Water
How basin-level water stress, current conditions, future scenarios, and material worsening flags support early mining asset screening.
Last updated 2026-08-23
Water availability and water-related risk can be important considerations throughout the mining lifecycle. Mining and mineral processing can require significant water resources, while operations may also compete with communities, agriculture and other industries for access to available supply.
Global Mining Dataset provides a consistent view of water conditions surrounding each mining asset, helping users identify assets located in areas with current water pressure and assets where conditions may become more challenging in the future.
The water layer covers four main areas:
- Current water conditions: indicators describing existing water stress, depletion, variability and water-related hazards.
- Monthly stress patterns: indicators that help show whether annual averages mask periods of higher seasonal pressure.
- Future water conditions: scenario-based indicators showing how water stress could change by 2030 and 2050.
- Material worsening: a screening indicator highlighting assets where future water stress deteriorates materially from current conditions.
Water indicators are primarily derived from the World Resources Institute's Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas. They are designed for early-stage screening and comparison, not as a substitute for site hydrology, water-rights review or project-specific water-balance work.
Current Water Conditions
Current water indicators help answer a simple screening question: is the asset located in a basin where water availability, competition or water-related hazards may already be material?
Water context can affect mine planning, permitting, community relations, processing choices, tailings management, closure planning and operating resilience. Basin-level indicators do not replace site-level studies, but they help identify where water diligence should move earlier in review.
Baseline water stress
Baseline water stress measures the relationship between water demand and available renewable water supply in an area.
Higher water stress generally indicates that a larger proportion of available supply is already being withdrawn by settlements, agriculture and industry. This can mean greater competition between water users and increased sensitivity to changes in supply or demand.
For mining assets, high water stress can be particularly relevant where operations require significant water for mineral processing, dust suppression, tailings management or other operational requirements.
| Field | Description | Format | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
Baseline water stress | Indicates how much competition there is for available renewable water. Higher scores indicate that a greater share of available supply is already being withdrawn by households, agriculture and industry. | Score from 0 to 5 | 3.8 |
Baseline water stress category | Classification of current water stress, making it easier to identify and compare assets in more water-constrained areas. | Category label | High |
Water depletion
Water depletion provides additional context on the pressure being placed on available water resources. Where water stress considers demand relative to supply, depletion helps identify areas where water consumption is high relative to the available resource.
Higher depletion can indicate greater sensitivity to sustained water use and can be useful when comparing assets located in regions with different underlying water conditions.
| Field | Description | Format | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
Minimum total depletion | Indicates how much available water is being consumed rather than returned to the local water system. Higher values indicate greater pressure on renewable water resources. | Score from 0 to 5 | 3.4 |
Minimum total depletion category | Classification of water depletion, allowing areas with greater pressure on available water resources to be identified quickly. | Category label | High |
Water constraint level | Aggregate classification of the water constraints surrounding the asset, designed to make relative water exposure easier to compare across assets. | Category label | High |
Water overall score | Summarises water-risk score for the asset's broader water context into a single value for comparison and filtering. Higher scores indicate greater overall water-related exposure. | Score from 0 to 5 | 3.6 |
Water risk flags | Highlights specific water conditions that may warrant closer review, such as high baseline water stress or other elevated water-risk indicators. | List of labels | High water stress |
Mining water score
The mining-oriented water score summarises the broader water context into quantity, quality, and social or regulatory sensitivity components. It is useful for comparing assets quickly before reviewing the underlying drivers.
| Field | Description | Format | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
Overall mining water score | Overall screening score summarising water risks most relevant to mining, combining water quantity, water quality and social or regulatory considerations. Higher scores indicate a more challenging overall water context. | Score from 0 to 5 | 3.7 |
Water quantity score | Summarises pressure relating to the availability and reliability of water resources. Higher scores indicate greater potential pressure on water quantity. | Score from 0 to 5 | 3.9 |
Water quality score | Summarises indicators associated with water quality and pollution pressure in the surrounding area. Higher scores indicate a more challenging water-quality context. | Score from 0 to 5 | 2.4 |
Social and permitting score | Summarises water-related social and regulatory sensitivity, including conditions that may increase stakeholder or permitting considerations around water use. Higher scores indicate greater sensitivity. | Score from 0 to 5 | 3.1 |
Reliability and hazards
Annual water availability figures can mask significant differences between wet and dry periods. Seasonal and interannual variability help indicate whether water availability is stable or changes sharply across time.
Water-related risk is also not limited to long-term availability. Drought, riverine flood and coastal flood indicators provide additional context on operational resilience, infrastructure siting, transport disruption and community exposure.
| Field | Description | Format | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
Water depletion | Indicates the extent to which available water is consumed rather than returned to the local water system. Higher scores indicate greater pressure on available water resources. | Score from 0 to 5 | 3.2 |
Groundwater table decline | Indicates pressure from falling groundwater levels. Higher scores suggest groundwater is declining more rapidly, which may indicate greater long-term pressure on groundwater resources. | Score from 0 to 5 | 2.6 |
Seasonal variability | Indicates how much water availability changes between different months of the year. Higher scores suggest a greater difference between wet and dry periods. | Score from 0 to 5 | 3.5 |
Interannual variability | Indicates how much water availability changes from one year to another. Higher scores suggest less consistent water availability between years. | Score from 0 to 5 | 2.8 |
Drought risk | Indicates exposure to drought conditions based on the likelihood and severity of drought events. Higher scores indicate greater drought-related risk. | Score from 0 to 5 | 3.4 |
Riverine flood risk | Indicates exposure to flooding from rivers and other inland waterways. Higher scores indicate greater potential flood exposure. | Score from 0 to 5 | 2.1 |
Coastal flood risk | Indicates exposure to flooding associated with coastal conditions. Higher scores indicate greater potential coastal flood exposure. | Score from 0 to 5 | 1.2 |
Untreated wastewater | Indicates the extent to which wastewater is discharged without adequate treatment in the surrounding context. Higher scores indicate greater potential water-quality pressure from untreated wastewater. | Score from 0 to 5 | 2.7 |
Drinking water access | Indicates the level of challenge associated with access to safe drinking water in the surrounding population. Higher scores indicate poorer access and potentially greater community sensitivity around water resources. | Score from 0 to 5 | 3.0 |
Sanitation | Indicates the level of challenge associated with access to adequate sanitation services. Higher scores indicate poorer access and greater sanitation-related water sensitivity. | Score from 0 to 5 | 2.9 |
Reputational risk | Summarises water-related conditions that may increase stakeholder, community or reputational sensitivity around an asset. Higher scores indicate greater potential sensitivity. | Score from 0 to 5 | 3.3 |
Monthly stress patterns
Monthly stress indicators show whether high water pressure is concentrated in a short seasonal window or persists for a larger part of the year.
| Field | Description | Format | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
Months with high stress | Number of months during the year in which water demand places high pressure on available renewable supply. A higher number indicates that elevated water stress persists for more of the year. | Whole number | 4 |
Months with high depletion | Number of months during the year in which water consumption reaches a high level relative to available supply. A higher number indicates more persistent depletion pressure. | Whole number | 3 |
Peak monthly stress | Highest water-stress level experienced during any month of the year, helping identify seasonal pressure that may be hidden by the annual average. | Score from 0 to 5 | 4.4 |
Peak monthly depletion | Highest water-depletion level experienced during any month of the year, highlighting the period of greatest seasonal depletion pressure. | Score from 0 to 5 | 4.1 |
Seasonality gap | Difference between the lowest and highest monthly water-stress levels. Larger values indicate that water pressure changes more significantly during the year. | Score difference | 2.3 |
Peak months | Identifies the months in which water stress reaches elevated levels, helping show when seasonal water pressure is greatest. | List of month names | March, April |
Future Water Stress
Mining assets can operate for decades, meaning current water conditions may not represent the conditions experienced throughout the life of a project.
Global Mining Dataset includes future water-stress indicators that provide scenario-based views of how water pressure could change over time. Future conditions are available across two horizons:
- 2030: relevant for projects approaching development, medium-term operations and near-term investment decisions.
- 2050: relevant for long-life mining operations, major expansions and longer-term strategic planning.
Future water conditions should be interpreted as scenario-based exposure, not as precise predictions of future water availability.
| Field | Description | Format | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
2030 projected stress | Scenario-based estimate of water stress in 2030 under the selected future scenario. Higher scores indicate greater projected competition for available water. | Score from 0 to 5 | 3.9 |
2030 change versus current | Shows how much projected 2030 water stress differs from today's baseline. Positive values indicate worsening conditions; negative values indicate improvement. | Score difference | +0.3 |
2030 worsening flag | Quickly identifies assets where projected water stress in 2030 is higher than the current baseline. | Yes / no | Yes |
2050 projected stress | Scenario-based estimate of water stress in 2050 under the selected future scenario. Higher scores indicate greater projected competition for available water. | Score from 0 to 5 | 4.2 |
2050 change versus current | Shows how much projected 2050 water stress differs from today's baseline. Positive values indicate worsening conditions; negative values indicate improvement. | Score difference | +0.6 |
2050 worsening flag | Quickly identifies assets where projected water stress in 2050 is higher than the current baseline. | Yes / no | Yes |
Material worsening
An asset with moderate water stress today may still warrant attention if conditions are expected to deteriorate substantially over its operating life.
The material worsening indicator highlights assets where future water-stress scenarios show a meaningful deterioration relative to current baseline stress. This helps distinguish assets with relatively stable water exposure from those where water pressure could become increasingly important.
| Field | Description | Format | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
Material worsening | Flags assets where future water stress increases sufficiently from the current baseline to represent a meaningful deterioration in water conditions.. | Yes / no | Yes |
Interpreting Water Data
Water indicators are intended to answer two broad screening questions:
- What is the current water context surrounding the asset?
- Could that context become more challenging over time?
They are most useful for comparing assets consistently and identifying where water should become a priority for further investigation.
The metrics do not assess:
- Project-specific water demand
- Existing water supply arrangements
- Water rights or licences
- Groundwater availability
- Local hydrology
- Water infrastructure
- Project water balances
- Water quality at the mine site
- Community access arrangements
- Site-specific engineering requirements
These factors depend on the individual project and should be investigated separately where water is material to the analysis.
Data Source
Water indicators are primarily derived from the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, developed by the World Resources Institute.
Aqueduct provides globally comparable water-risk indicators covering water quantity, variability and water-related hazards. Its consistent global methodology makes it useful for comparing the water context surrounding mining assets across different countries and regions.
Global Mining Dataset uses selected Aqueduct indicators that are particularly relevant to early-stage mining asset screening.
| Source | What it contributes | Coverage | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas | Globally comparable water-risk indicators covering water quantity, variability, water quality and water-related hazards. | Global basin-level coverage where Aqueduct indicators are available | Current water conditions, monthly stress patterns, future water stress scenarios and material worsening flags |
Limitations
Aqueduct provides a global screening framework and should not be interpreted as a site-specific assessment of water availability or hydrological conditions.
Conditions within an individual mining project area may differ from the broader basin-level indicators represented in the underlying dataset. Water conditions can also be influenced by local infrastructure, groundwater resources, water rights, regulation and agreements between users.
Future indicators introduce additional uncertainty because they represent scenarios of how conditions could evolve rather than forecasts of what will occur.
Water screening should therefore be used to identify where water-related constraints may be more significant and where deeper investigation should be prioritised, rather than as a substitute for project-specific water assessment.