Water Resources Assessment

Executive Summary
Water resources can be neither developed nor managed
rationally without an assessment of the quantity and quality
of water available. Water resources assessment (WRA) is a
tool to evaluate water resources in relation to a reference
frame, or to evaluate the dynamics of the water resource in
relation to human impacts or demand. Water resources
assessment is a classic tool used in Integrated Water
Resources Management (IWRM). In the framework of SSWM,
parallel to the water resources assessment, also a material
flow analysis needs to be conducted, to receive a complete
picture of the water and nutrient cycles.
Introduction
Water resources assessment (WRA) is the process of measuring,
collecting and analysing relevant parameters on the quantity and
quality of water resources for the purposes of a better development
and management of water resources.
WRA is a tool to evaluate water resources in relation to a reference
frame, or evaluate the dynamics of the water resource in relation to
human impacts or demand. WRA is applied to a unit such as a
catchment, sub-catchment or groundwater reservoir. It is part of the
IWRM approach, linking social and economic factors to the
sustainability of water resources and associated ecosystems.
Depending on the objective of the assessment, WRA may look at a
range of physical, chemical and biological features in assessing the
dynamics of the resource.
Water resource assessment is a systematic study of the status of water
services and resources, and of trends in accessibility and demand
within a specific domain of interest.
The international Glossary of Hydrology (UNESCO/WMO 1992) defines
water resources assessment as the determination of sources, extent,

dependability and quality of water resources for their utilisation and

control.

Purpose of Water Resources Assessment

Conducting water resources assessment in your area helps clarifying
the following issues:

Current status of water resources at different scales, including

inter-and intra-annual variability

Current water use (including variability), and the resulting societal

and environmental trade-offs

Scale related externalities, especially when patterns of water use

are considered over a range of temporal and spatial scales

Social and institutional factors affecting access to water and their

reliability

Opportunities for saving or making more productive, efficient

and/or equitable

Efficacy and transparency of existing water-related policies and

decision making processes

Conflicts between existing information sets, and the overall

accuracy of government (and other) statistics

By conducting a water resources assessment (WRA), you are

establishing a common, agreed and trusted information base that can
be used by stakeholders as a basis for informed and effective decision
making. In order to improve your sanitation and water system with the
aim to make it more sustainable, it is of prime importance to conduct
a water resources assessment. Especially when a comprehensive and
large-scale change in the water and sanitation system is envisaged, it
is crucial to know the various parameters related to water quality and
quantity in your area. If you, for example, want to save water and
make water use more efficient, it is important to know the various
water consumers and their actual water consumption. Only with a
sound understanding of the present situation of water consumption in
your project area, you can decide where and how to save water.

Components of Water Resources Assessment

In order to conduct a comprehensive water resources assessment, you
need various experts from different backgrounds who conduct, collect
and analyse data required for the assessment.
The following graph illustrates the main components of a water
resources assessment:

Components of a water resources assessment (WRA) program.

Collection of hydrological data - the collection of historical data on water cycle

components at a number of points distributed over the assessment area such as
quantity and quality of surface and groundwater.

Collection of physiographic data - obtaining data on the natural characteristics

of the terrain that determine the areal and time variations of the water cycle
components, such as topography, soils, surface and bed rock geology, land-use

and land-cover. These characteristics are designated for brevity as physiographic

characteristics.

Collection of data from basic and applied research - further research related
to water resources can be essential especially when some data is missing or the
available date is out of date. Furthermore, research may be needed in order to
develop the required technology used for the water resources assessment.

Education and training All the basic water resources assessment activities
require skilled manpower and this in turn require training and education of the
manpower need ).

Techniques of areal assessment of water resources - techniques of transforming

data into information and of relating the hydrological data to the physiographic
data for the purpose of obtaining information on the water-resource
characteristics at any point of the assessment area.

Important Points to be Considered in WRA

A water resources assessment often needs to be carried out in several steps of

increasing complexity. A rapid water resources assessment may help identify and list
the most important issues and identify priority areas (you could also see
Understand your System for this purpose). On the basis of this early assessment,
more detailed investigations may be required. Assessments for large or long-term
projects need to include the examination of changes in land use and possible soil
degradation as well as climate variability and change.
Linking water resources assessment to environmental impact assessment has shown
to build cross-sectoral linkages and heighten awareness of key issues.
Strategic impact assessment can help in the analysis of change capacity of a river
basin, to protect both quantity and quality.
Traditional water resource assessment aimed to provide the basis for the supply of
infrastructure to meet projected needs. Assessments have a much wider remit in an
IWRM perspective, incorporating cross-sectoral tools such as:

Demand assessment, which examines the competing uses of water with the
physical resource base and assesses demand for water (at a given price), thus
helping to determine the financial resources available for water resource
management.

Environmental impact assessment and strategic impact assessment collect

data on the social and environmental implications of development programmes
and projects. Environmental impact assessment is an important tool for crosssectoral integration involving project developers, water managers, decisionmakers and the public. It can be seen as a special form of water resources
assessment.

Social impact assessment, which examines how social and institutional

structures affect water use and management, or how a specific project might
affect social structures.

Risk or vulnerability assessment, looking at the likelihood of extreme events,

such as flood and droughts, and the vulnerability of society to them.

Content Example for a Water Resources Assessment

(Adapted from US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS 1999)
The following list is an example how the content of a water resources assessment
could look like for your project area:

1. Introduction
2. Country Profile

Geography

Population and social impacts

Economy

Flood control

Legislative framework

3. Current Uses of Water Resources

Water supply

Domestic uses and needs

Industrial/commercial uses and needs

Agricultural uses and needs

Hydropower

Stream gauge network

Waterway transportation

4. Surface Water Resources

Precipitation and climate

Rivers and basins

Lakes and swamps

Deforestation effects

5. Ground Water Resources

Aquifer definition and characteristics

Hydrogeology

6. Water Quality

Surface water

Ground water

Domestic waste disposal

Applicability
In order to improve your sanitation and water system with the aim to make it more
sustainable, it is of prime importance to conduct a water resources assessment.
Especially when a comprehensive and large-scale change in the water and sanitation
system is envisaged, it is crucial to know the various parameters related to water
quality and quantity in your area. If you want to save water and therefore use water
more efficiently in your project area, it is important to know the various water
consumers and their actual water amount they use. Only by with a sound
understanding of the present situation of water consumption in your project area,
you can decide where and how to save water.
However, to receive a complete picture of the water and nutrient cycles in place,
parallel to a WRA, also a material flow analysis needs to be conducted.

Advantages

Conducting a water resources assessment provides you with a comprehensive

understanding of the quality and quantity of water resources in your area.

Only by having a detailed understanding of the water resources in your area,

allows large-scale change in your water system.

Disadvantages

Classic Water Resource Assessment focuses predominantly on water on a

regional or national level and does usually not consider the nutrient cycle and
sanitation

Conducting a water resources assessment requires considerable time and

resources.

Requires the training and education of manpower in order to conduct a

comprehensive analysis of the water resources in your area.

Requires a network of experts who are able to conduct, analyse and share the
data needed for the water resources assessment.