans. All yield impacts, both positive and negative, on fresh water, yet society's management of water resources and aquatic ecosystems can arguably be tabulated as a net overall impairment (Vörösmarty et al. 2005, LePreiur et al. 2008, Abell et al. 2008). And, as humans struggle with tightly-linked strategic imperatives on food and energy security, economic development, and carbon mitigation that will serve a population moving toward 9-10B, the collective significance of transformations of so basic an element of the Earth system, water, remains unknown. As they have for millennia, humans will struggle to stabilize and make available water in the face of a highly capricious climate, failed governance, mismanagement, overuse and depletion, biodiversity loss, and pollution. While water issues in the world's more than 250 international river basins have historically promoted collaboration rather than conflict (UNEP/OSU 2002), the fundamentals determining the biogeophysical, human development, economic, and governance characteristics found across modern river basins are likely to change substantially over the next decades as we enter a substantially more crowded, resource limited, and climate modified world. Recent work (Miguel et al. 2007, Levy et al. 2005) employing a geospatial approach to unite biogeophysical and social science data is beginning to uncover causal links between elements of the water cycle like rainfall and hydrologic variability and the presence and intensity of civil conflict, at least within nation-states. Furthermore, the ramifications of upstream management decisions can extend literally 1000s of kilometers downstream. For instance, inputs of fertilizer and toxic chemicals, flow alteration, and sediment trapping behind dams jeopardize the habitability of many densely-populated coastal regions around the world. Human activities in upland basins are creating many "blue water" challenges including harmful algal blooms, oxygen dead zones, and reef destruction that are today found throughout the world. Devising interventions to manage and potentially reverse these trends requires a sound, quantitative knowledge base. Indicators and indices are at the heart of several recent assessments including those depicting the state of human development (HDI; UNDP), ecosystem services (several chapters in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment), environmental sustainability (ESI; Esty, Levy et al. 2006), and environmental performance (EPI; Esty et al. 2006), which is articulating environmental sustainability in the context of a nation's capacity to govern and technically execute protective measures. In the water arena, the 2003 and 2006 World Water Development Report series presented long lists of potential indicators (>150 and 60, respectively), with no accompanying strategic plan on their use. The indicators and indices presented were highly fragmentary across countries, poorly integrated across chapters and often only tangentially related to water (e.g. industrial indexes). Many were recycled from other sources and few presented unique value-added products. Thus, even with the WWDR serving as the formal UN-designated vehicle for issuing a report card on the state of world water resources we find an accounting process far from ideal. Further, the UN-Water Report on Water Monitoring (FAO 2006) lists the following descriptors on the state of affairs with respect to water information more generally-- "irregular updating", "key information still missing", "some monitoring systems…of little use", "monitoring systems poorly described". At the same time it reports on "impressive progress using global spatial information". The Need for a Basin-Oriented, Water Benefits Accounting Framework: A broad array of water resource and water provisioning services (collectively termed water benefits) can be enumerated using contemporary data sets and modeling capabilities (Table 1). Runoff produced by precipitation in excess
3
of evapotranspiration constitutes the renewable natural resource base. From a water resource perspective, however, water benefits must be defined not only by such locally generated runoff but also by remote runoff transported horizontally through river corridors as discharge. Along the way the supply can be withdrawn, depleted, redirected, and/or polluted, thus setting-up constraints on the water resource system. Accessible supplies must also be assessed in terms of the technical and economic capacity to deliver water services, arising from the uneven distribution of wealth, political will, and technological resources. For example, despite best intentions, more than 1B still fail to have adequate supplies of drinking water; 2.5B fail to have access to basic sanitation services (WHO/UNICEF 2004). The question thus becomes one of spatial and temporal contrasts, mismatches between what is potentially available and practically accessible, and the capacity to deliver water benefits to end-users. A geospatial drainage basin context is essential for understanding these patterns (Vörösmarty et al. 2005). In addition to these many geophysical factors, assessment of ecosystem state is also needed to fully evaluate basin condition and thus GEF funding priorities. Direct freshwater benefits are associated with the productivity of native fauna (e.g. fisheries & other harvests) and aquaculture. Drinking water quality, sustainable fisheries, and other basin services depend on the collective role of a diverse flora and fauna that maintain ecosystem function. While a GBI for Transboundary Freshwaters focuses on water provisioning services, it must be stressed such these water benefits will be compromised unless conservation principles protecting biodiversity are exercised. Because water benefits require healthy physical, chemical, and biodiversity conditions, we must be able to map an array of conditions within river basins including: degree of floodplain dis/connectivity; status of natural flow regimes (i.e. timing, frequency, magnitude and duration of different flood and low-flow events like spring peak floods & summer low flows); pollution sources, natural purification and/or engineered treatment potential; and, invasive species introduction. Trade-offs --whether planned or unintended-- involving the co-balancing of the geophysical, biotic, and socioeconomic components of river basins will likely constitute a central position in the environmental management agenda well into the future. A capacity to (i) pinpoint emerging problem (e.g. hot spot & conflict) areas, (ii) identify causal factors, and (iii) design interventions represents a new priority in water sciences and policy. This is essential to avoid human vs. human and human vs. nature conflicts. TABLE 1. Key water resource supplies and water benefits amenable to enumeration in IW drainage basins.
WATER SYSTEM ELEMENT
Typical Roles in Water Resource Systems
Green Water - Precipitation as Rain and
Snowfall - Soil moisture
- Direct support to rainfed cropping systems - After the process of evaporation and plant transpiration, precipitation falling on the land creates runoff from which is
derived the blue water resource
Blue Water (natural & altered) - Net of local groundwater
recharge, surface runoff/streamflow
- Farm ponds, check dams augment green water in rainfed cropping systems - Represents source waters and entrains constituents delivered downstream within watersheds
- Inland water systems (lakes, rivers, wetlands)
- Key resource over district, national, multi-national domains - Important role in transport, waste management, and to domestic, industrial, agricultural sectors
- Ground Water (shallow) - Locally distributed shallow well systems serving drinking water and irrigation needs - Fossil Ground Water (deep) - Critical (and often sole) source of water in arid and semi-arid regions Blue Water (engineered) - Diversions including
reservoirs & interbasin transfers; reused waters
- Critical (and often sole) source of water in arid and semi-arid regions - Stabilizes and/or redirects flow from water rich times/places to water poor times/places, altering blue water balance - Serve multiple uses: hydropower; irrigation, domestic, industrial, recreational uses; flood control - Secondary reuse as effluents in irrigation
Virtual Water - Represents water embodied in production of goods and services, typically with crops traded on the int'l market - Not explicitly recognized as a water resource management tool until recently
Desalination (DS) - Augmentation in water scarce areas;
4
Integrated Data Frameworks to Support the IW Focal Area. At the precise moment when we require a comprehensive surveillance capability on the state and trajectory of water systems, we find that cost-recovery requirements, intellectual property rights, and reduced technical know-how, particularly across the developing world, has restricted the availability of baseline in situ hydrographic data, the mainstay of water resource assessment over basin, continental, and global domains (IAHS 2000). Satellite and other Earth system information products have the potential to fill some of these gaps. Indeed, in many parts of the world, these information sets represent the only practical means of assessing many of the physical aspects of the river basin environments (Vörösmarty et al. 2003; Lawford et al. 2004). Through modeling, GIS, and web-based meta-data search engines the assessment community now has access to literally Terabytes of information relating to many hydrologic and other water service related variables, which in turn can be coherently processed, integrated and analyzed for pure research and societal applications (NRC Decadal Survey 2007). Development of a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) is an essential step in promoting the consistent planning and implementation of integrated observational systems, yet end-to-end applications have yet to materialize. With this said, it must also be stressed that in situ monitoring remains irreplaceable, not only for validating global data mapping but also in serving as the only practicable data resource, as is the case for many biodiversity variables. For this reason, developing a suitable compendium of field survey data should be an essential part of the GBI accounting system as well. Within the GEF Resource Allocation Framework (RAF) for International Waters, the capacity to quantify a GEF Benefits Index (GBI) for a particular basin using such globally available information streams and more detailed regional non-satellite data has an arguably decided advantage over individual country-level data sets that are typically poorly harmonized, fragmentary, and often politicized. In the context of the more than 60 countries signing GEOSS data sharing agreements, plus an ongoing effort by the International Council of Science (ICSU; CODATA 2007) to create the impetus and protocols for wide distribution of Earth system and human dimensions data, these information resources represent an effective alternative. Projects demonstrating end-to-end tests, taking geophysical data sets from original sources and delivering them to societal end-uses are still lacking. Incorporating such new capabilities into the RAF provides an ideal opportunity to systematize accounting procedures for enumerating international river basin benefits and to provide the quantitative backdrop for combining GBI with the GEF Performance Index (GPI) as part of an RAF. This white paper first presents a conceptual framework for developing an international basin-oriented GBI, followed by a review of potential data sets contributing to the index. It goes on to present a "worked" example using an existing toolkit, Global-RIMS (Global Rapid Indicator Mapping System). The example seeks to demonstrate how an integrated framework could be used to systematically assess threats to drainage basin water benefits from the standpoint of first providing human water resources and next protecting the integrity of inland aquatic systems upon which the water resource base is dependent. II. Design Criteria for Framework
A design concept for a benefits accounting system--the GEF Benefits Index (GBI) for International Waters-- is presented here, expressly formulated to provide an integrated and pragmatic approach to facilitate near-term (2-5 year) progress in the realm of an RAF for transboundary surface waters. The proposed GBI frame is designed around the following system requirements: (i) river network-based perspectives in an international drainage basin context, (ii) interdisciplinarity, (iii) the use of timely and high quality scientific and technical resources, and (iv) engagement of the user and decision-maker community. The effort is targeted at the transboundary surface waters component of the GBI, but could also be adopted into the IW Groundwaters and Large Marine Ecosystem elements as well. The principal goal of the GBI framework for International Waters is to:
5
• Provide an accounting tool to evaluate a GEF Benefits Index, designed to support the RAF process
through (a) high quality, quantitative, and timely geospatial information on the condition of water resources in the world's more than 250 international drainage basins, both now and into the future, (b) a framework for quantifying and inter-comparing basin water services within and across country and other administrative units, (c) a process to engage decision makers, and (d) training and capacity building to disseminate and capitalize on new technical capabilities.
One initial focus of the GBI should be on producing a contemporary, time-varying, and authoritative picture of transboundary water benefits, anticipated to be presented as monthly updates and covering the period 2000-to-present, which is possible for many of the key variables. It is proposed (see Sections III, VI) that national summaries be based on an accounting unit of ≈8km resolution for the majority of the world's international basins. Future scenarios embedding climate change, population growth, economic development, change in governance and enforcement can also be considered. Developing a sound GBI requires the collaboration of several international partners (Technical Appendix 1; Section V). There are six design objectives in building such a framework:
• Benefits Accounting and Mapping: To create a coherent geography – a set of electronic maps –providing the quantitative underpinnings of the GEF Benefits Index for international basins, with focus on contemporary and future time horizons; user-customized calculations are required, using the full suite of data holdings for QA/QC testing and to address evolving issues of interest.
• Database Use and Data Integration: To enable the use of sufficiently mature "off-the-shelf", operational, new data bases for use in the GBI.
• Tracking Impacts of Interventions: To support the RAF by creating a formal mechanism to bring together models, data sets, and other necessary tools in order to identify before-after visioning experiments and eventual tracking of the time course of events vis a viz the impact (both positive and negative) of policy interventions and GEF resource allocations.
• Integration of IW RAF elements: To provide a context for linking GBI elements of the Transboundary Freshwater Basins and other IW components, specifically Transboundary Groundwaters and Large Marine Ecosystems.
• Priority Setting: To translate results for particular international drainage basins into further awareness-building, articulation of needed investments in environmental surveillance, international cooperation, and future policy priorities.
• Capacity Development: To promote adoption of the data and toolkit system in order to facilitate local verification of computed services, and stakeholder engagement in the RAF design process.
III. A Brief Review of Mapping Resources Contributing to a GBI
Provided below is a brief synopsis, in tabular form, of the current generation of existing biogeophysical and social science data resources that could populate a GBI for International Waters. The overall conceptual framework, and the position of the GBI within it, is presented in Figure 1. The data listing is arguably incomplete, as the potential data streams are already large in number and continue to evolve. For tractability and in keeping with the intent of this report, the review below identifies indicators that represent clear determinants of water services in a drainage basin context. In situ and survey data are not listed but will need to be collected for individual basins. A "worked example" is presented later in this report, which uses entries in Table 2. The table is organized into four Themes with 36 subsidiary Driver data sets. These collectively will be used to quantify -- through a systematic weighting procedure -- the impairment of water benefits from both human water resource and aquatic biodiversity perspectives. The Themes and Drivers have been identified by consulting the literature to establish their relevancy and to
6
assign particular numerical values for the weightings. They also have been chosen due to their policy-actionable nature. These Themes and Drivers are distinct from an additional set of more societal "backdrop" or "context" variables. The latter provide potential constraints (or opportunities) with respect to RAF investments (e.g. level of governance/corruption, population density, GDP per capita). They also could be explored for predictive value in determining the state of multi-national basins, though they clearly would be less amenable as targets for specific RAF investments. Figure 1. A notional conceptual framework for the overall GEF Transboundary Freshwater Basins effort in the IW Focal Area. Shaded boxes are emphasized in this report and represent more specifically the GBI component. RAF-informing data flows embody a recursive process involving (i) mapping of biogeophysical and socioeconomic variables in individual basins, (ii) consideration of GPI constraints/potentials, (iii) creation of new data streams, and (iv) assessment of post-intervention performance. This framework enables human water needs, environmental flows, and additional basin water benefits targets to be simultaneously assessed. Accounting systems optimized to the Groundwater Basins & Large Marine Ecosystems components of the IW as well as other GEF "focal areas" can be integrated as well.
The data review was executed through a consensus-based procedure involving numerous conference calls and a face-to-face meeting in early October 2008 in which several of the expert contributors to this report, as well as others, participated. The vetting procedure involved identification of candidate data sets followed by technical staging (geographic projection, necessary resampling, etc.). Finalist data sets were incorporated into the existing Global-RIMS toolkit, which provided (i) calculation of key statistics, including the nature of statistical distributions for each data set, (ii) visual inspection of spatial patterns, (iii) calculation of key summary statistics with comparison to expert knowledge and published statistics, and (vi) reconfiguration & recasting as necessary until an acceptable data product emerged. Table 2 is the result of this QA/QC procedure. The Table offers the key attributes and readiness of these data sets for use in an operational GBI accounting system. Further details on the data are given in Technical Appendix-2 (use of the data), TA-3 (maps and statistics), TA-4 (meta-data compendium). While one could argue about the specifics of the worked example, it has proven itself a useful exercise in identifying candidate GBI-ready data sets and in offering insights into their use in the IW context:
• Data sets are from a variety of applications, not necessarily associated with water benefits or services; these cannot be used strictly "off-the-shelf"- careful interpretation & reconstitution needed.
• Direct measures are not always available and surrogates need to be applied (e.g. erosion maps for sediment pollution; power station water use for thermal pollution); a weighting procedure (shown in the demonstration in Section IV) is one strategy to overcome this limitation.
• Time domains for the individual data sets are not typically synchronized and require harmonization. • Spatial resolutions are disparate, with a variety of formats including point, vector and shape files;
length scales for grid-based data span several orders of magnitude, from 10s of meters to 100's of km; some data sets like fishing pressure are presented as national means or totals, requiring a procedure to geospatially distribute the aggregate numbers (McIntyre et al., in preparation).
• Opportunities exist to construct a picture of time-varying conditions (i.e. hydrological drivers identifying periods of extremes), either as a full time series from year 2000 to near present or as
7
monthly climatologies. Other variables (e.g. invasive fish, plants, invertebrates species) are not presently updated and represent in general terms a "contemporary" state.
Thus, we see that these data sets are in a variety of states of readiness for adoption into the RAF. As the Table 2 entries are representative of such data holdings at large, it can be anticipated that inherent limitations as well as opportunities for their use will be encountered as other variables are considered in the evolving RAF process. In this context, it is reasonable to conclude that a GBI framework for International Waters focusing next on higher resolution and time-varying data streams will require substantial investments of time and expertise in data re-sampling, data harmonization, QA/QC, and interpretation. The goal is within reach for some of the factors (i.e. hydrological drivers), but less so with others like the invasive fish species. A systematic assessment of the errors introduced into the GBI calculation by the admixture of varying resolution data streams, varying time domains, the use of surrogate data sets, and inherent data quality is recommended. IV. Prototype Tests
A prototype assessment of the global distribution of impairment to Human Water Security (HWS) and Biodiversity-River Health (BD-RH) in a drainage basin context was recently completed using a subset of the Table 2 entries in conjunction with an indicator calculation system (Box 1). The results from this demonstration quantified an aggregate threat index for each application area. This metric can be thought of as an expression of the degree to which benefit services have been compromised. As the calculation tool is easily configurable, the inverse of these results (i.e. level of uncompromised services) can be computed and expressed as a GBI for individual basins, geographical regions, and/or administrative units. The details of the approach are provided in Technical Appendices 2 & 3, but in brief, a set of global GIS data layers was developed (Table 2) describing the spatial distribution of 36 drivers of potential water services impairment (23 used in the experiment) across all watersheds of the world, initially delineated as 30' x 30' (lat x long) grids (ca. 50 km length scale) (Figure 2). Pixel-based values for each driver were routed downstream through digital river networks and divided by discharge to yield what effectively was a concentration of driver impact. The range of resulting values for each driver data set was noted, converted (typically) into logarithms and then normalized (0 to 1). Because of the paucity of information on establishing one-to-one correspondence between stressor and impact, and because of the assumption that it will be the unique combination of stressors that will determine the aggregate level of stress, a weighting system based on expert opinion was developed. Each of the drivers was placed into one of four theme areas, with a weighting assigned such that within each theme the individual driver weights summed to 1.0. In turn, each of the themes used here was assigned a weighting with their sum totaling to 1.0. Separate weightings were assigned with respect to HWS and BD-RH, so that while the same driver data were used throughout, the differential weightings produced two separate threat indices reflecting these two impact perspectives. The available driver values were multiplied by their corresponding within-theme weights and their sum recorded and carried forward to compute the two threat indices at the pixel scale (30' lat x long), which then constituted two global mappings, one for HWS and the other for BD-RH threat/impairment. Figure 2 summarizes visually the calculation procedure. Maps of the composite threat index for individual pixels (n>62,000 globally at 30' resolution) representing the more than 6,200 river basins of the world were produced and analyzed. The map for BD-RH is shown in Figure 3, along with a difference map of areas where, in relative terms, one class of threat predominates over the other. Clearly, there will be regions where both HWS and BD-RH threats will be minimal, where one threat predominates, and where both are substantial. The difference map shows the distinct geographies of the threats, suggesting that RAF interventions may need to be crafted within the context of management objectives that are not necessarily well-harmonized; RAF investment strategies may thus require a formal tradeoff analysis, the design of which fell outside the mandate of this report.
8 TABL
E 2A
: Maj
or th
emes
, sub
sidi
ary
driv
er d
ata
sets
and
thei
r key
attr
ibut
es, a
s id
entif
ied
thro
ugh
expe
rt co
nsen
sus
of th
e co
nsul
ting
team
and
affi
liate
s. A
n as
sess
men
t of e
ach
data
set
's c
urre
nt a
vaila
bilit
y an
d re
adin
ess
to c
ontri
bute
to a
GBI
is a
lso
offe
red.
Add
ition
al d
etai
ls a
re g
iven
in S
ectio
n IV
on
how
thes
e da
ta s
ourc
es w
ere
used
in a
de
mon
stra
tion
targ
etin
g th
reat
to w
ater
ser
vice
s fro
m a
HW
S =
Hum
an W
ater
Sec
urity
and
BD
-RH
= B
iodive
rsity
-Rive
r Hea
lth p
ersp
ectiv
e. T
he c
ompo
site
thre
at s
core
s ta
ke
into
acc
ount
alte
rnat
ive
posi
tive
and
nega
tive
effe
cts
whe
n th
e sa
me
varia
ble
is v
iew
ed d
iffer
ently
in th
e co
ntex
t of H
WS
vers
us B
D-RH
. For
exa
mpl
e, ri
ver f
ragm
enta
tion
thro
ugh
dam
con
stru
ctio
n ha
s a
dele
terio
us im
pact
on
BD-R
H ye
t bea
rs a
pos
itive
effe
ct o
n HW
S th
roug
h flo
w s
tabi
lizat
ion
that
del
iver
s m
ore
relia
ble
river
dis
char
ge to
depe
nden
t hum
an e
nd-u
sers
. Ava
ilabi
lity
scor
es:
= av
ailab
le an
d re
quire
s no
furth
er p
roce
ssin
g;
= av
ailab
le bu
t req
uire
s pro
cess
ing;
=
not
yet a
vaila
ble.
| M
AJOR
| D
RIVE
R
|
VARI
ABLE
OR
BASI
N
|
| DA
TA F
ORMA
T
|
AVAI
LABI
LITY
/ LEV
EL O
F RE
ADIN
ESS
|
| T
HEME
| D
ATA
SET
|
CON
DITI
ON R
EPRE
SENT
ED
|
SOU
RCE
|
FO
RMAT
| F
OR A
DOPT
ION
INTO
GBI
| Ri
ver n
etwo
rk
and
basin
ou
tline
s
Hyd
roSH
EDS
is a
nea
r-glo
bal d
atas
et
that
pro
vide
s ve
ctor
ized
rive
r net
wor
ks
and
wat
ersh
ed d
elin
eatio
ns a
t var
ious
sc
ales
Lehn
er e
t al.
2008
; ava
ilabl
e at
ht
tp://
hydr
oshe
ds.c
r.usg
s.go
v/
Grid
s an
d sh
apef
iles
at
vario
us re
solu
tions
, inc
l. 3,
15,
30
arc-
seco
nds,
an
d 5
min
D
ata
is a
vaila
ble
at v
ario
us re
solu
tions
but
may
requ
ire
resa
mpl
ing
if pr
ojec
t res
olut
ion
diffe
rs fr
om a
vaila
ble
reso
lutio
ns.
Surfa
ce w
ater
bo
dies
SW
BD (S
urfa
ce W
ater
Bod
y D
ata)
di
stin
guis
hes
lake
s an
d riv
ers
NAS
A/N
GA/
USG
S, 2
003.
Dat
a av
aila
ble
at
http
://ed
c.us
gs.g
ov/p
rodu
cts/
elev
atio
n/sw
bd.h
tml
Poly
gons
orig
inal
ly
map
ped
at 3
0m
reso
lutio
n
N
ear g
loba
l ext
ent (
ends
at 6
0 de
gree
s N
orth
). U
SGS
prov
ides
dat
a in
app
rox.
120
00 s
ingl
e sh
apef
iles
whi
ch
need
to b
e m
erge
d an
d cl
eane
d.
1.
WAT
ER
RESO
URCE
DE
VELO
PMEN
T AN
D W
ATER
DE
LIVE
RY
SERV
ICE
Dam
Den
sity
and
Dist
ribut
ion
Glo
bal d
istri
butio
n, d
ensi
ty, a
nd
num
ber o
f dam
s, lo
cal i
n na
ture
G
eosp
atia
l mod
elin
g ba
sed
on c
a.
70,0
00 d
ams
in th
e U
S N
atio
nal
Inve
ntor
y of
Dam
s
Grid
ded
from
poi
nt d
ata
R
equi
res
subs
tant
ial v
erifi
catio
n ou
tsid
e of
US
Fr
agm
enta
tion
of R
iverin
e Ha
bita
t due
to
Rese
rvoi
rs
Glo
bal d
istri
butio
n, d
ensi
ty, a
nd
num
ber o
f dam
s, lo
cal i
n na
ture
G
WSP
-GR
AND
dat
a se
t Po
int a
nd v
ecto
r for
mat
Req
uire
s re
sam
plin
g an
d lin
kage
to d
igita
l dat
a la
yers
fo
r stre
am n
etw
orks
(i.e
. Hyd
roSH
EDS)
Fl
ow D
istor
tion:
Ch
ange
in
High
-Low
Ra
nge
Mon
thly
and
ann
ual d
isch
arge
for
year
s 19
01- 2
007;
dis
torti
on s
imul
ated
W
isse
r et a
l, 20
08
0.5X
0.5
degr
ee g
loba
l gr
id
R
equi
res
0.1
X 0.
1 de
gree
rene
wab
le w
ater
sup
ply
data
set c
urre
ntly
in p
rogr
ess
Fl
ow D
istor
tion:
W
ater
Co
nsum
ptio
n
Dep
letio
n of
flow
U
sing
met
hods
in V
örös
mar
ty e
t al.
2005
0.
1 x
0.1
degr
ee g
loba
l gr
id
N
o fu
rther
pro
cess
ing
requ
ired
Fl
ow D
istor
tion:
Re
siden
ce T
ime
Chan
ge d
ue to
Im
poun
dmen
t
Res
iden
ce ti
me
dow
nstre
am o
f dam
s U
sing
met
hods
in V
örös
mar
ty e
t al.
1997
0.
1 x
0.1
degr
ee g
loba
l gr
id
R
equi
res
0.1
X 0.
1 de
gree
rene
wab
le w
ater
sup
ply
data
set c
urre
ntly
in p
rogr
ess
Av
ailab
le wa
ter
per c
apita
R
enew
able
wat
er s
uppl
y di
vide
d by
to
tal,
urba
n an
d ru
ral p
opul
atio
n di
strib
utio
n
Com
pute
d fro
m W
Isse
r et a
l. 20
08
and
CIE
SIN
200
4 0.
1 x
0.1
degr
ee; a
rc-
seco
nd g
loba
l grid
Req
uire
s 0.
1 X
0.1
degr
ee re
new
able
wat
er s
uppl
y da
tase
t cur
rent
ly in
pro
gres
s
Avail
able
wate
r pe
r uni
t cr
oplan
d
Ren
ewab
le w
ater
sup
ply
divi
ded
by
crop
land
C
ompu
ted
from
WIs
ser e
t al.
2008
an
d R
aman
kutty
, et.
al.,
2008
; Th
enka
bail,
et a
l, 20
08 (G
IAM
)
5 m
in x
5 m
in g
loba
l gr
id
R
equi
res
0.1
X 0.
1 de
gree
rene
wab
le w
ater
sup
ply
data
set c
urre
ntly
in p
rogr
ess
Urb
an W
ater
Su
pplie
s C
onte
mpo
rary
and
futu
re p
roje
ctio
ns
of w
ater
with
draw
als
(199
0 -2
025)
for
pota
ble
use
in u
rban
sec
tors
Voro
smar
ty e
t al 2
000,
Sec
kler
, et a
l 19
98 (I
WM
I), C
IESI
N 2
004
0.1
x 0.
1 de
gree
; arc
-se
cond
glo
bal g
rid
R
equi
res
anal
ysis
to d
istri
bute
cou
ntry
leve
l dem
and
valu
es a
cros
s ur
ban
popu
latio
n
Irrig
atio
n C
onte
mpo
rary
and
futu
re p
roje
ctio
ns
(199
0 -2
025)
for i
rriga
tion
wat
er
Voro
smar
ty e
t al 2
000,
Sec
kler
, et a
l 19
98 (I
WM
I), R
aman
kutty
, et.
al.,
5 m
in x
5 m
in g
loba
l gr
id
R
equi
res
anal
ysis
to d
istri
bute
cou
ntry
leve
l dem
and
valu
es a
cros
s irr
igat
ed c
ropl
and
9
dem
and
2008
; The
nkab
ail,e
t al,
2008
(GIA
M)
Indu
stria
l Use
C
onte
mpo
rary
and
futu
re p
roje
ctio
ns
(199
0 -2
025)
of w
ater
dem
and
for
indu
stria
l use
Voro
smar
ty e
t al 2
000,
Sec
kler
, et a
l 19
98 (I
WM
I), V
asso
lo a
nd D
oll,
2005
0.
5 x
0.5
degr
ee; a
rc-
seco
nd g
loba
l grid
Req
uire
s an
alys
is to
dis
tribu
te c
ount
ry le
vel d
eman
d va
lues
acr
oss
indu
stria
l loc
atio
ns
Impr
oved
dr
inkin
g wa
ter
and
sani
tatio
n
Perc
ent i
mpr
oved
drin
king
wat
er a
nd
sani
tatio
n by
cou
ntry
U
NIC
EF/W
MO
Joi
nt M
onito
ring
Prog
ram
me
Cou
ntry
-leve
l dat
a
Req
uire
s di
strib
utio
n w
ithin
cou
ntry
2. POLL
UTIO
N OF
WAT
ER
SUPP
LY A
ND
INLA
ND
WAT
ERW
AYS
Nitro
gen
Load
s N
itrog
en lo
ads
to th
e la
ndsc
ape
incl
udin
g hu
man
, liv
esto
ck, f
ertil
izer
, de
posi
tion
and
fixat
ion
for p
re-
indu
stria
l and
con
tem
pora
ry c
ondi
tions
From
Gre
en e
t al.
2004
30
X30
arc-
seco
nd
glob
al g
rid
N
o fu
rther
pro
cess
ing
requ
ired
Ph
osph
orou
s Po
int a
nd n
on-p
oint
sou
rce
dist
ribut
ed
P lo
ads
Har
rison
et a
l 200
5 or
Bou
wm
an e
t al
., 20
09 (i
n pr
ogre
ss)
0.5X
0.5
degr
ee g
loba
l gr
id
R
equi
res
high
er re
solu
tion
lives
tock
dis
tribu
tion
data
or
resa
mpl
ing
to fi
ner s
cale
Pest
icide
s To
tal p
estic
ides
at c
ount
ry-le
vel f
rom
U
N F
AO s
patia
lly d
istri
bute
d ov
er
"man
aged
" cro
plan
d.
2005
Env
ironm
enta
l Sus
tain
abilit
y In
dex,
Ram
anku
tty, e
t. al
., 20
08
5X5
arc-
min
ute
glob
al
grid
No
furth
er p
roce
ssin
g re
quire
d
Me
rcur
y M
ercu
ry d
epos
ition
to th
e la
nd
Selin
et a
l., 2
008
2X2.
5 de
gree
glo
bal
grid
Req
uire
s re
sam
plin
g to
fine
r sca
le
La
nd E
rosio
n /
Sedi
men
ts
Rat
es o
f lan
d er
osio
n ba
sed
on a
re
latio
nshi
p be
twee
n po
pula
tion
dens
ity a
nd v
ulne
rabi
lity
to w
ater
er
osio
n.
Rei
ch, e
t al,
2001
2X
2 ar
c-m
inut
e gl
obal
gr
id
N
o fu
rther
pro
cess
ing
requ
ired
So
il Sa
liniza
tion
Elec
trica
l con
duct
ivity
use
d as
pro
xy
for s
oil s
alin
ity
Batje
s, 2
005,
ISR
IC-W
ISE
vers
ion
3.0
deriv
ed s
oil p
rope
rties
5X
5 ar
c-m
inut
e gl
obal
gr
id
N
o fu
rther
pro
cess
ing
requ
ired
Or
gani
c Loa
ds
(BOD
) O
rgan
ic lo
ads
(BO
D) c
alcu
late
d fro
m
sew
ered
nitr
ogen
load
s an
d us
ing
a BO
D:N
ratio
bas
ed o
n tre
atm
ent l
evel
.
Gre
en, e
t al.,
200
4; J
anss
en e
t al,
2002
and
Hor
an e
t al,
1994
30
X30
arc-
seco
nd
glob
al g
rid
N
o fu
rther
pro
cess
ing
requ
ired
Po
tent
ial
Acid
ifica
tion
Acid
equ
ival
ents
cal
cula
ted
for N
Ox
and
SOx
depo
sitio
n an
d co
mbi
ned
to
crea
te a
sin
gle
pote
ntia
l aci
dific
atio
n da
tase
t.
Den
tene
r et a
l 200
6 0.
5X0.
5 de
gree
glo
bal
grid
Req
uire
s hi
gher
reso
lutio
n da
ta o
r res
ampl
ing
to fi
ner
scal
e
Th
erm
al Po
llutio
n /
Ther
moe
lectri
c Co
olin
g
Ther
mal
impa
cts
from
pow
er p
lant
co
olin
g; w
ater
with
draw
als
and
cons
umpt
ive
wat
er u
se o
f the
rmal
po
wer
sta
tions
.
Vass
olo
and
Dol
l, 20
05
0.
5X0.
5 de
gree
glo
bal
grid
Req
uire
s hi
gher
reso
lutio
n da
ta o
r res
ampl
ing
to fi
ner
scal
e
3.
WAT
ERSH
ED
DIST
URBA
NCE
Agric
ultu
re
Land
use
Dist
ribut
ion
Map
ping
of a
ctiv
e cr
opla
nds
incl
udin
g irr
igat
ed a
nd ra
infe
d cr
opla
nds
Ram
anku
tty, e
t. al
., 20
08;
Then
kaba
il,et
al,
2008
(GIA
M)
5X5
and
10X1
0 ar
c-m
inut
e gl
obal
grid
s
No
furth
er p
roce
ssin
g re
quire
d
Im
perv
ious
ness
Im
perv
ious
ness
Sur
face
Are
a ca
lcul
ated
from
the
Glo
bal D
istri
butio
n an
d D
ensi
ty o
f Con
stru
cted
Im
perv
ious
Sur
face
s
Elvi
dge
et a
l. 20
07
30X3
0 ar
c-se
cond
gl
obal
grid
No
furth
er p
roce
ssin
g re
quire
d
W
etlan
ds an
d W
etlan
d Di
s-co
nnec
tivity
Perc
ent o
f wet
land
occ
upie
d by
cr
opla
nd a
nd im
perv
ious
are
a
Lehn
er a
nd D
oll,
2004
, Ram
anku
tty,
2008
, Elv
idge
et a
l., 2
007
2X2
arc-
min
ute
glob
al
grid
No
furth
er p
roce
ssin
g re
quire
d
Li
vest
ock
Dens
ity
Live
stoc
k de
nsity
cal
cula
ted
from
a
map
of d
omes
ticat
ed a
nim
al
dist
ribut
ion
(Ler
ner,
1988
) wei
ghte
d by
Gre
en e
t al.
2004
0.
5X0.
5 de
gree
glo
bal
grid
Req
uire
s hi
gher
reso
lutio
n liv
esto
ck d
istri
butio
n da
ta o
r re
sam
plin
g to
fine
r sca
le
10
anim
al n
itrog
en e
xcre
tion
rate
s (s
ee
Gre
en e
t. al
, 200
4).
Fish
Cat
ch
Pres
sure
FA
O F
ishS
tat c
ount
ry le
vel c
atch
st
atis
tics
dist
ribut
ed a
ccor
ding
to
disc
harg
e an
d N
PP.
FAO
, 200
8; F
oley
et a
l. 19
96,
Kuch
arik
et a
l. 20
00; W
isse
r et a
l, 20
08
0.5X
0.5
degr
ee g
loba
l gr
id
R
equi
res
high
er re
solu
tion
data
or r
esam
plin
g to
fine
r sc
ale
Inva
sive f
ish
spec
ies
richn
ess
Prox
y fo
r oth
er in
vasi
ves
(e.g
. zeb
ra
mus
sels
; pla
nts)
Le
Prie
ur e
t al.
2008
Ba
sin-
scal
e; a
vaila
ble
toda
y as
3 c
ateg
orie
s of
in
vasi
on le
vels
Ea
rly 2
009,
con
tinuo
us v
aria
ble
valu
es e
xpec
ted
to b
e re
leas
ed. N
o fu
rther
Inva
sive
spec
ies as
fra
ctio
n of
na
tive s
pecie
s
Prox
y fo
r effe
ctive
impa
ct o
f inv
asiv
es
(e.g
. zeb
ra m
usse
ls; p
lant
s)
LePr
ieur
et a
l. 20
08
Basi
n-sc
ale;
ava
ilabl
e to
day
as 3
cat
egor
ies
of
inva
sive
ness
Ea
rly 2
009,
con
tinuo
us v
aria
ble
valu
es e
xpec
ted
to b
e re
leas
ed. N
o fu
rther
Fres
hwat
er
aqua
cultu
re
prod
uctio
n
FAO
Fis
hSta
t cou
ntry
-leve
l aq
uacu
lture
sta
tistic
s, d
istri
bute
d ac
cord
ing
to d
isch
arge
FAO
200
8; M
cInt
yre
et a
l. in
pr
epar
atio
n
0.5X
0.5
degr
ee g
loba
l gr
id
R
equi
res
high
er re
solu
tion
data
or r
esam
plin
g to
fine
r sc
ale.
Als
o re
quire
s fu
rther
refin
emen
t of d
istri
butio
n al
gorit
hm.
Amph
ibian
di
strib
utio
ns
Glo
bal m
aps
of ra
nge
and
stat
us o
f ea
ch o
f 591
8 am
phib
ian
spec
ies.
http
://w
ww
.glo
bala
mph
ibia
ns.o
rg/
Poly
gon
and
poin
t
No
furth
er p
roce
ssin
g re
quire
d
Fres
hwat
er
turtl
e di
strib
utio
ns
Glo
bal m
aps
of ra
nge
and
stat
us o
f ev
ery
fresh
wat
er tu
rtle
spec
ies.
Dr.
Kurt
A. B
uhlm
ann,
the
Sava
nnah
R
iver
Eco
logy
Lab
orat
ory,
the
Uni
vers
ity o
f Geo
rgia
and
the
IUC
N-
SSC
and
CI/C
ABS
Glo
bal R
eptil
e As
sess
men
t (pr
elim
inar
y re
sults
). Ec
oreg
ion
sum
mar
ies
avai
labl
e at
w
ww
.feow
.org
Vario
us re
solu
tions
No
furth
er p
roce
ssin
g re
quire
d. T
he d
ata
are
not y
et
freel
y av
aila
ble,
but
eco
regi
onal
sum
mar
ies
are
avai
labl
e fro
m T
NC
- or
igin
al d
ata
prov
ider
s ne
ed to
gi
ve p
erm
issi
on fo
r use
.
Fres
hwat
er fi
sh
dist
ribut
ions
by
EcoR
egio
n
Glo
bal s
ynth
esis
of d
istri
butio
n an
d di
vers
ity o
f fre
shw
ater
fish
spe
cies
. Ab
ell e
t al.
2008
Bio
Scie
nce;
ht
tp://
ww
w.fe
ow.o
rg
Ecor
egio
ns (4
26)
N
o fu
rther
pro
cess
ing
requ
ired.
The
dat
a ar
e no
t yet
fre
ely
avai
labl
e, b
ut w
ill be
dur
ing
2009
from
WW
F-TN
C te
am.
Croc
odilia
n di
strib
utio
ns b
y Ec
oreg
ion
Glo
bal s
ynth
esis
of d
istri
butio
n an
d di
vers
ity o
f cro
codi
lian
spec
ies
in
fresh
wat
ers.
Ecor
egio
nal s
umm
arie
s ba
sed
on
spec
ies
rang
e m
aps
avai
labl
e fro
m
the
IUC
N-S
SC C
roco
dile
Spe
cial
ist
Gro
up a
nd D
r. Ad
am B
ritto
n, W
ildlif
e M
anag
emen
t Int
erna
tiona
l, an
d th
e U
nive
rsity
of F
lorid
a.
Ecor
egio
ns (4
26)
N
o fu
rther
pro
cess
ing
requ
ired.
Eco
regi
onal
sum
mar
y da
ta a
re a
vaila
ble
from
TN
C's
Cen
ter f
or G
loba
l Tr
ends
.
Mam
mal
dist
ribut
ions
G
loba
l spe
cies
rang
es a
nd
cons
erva
tion
stat
us in
clud
ing
fresh
wat
er-a
ssoc
iate
d sp
ecie
s
Glo
bal M
amm
al A
sses
smen
t (IU
CN
) Po
lygo
ns a
nd p
oint
s
N
o fu
rther
pro
cess
ing
requ
ired.
Dat
a sh
ould
be
com
ing
on li
ne b
y D
ecem
ber 2
008.
4.
BIOL
OGIC
AL
FACT
ORS
Fres
hwat
er fi
sh
dist
ribut
ions
by
basin
Nea
rly-g
loba
l com
pila
tion
of
dist
ribut
ion
and
dive
rsity
of f
resh
wat
er
fish
spec
ies.
Als
o in
clud
es in
vasi
ve
fish
spec
ies.
LePr
ieur
et a
l. 20
08 P
LoS
Biol
ogy
Ba
sins
(108
8)
N
o fu
rther
pro
cess
ing
requ
ired.
How
ever
, acc
ess
to
the
data
is re
stric
ted
by th
e Fr
ench
team
that
col
lect
ed
it (S
. Bro
sse,
T. O
berd
orf).
11
TABL
E 2B
: Maj
or d
ata
cent
ers
from
whi
ch k
ey d
ata
sets
can
be
secu
red
for a
dditi
onal
them
atic
cov
erag
e. S
ome
of th
ese
cent
ers
have
alre
ady
prov
ided
crit
ical
inpu
ts fr
om w
hich
th
e Th
eme/
Driv
er c
ombi
natio
ns h
ave
been
ass
embl
ed (e
.g. f
low
dis
torti
on u
sing
arc
hive
d riv
er d
isch
arge
dat
a).
| D
ATA
CENT
ER
|
CLA
SSES
OF
HOLD
INGS
|
RE
FERE
NCE
Web
site
| CI
ESIN
/SED
AC
Glo
bal p
opul
atio
n fro
m 1
990-
2015
G
loba
l GD
P di
strib
utio
ns b
ased
on
SRES
sce
nario
s Su
stai
nabi
lity
Indi
cato
rs –
ESI
, EPI
, EVI
, NR
MI,
HAN
PP
Haz
ard
Vuln
erab
ility
map
s –
drou
ght,
flood
, ear
thqu
ake,
cyc
lone
, lan
dslid
e, v
olca
no
Pove
rty a
nd F
ood
Secu
rity
map
ping
– fo
od s
uppl
y, in
fant
mor
talit
y, u
nsat
isfie
d ne
eds
Biod
iver
sity
– s
peci
es d
istri
butio
n, v
eget
atio
n/la
nd c
over
, wild
are
as
http
://se
dac.
cies
in.c
olum
bia.
edu/
gate
way
/dat
abyg
loba
l.htm
l
WCR
P CM
IP3 M
ulti-
Mode
l Dat
a Arc
hive
IP
CC
AR
4 cl
imat
olog
y re
sults
for m
ajor
mod
els
for f
utur
e cl
imat
es
http
://w
ww
-pcm
di.ll
nl.g
ov/ip
cc/a
bout
_ipc
c.ph
p Da
rtmou
th F
lood
Obs
erva
tory
Fl
ood
and
drou
ght m
onito
ring
Floo
d m
easu
rem
ent a
nd h
azar
d m
appi
ng s
yste
m
Rap
id R
espo
nse
inun
datio
n m
aps
http
://w
ww
.dar
tmou
th.e
du/~
flood
s/in
dex.
htm
l
Glob
al Ru
noff
Data
Cen
ter
GR
DC
rive
r dis
char
ge d
ata
from
gau
ging
sta
tions
Lo
ng te
rm m
ean
mon
thly
and
ann
ual f
resh
wat
er s
urfa
ce w
ater
flux
es
Maj
or ri
ver b
asin
s an
d hy
drol
ogic
al s
ubre
gion
s of
the
wor
ld
http
://gr
dc.b
afg.
de/s
ervl
et/is
/987
/
Glob
al Pr
ecip
itatio
n Cl
imat
olog
y Cen
ter
Nea
r rea
l-tim
e "F
irst G
uess
" of p
reci
pita
tion
anom
aly
Prec
ipita
tion
stat
ion
data
from
195
1-20
04; 5
0-Ye
ar V
ASC
limO
Dat
a Se
t (19
51-2
000)
G
ridde
d C
limat
olog
ical
Nor
mal
s ba
sed
on m
onth
ly m
eans
gpcc
.dw
d.de
/
Glob
al Pr
ecip
itatio
n Cl
imat
olog
y Pro
ject
Mon
thly
mea
n pr
ecip
itatio
n es
timat
es fr
om 1
979
and
plan
ned
thro
ugh
2005
. ht
tp://
cics
.um
d.ed
u/~y
in/G
PCP/
mai
n.ht
ml
Inte
rnat
iona
l Wat
er M
anag
emen
t Ins
titut
e Fo
reca
sts
for c
onte
mpo
rary
and
futu
re w
ater
sup
ply
and
dem
and
http
://w
ww
.lk.iw
mi.o
rg/in
dex.
htm
UN
Foo
d an
d Ag
ricul
ture
Org
aniza
tion
- Fi
sher
ies an
d Aq
uacu
lture
Dep
artm
ent
Cha
rged
with
com
pilin
g an
d ar
chiv
ing
fresh
wat
er fi
sh c
atch
dat
a fro
m e
very
nat
ion,
and
as
sess
ing
curre
nt a
nd fu
ture
tren
ds in
glo
bal f
ood
fish
prod
uctio
n.
http
://w
ww
.fao.
org/
fishe
ry/e
n
Wor
ld R
esou
rces
Inst
itute
's W
ater
shed
s of
the W
orld
Por
tal
Com
pila
tion
of in
form
atio
n fro
m 1
46 m
ediu
m a
nd la
rge
basi
ns.
Incl
udes
lim
ited
data
on
basi
n bo
unda
ries,
frag
men
tatio
n an
d flo
w re
gula
tion,
wat
er s
tress
pro
ject
ions
, and
fish
spe
cies
ric
hnes
s,
http
://ea
rthtre
nds.
wri.
org/
map
s_sp
atia
l/wat
ersh
eds/
inde
x.ph
p
RAMS
AR W
etlan
d Si
te In
form
atio
n Se
rvice
R
epos
itory
for m
aps
and
info
rmat
ion
abou
t RAM
SAR
's 1
822
desi
gnat
ed w
etla
nd s
ites.
ht
tp://
ram
sar.w
etla
nds.
org/
Gl
obal
Wat
er S
yste
m P
rojec
t (GW
SP) D
igita
l W
ater
Atla
s An
nota
ted
map
s of
man
y th
emes
rega
rdin
g gl
obal
wat
er s
yste
m. I
nclu
des
met
adat
a de
scrip
tions
and
link
s to
orig
inal
dat
a.
http
://at
las.
gwsp
.org
/
Cent
er fo
r Sus
tain
abilit
y and
the G
loba
l En
viron
men
t (SA
GE),
Unive
rsity
of
Wisc
onsin
-Mad
ison
G
loba
l map
s, d
ata
and
mod
els
of v
ario
us e
nviro
nmen
tal t
hem
es. I
nclu
des
the
Atla
s of
the
Bios
pher
e.
http
://w
ww
.sag
e.w
isc.
edu/
page
s/da
tam
odel
s.ht
ml
12
Figure 2. Calculation scheme to develop an aggregate GBI-water benefits estimate. Global maps of key drivers, identified to hold impact on water provisioning services and ecosystem integrity were identified, geospatially rectified, routed down digital river networks, and transformed into a set of normalized indicators. A total of 23 individual drivers (from 36 in Table 2), organized into 4 theme areas, which contributed to the Human Water System (HWS) and Biodiversity River Health (BD-RH) aggregate scores were used here. The calculation can be expressed as a benefits accounting or its "inverse", an impairment/threat score.
Figure 3. Results of a preliminary mapping exercise exploring the level of impairment of benefits to River Health and Biodiversity (RH-BD) and Human Water Supply (HWS) using entries from Table 1 and the calculation system described above. Top panel shows the biodiversity-river health metric (with the color bar, reading left-to-right indicating increased insult). Bottom panel is a difference map (with the RH-BD threat index subtracted from HWS index; former map not shown). The color bar inset corresponds to mapped areas where threats to HWS are greater in relative terms than they are to RH-BD and vice versa, as indicated in the diagram. The large areas of deep blue in the N. hemisphere temperate zone indicate a preponderance of threat to ecosystems over threats to human water security. This provisional finding suggests that RAF strategies may need to account for two unique two geographies of threat and possibly two classes of policy intervention.
13
BOX 1: The Global-RIMS Toolkit (Global-Rapid Indicator Mapping System). The Global-RIMS toolkit* exercised in this study represents a geospatial information interface through which users can assemble, visualize, and probe multiple geospatial data sets; compute water and ecosystem state; and tabulate water benefits. The system fully couples basin landscape attributes to river corridors, allowing network-oriented, upstream-downstream calculations to be made. Global-RIMS computing and web strategies incorporate the latest advance-ments in Earth system data processing and management, working in compliance with Open Geospatial Consortium standards. Data interoperability and accessibility are at the core of this system. The ability to store and recall spatial and non-spatial information in standard-ized common formats and serve them to users via well-defined interfaces that can be accessed through a wide range of client-based applications is essential to RIMS functionality. Core functions include:
• Data acquisition from various data providers, some in near real time (e.g. precipitation) • Data pre-processing to conform to standardized data and metadata structures • Data archiving using a directory hierarchy and relational database • Data post-processing to facilitate system functionality (e.g., time pyramid for time-series data,
flexible spatial aggregation/disaggregation [Fekete et al. 2001] to "telescope" HydroSHEDS high resolution digital river networks)
• Machine readable interfaces to the database archive • Client tools (client side applications, specialized data viewers, WEB-GUI)
Global-RIMS calculation tool, computing a variety of water services within the Nile Basin (right). The domain of individual countries within the basin are identified and aggregate summary statistics computed. The topological network of digital rivers enables upstream-downstream contrasts to be quantified, such as water consumption, flow diversion, distortion of natural flows, pollutant fluxes, levels of watershed disturbance, etc.
14
V. Key Affiliates and Partnerships: Data Providers and Users
The cross-cutting nature of the GBI together with the indicator products envisioned to be developed should catalyze numerous interactions with a broad array of outside partners. Specific agencies and organizational collaborators are listed in Technical Appendix-1, together with an initial group of targeted beneficiaries. The bulk of the partnership does not need to be assembled de novo. Several major scientific and operational organizations have already indicated their interest in working with, for example, the indicator efforts convened under the Global Scale Initiative of the Global Water System Project, as well as a consortium organized under the aegis of the UN World Water Assessment Program, which is also seeking indicators of water system state. Members of the consulting team that prepared this report either participate in or lead these efforts.
VI. Conclusions and Recommendations
This brief report has presented a strategy for incorporating globally available, geospatial indicators-- as a GBI Water Benefits Index-- into an RAF for Transboundary Freshwater Basins in the GEF International Waters Focal Area. While the emphasis here has been on GBI-relevant data resources for Transboundary Freshwater Basins, the report demonstrates how an appropriately designed indicator system could fit into a broader RAF framework that eventually will incorporate GPI elements and that can interact with other IW components and GEF Focal Areas. Details of a tradeoff assessment could not be provided here but such assessment is the next logical step in the development of the framework. The GBI activity is most productively based on sound partnerships of data providers and users, in this case RAF designers, together with a technical execution team. Capacity building should also be considered. A preliminary analysis, while admittedly not fully comprehensive, was useful in identifying limits on the use existing data resources and highlighted challenges toward developing a fully functional GBI basin water benefits accounting system. The analysis demonstrated that an integrated mapping activity to generate GBI-relevant outputs is both feasible and imminent: an 8-km resolution GBI indicator assessment focusing on year 2000 to present and with time-varying monthly steps or 8-10-year contemporary climatology appears feasible. Additional assessment of future conditions, including the impact of climate change, population growth, economic development could be built directly onto this capability. An integrated benefits accounting system could be developed over a 2-5 year period. Targeted Outputs:
Information Technology Products • Operational version of the GBI accounting system, joining key elements of existing toolkits • Individual data bases, calculation procedures, mapped indicator outputs, summary statistics • Diagnostic tools for locating potential inconsistencies in the integrated data compendia • Technical documentation • Website to promote the GBI indicator work; links to the RAF for IW and other focal areas • Peer-reviewed scientific papers analyzing and applying GBI indicator products
Major Data Bank and Other Information Products • National Water Accounts and Water Report Cards, summarizing by country water fluxes, pollutant
load and variables to be used to define the water resource base • Monthly anomalies, water extremes, and hydrologic, pollutant, biodiversity "hot spots", 2000-present • Geographies of existing, new, and planned hydraulic infrastructure (e.g. dams, interbasin transfers) as
they affect upstream-downstream stakeholders • Operational view of basin, regional, continental, global water stress and populations exposed • Green/blue water use estimates in agriculture, annual virtual water trade and other elements (Table 1). • Scenario analysis of future conditions, including assessment of climate change, population growth,
economic development, planned development of waterways, etc.
15
Key Recommendations for Next 2-5 Years:
• Convene a standing GBI design team consisting of chief data providers, GBI indicator toolkit developers, and RAF experts to (a) confirm the scope and structure of the proposed high resolution GBI water benefits accounting strategy, (b) agree on final technical approach, and (c) identify particular issues and/or basins of interest; assemble key partners from those listed in Section V.
• Identify core data sets and prepare as necessary for incorporation into the GBI benefits estimator. • Design and incorporate into the GBI indicator system specific technical capabilities and functionality,
as determined by the design team, and linked to other elements of the RAF frame. • Convene meetings of experts or solicit advice through other means to support an independent peer-
review to provide QA/QC on all data holdings • Execute focused workshops to develop GBI indicators using the vetted data holdings; these could be
convened around particular themes and/or on specific drainage basins or classes of drainage basins (e.g. drought-prone basins in sub-Saharan Africa, rapidly developing basins in Asia, etc.).
• Outreach to create a partnership of local experts who can provide QA/QC, insight into conditions-on-the-ground and thusly guide the RAF by relying suitably on local knowledge.
• Train local partners in the use of the GBI indicator system, arming them with state-of-the-art data resources; a certification process on the use of the GBI indicator system is advised.
• Develop a web presence for the activity, providing data sets, key results, newsworthy stories regarding basin ecosystem services, and training materials.
• Prepare published policy briefs and consult target constituency groups, potential funding agencies. • Begin planning tradeoff analysis and identify data & technical needs associated with such.
16
ACRONYMS BD-RH Biodiversity – River Health EPA Environmental Protection Agency EPI Environmental Performance Index ESI Environmental Sustainability Index FAO Food and Agriculture Organization GBI GEF Benefits Index GDP Gross Domestic Product GEF Global Environment Facility GEOSS Global Earth Observation System of Systems GIS Geographical Information System Global-RIMS Global Rapid Indicator Mapping System GPI GEF Performance Index HDI Human Development Index HWS Human Water Security IAHS International Association of Hydrological Science ICSU International Council of Science NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration NSF National Science Foundation NRC National Research Council NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association QA/QC Quality Assurance/Quality Control RAF Resource Allocation Framework UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNEP United Nations Environment Programme UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization UNICEF United Nations Childrens Fund WHO World Health Organization WWDR World Water Development Report
17
REFERENCES Abell, R., M.L. Thieme, C. Revenga, et. al (2008). Freshwater ecoregions of the world: A new map of
biogeographic units for freshwater biodiversity conservation. BioScience, 58(5): 403-414. Batjes, N.H. (2005). ISRIC-WISE global data set of derived soil properties on a 0.5 by 0.5 degree grid
(ver. 3.0). Report 2005/08, ISRIC - World Soil Information, Wageningen. Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University;
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); The World Bank; and Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) (2004). Global Rural-Urban Mapping Project (GRUMP), Alpha Version: Population Grids. Palisades, NY: Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC), Columbia University. Available at <http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/gpw>.
Dentener, F., J. Drevet, J.F. Lamarque, I. Bey, B. Eickhout, A.M. Fiore, D. Hauglustaine, L.W. Horowitz,
M. Krol, U.C. Kulshrestha, M. Lawrence, C. Galy-Lacaux, S. Rast, D. Shindell, D. Stevenson, T. Van Noije, C. Atherton, N. Bell, D. Bergman, T. Butler, J. Cofala, B. Collins, R. Doherty, K. Ellingsen, J. Galloway, M. Gauss, V. Montanaro, J.F. Muller, G. Pitari, J. Rodriguez, M. Sanderson, F. Solmon, S. Strahan, M. Schultz, K. Sudo, S. Szopa, and O. Wild (2006). Nitrogen and sulfur deposition on regional and global scales: A multimodel evaluation. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 20, GB4003, doi:10.1029/2005GB002672.
Elvidge, C.D., P. Cinzano, D.R. Pettit, J. Arvesen, P. Sutton, C. Small, R. Nemani, T. Longcore, C. Rich,
J. Safran, J. Weeks, and S. Ebener (2007). The Nightsat mission concept. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 28(12): 2645-2670, 10.1080/01431160600981525.
Environmental Sustainability Index (2005). Benchmarking National Environmental Stewardship. Yale
Center for Law and Policy, Yale University; Center for International Earth Science Information Network, Columbia University. Available at http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/es/esi/.
Esty, D., M. Levy et al. 2005. The 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index: Benchmarking National
Environmental Stewardship. Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, New Haven. Esty, et al. 2006. The Pilot 2006 Environmental Performance Index Report. Yale Center for
Environmental Law & Policy and Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN).
FAO (2008). Fisheries and Aquaculture Information and Statistics Service. Capture production 1950-
2006. FISHSTAT Plus - Universal software for fishery statistical time series [online or CD-ROM]. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Available at: http://www.fao.org/fi/statist/FISOFT/FISHPLUS.asp.
Fekete, B.M., C.J. Vörösmarty, and R.B. Lammers (2001). Scaling gridded river networks for
macroscale hydrology: Development, analysis, and control of error. Water Resources Research, 37 (7): 1955-1967.
Foley, J.A., I.C. Prentice, N. Ramankutty, S. Levis, D. Pollard, S. Sitch, and A. Haxeltine (1996). An
Integrated Biosphere Model of Land Surface Processes, Terrestrial Carbon Balance and Vegetation Dynamics. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 10: 603-628.
18
Green, P.A., C.J. Vorosmarty, M. Meybeck, J.N. Galloway, B.J. Peterson and E.W. Boyer (2004). Pre-Industrial and contemporary fluxes of nitrogen through rivers: a global assessment based on typology. Biogeochemistry, 68: 71-105.
Harrison, J.A., S.P. Seitzinger, A.F. Bouwman, N.F. Caraco, A.H.W. Beusen and C. Vörösmarty (2005).
Dissolved inorganic phosphorus export to the coastal zone: Results from a spatially explicit, global model (NEWS-DIP). Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 19: GB4S03, doi:10.1029/2004GB002357, 1-15.
Horan, N.J, P. Lowe, Ed I. Stentiford (1994). Nutrient Removal from Wastewaters: Proceedings from the
European Conference Held September 2-4, 1992, Wakefield, UK. Published by CRC Press. IAHS (2001). Global water data: A newly endangered species. Co-authored by C.J. Vörösmarty et al.;
IAHS Ad Hoc Group on Global Water Data Sets. AGU Eos Transactions 82:5 54, 56, 58. Janssen, P.M., J. Stowa, K. Meinema, H.F. Van Der Roest (2002). Biological Phosphorus Removal:
Manual for Design and Operation. Published by IWA Publishing. Kucharik, C.J., J.A. Foley, C. Delire, V.A. Fisher, M.T. Coe, J. Lenters, C. Young-Molling, N.
Ramankutty, J.M. Norman, and S.T. Gower (2000). Testing the performance of a dynamic global ecosystem model: Water balance, carbon balance and vegetation structure. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 14(3): 795-825.
Lawford, R., et al. (20 co-authors) (2004).A Global Water Cycle Theme for the IGOS Partnership.
Report of the Global Water Cycle Team. WCRP, NOAA, ESA, JAXA, NASA, GEWEX. Geneva. 114 pp.
Leff, B., N. Ramankutty, and J.A. Foley (2004). Geographic distribution of major crops across the world.
Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 18(1): GB1009 10.1029/2003GB002108, 16 January 2004. Available at <http://www.sage.wisc.edu:16080/download/majorcrops/majorcrops.html>.
Lehner, B. and P. Döll (2004). Development and validation of a global database of lakes, reservoirs and
wetlands. Journal of Hydrology, 296(1-4): 1-22. Dataset information available at <http://www.worldwildlife.org/science/data/GLWD_Data_Documentation.pdf>. Data available through <http://www.wwfus.org/science/index.html>.
Lehner, B., K. Verdin, A. Jarvis (2008). New global hydrography derived from spaceborne elevation data.
Eos Transactions, 89(10): 93–94. Leprieur F., O. Beauchard, S. Blanchet, T. Oberdorff, S. Brosse (2008). Fish invasions in the world's
river systems: When natural processes are blurred by human activities. PLoS Biol, 6(2): e28. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060028. Publication and data available at <http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0060028&ct=1>.
Levy, M.A., C. Thorkelson, C.J. Vörösmarty, E.M. Douglas, and M. Humphreys (2005). Freshwater
Availability Anomalies and Outbreak of Internal War: Results from a Global Spatial Time Series Analysis. Human Security and Climate Change International Workshop. Asker, Norway. 21-23 June, 26 pp.
19
McIntyre, P., K. Reidy, P. Green et al. (in preparation). A methodology for determining fishing pressure across inland freshwater ecosystems.
Miguel, E., S. Satyanath, and S. Sergenti (2007). Economic Shocks and Civil Conflict: An Instrumental
Variables Approach. Journal of Political Economy, 112: 725-53. NASA/NGA/USGS (2003). SRTM Water Body Data Product Specific Guidance, Version 2.0. Available
at http://edc.usgs.gov/products/elevation/swbdguide.doc. NRC, National Research Council (2007). Earth Science and Applications from Space: National
Imperatives for the Next Decade and Beyond (B. Moore and R.A. Anthes, Eds). Committee on Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Community Assessment and Strategy for the Future, National Academy of Sciences, National Academies Press, 456 pp.
Pacyna, J., S. Wilson and F. Steenhuisen (2005). Spatially Distributed Inventories of Global
Anthropogenic Emissions of Mercury to the Atmosphere. Available at http://www.amap.no/Resources/HgEmissions/.
Ramankutty, N., A.T. Evan, C. Monfreda, and J.A. Foley (2008). Farming the planet: 1. Geographic
distribution of global agricultural lands in the year 2000. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 22: GB1003, doi:10.1029/2007GB002952. Available at: http://www.geog.mcgill.ca/~nramankutty/Datasets/Datasets.html.
Reich, P., H. Eswaran, and F. Beinroth (2001). Global Dimensions of Vulnerability to Wind and Water
Erosion. Joint paper from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the University of Puerto Rico. Available at <http://topsoil.nserl.purdue.edu/nserlweb/isco99/pdf/ISCOdisc/SustainingTheGlobalFarm/P257-Reich.pdf>.
Seckler, et. al (1998). Water Supply and Demand 1990-2025: Scenarios and Issues. IWMI Research
Report 19, International Water Management Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Shiklomanov, I., ed. (1996). Assessment of water resources and water availability in the world: Scientific
and technical report, State Hydrological Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia. Small, C., F. Pozzi, and C.D. Elvidge (2005). Spatial analysis of global urban extent from DMSP-OLS
night lights. Remote Sensing of Environment, 96(3-4): 277-291. Available at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6V6V-4G7X9V9-1/2/66a95899cdd77a24d89a40670f6ca7fa. Data available at http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/dmsp/download.html.
Sutton, P. and R. Costanza (2002). Global estimates of market and non-market values derived from
nighttime satellite imagery, land use, and ecosystem service valuation. Ecological Economics, 41: 509-527.
Thenkabail, P.S., Biradar C.M., Noojipady, P., Dheeravath, V., Li, Y.J., Velpuri, M., Gumma, M., Reddy,
G.P.O., Turral, H., Cai, X. L., Vithanage, J., Schull, M., and Dutta, R. 2008. Global Irrigated Area Map (GIAM) for the End of the Last Millennium Derived from Remote Sensing. International Journal of Remote Sensing (accepted, in press).
20
UNDP (2006). Human Development Report 2006. Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis. UND, New York, 422 pp.
Vassolo, S., and P. Döll (2005). Global-scale gridded estimates of thermoelectric power and
manufacturing water use. Water Resources Research, 41: W04010. DOI:10.1029/2004WR003360. Vörösmarty, C.J., C. Leveque, C. Revenga (Convening Lead Authors) Coordinating Lead Authors: Chris
Caudill, John Chilton, Ellen M. Douglas, Michel Meybeck, Daniel Prager (2005). Chapter 7: Fresh Water. In: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, Volume 1: Conditions and Trends Working Group Report. Island Press.
Vörösmarty, C.J., M. Meybeck, B. Fekete, K. Sharma, P. Green, and J. Syvitski (2003). Anthropogenic
sediment retention: Major global-scale impact from the population of registered impoundments. Global and Planetary Change, 39: 169-190.
Vörösmarty, C.J., B.M. Fekete, M. Meybeck, and R. Lammers (2000). Global system of rivers: Its role in
organizing continental land mass and defining land-to-ocean linkages. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 14: 599-621.
Vörösmarty, C.J. K. Sharma, B. Fekete, A.H. Copeland, J. Holden, J. Marble, and J.A. Lough (1997). The
storage and aging of continental runoff in large reservoir systems of the world. Ambio 26: 210-19. Wisser, D., B.M. Fekete, C.J. Vörösmarty and A.H. Schumann (2008). Reconstructing 20th century
global hydrography: A contribution to the Global Terrestrial Network- Hydrology (GTN-H). In Progress.
WHO/UNICEF (2004). Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation: Meeting the
MDG drinking water and sanitation target: A mid-term assessment of progress. World Health Organization/UNICEF, New York. ISBN 92 4 156278 1, 36 pp.
World Resources Institute (WRI) (1998). World Resources: A Guide to the Global Environment 1998-99,
Washington, DC. Yetman, G., S.R. Gaffin, and X. Xing (2004). Center for International Earth Science Information Network
(CIESIN), Columbia University. Global 15 x 15 Minute Grids of the Downscaled GDP Based on the SRES B2 Scenario, 1990 and 2025. Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC), Columbia University.