Figure

Water Exploitation Index (WEI)

Figure Created 12 Nov 2009 Published 12 Nov 2009 Last modified 07 Jun 2017

1 min read

Topics: Water and marine environment

Better information will help us adapt The Water Exploitation Index (WEI) is a good example of the type of information needed to give an overview of the scale and location of the problems facing us

https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/figures/water-exploitation-index-wei-2/signals-cc-adaptation-fig2.eps/image_large

Download

Metadata

Rights:: EEA standard re-use policy: unless otherwise indicated, re-use of content on the EEA website for commercial or non-commercial purposes is permitted free of charge, provided that the source is acknowledged (https://www.eea.europa.eu/legal/copyright). Copyright holder: European Environment Agency (EEA).
Owners:: European Environment Agency (EEA)
Figure type:: Graph

Additional information

In simple terms, the index shows available water resources in a country or region compared to the amount of water used. An index of over 20 % usually indicates water scarcity. As the graph shows, nine countries are considered;water stressed: Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Germany, Italy, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Malta, Spain, and the United Kingdom (England and Wales). WEI data are available for England and show that the South East and London are especially stressed. This level of information is key in terms of effective adaptation to climate change. By understanding how much water is available in a region, where it is coming from and who uses it, we will be able to build effective local strategies to adapt to climate change.

Permalinks

Permalink to this version: 32D33004-50B5-439F-98A2-53EF476B26C1
Permalink to latest version: 8B86C552-8189-468B-9B73-FC3ADAE5B116

Geographic coverage

Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czechia Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands North Macedonia Norway Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey United Kingdom