Chapter 1 AQUASTAT Framework

The book focuses on the migration of the AQUASTAT statistical processes to SWS. However, for those interested, AQUASTAT has a dedicated FAO website where the new methodology for data collection and data management can be accessed. The next sections summarize the AQUASTAT data collection and information management methodology.

1.1 Data Collection

  1. Data collection relies on a network of AQUASTAT national correspondents in charge of the provision of official national data;

  2. As of August 2020, 150 countries have nominated AQUASTAT national correspondents as requested by FAO Land and Water Division between April-May 2018;

  3. Alternate correspondents from different agencies are also used to improve the data collection;

  4. The FAO Office of the Chief Statistician (OCS) has endorsed the annual Water and Agriculture questionnaire as well as the long version of the 2020 questionnaire to be sent every 5 years;

  5. AQUASTAT sends out the questionnaire in the first semester of each year.

1.2 Questionnaire

The Water and Agriculture questionnaire has the following characteristics:

  1. Three introductory sections: Cover page, Instructions, Definitions;

  2. One data reporting section, including national data on water withdrawal, municipal wastewater, irrigation and drainage;

  3. Four Supplementary Information sections: SDG 6.4.1 and 6.4.2 calculation sheets, Metadata, Feedback.

  1. To download the annual Water and Agriculture questionnaire, please click on this link.

1.3 The current AQUASTAT information management

Aquastat Information Management

Figure 1.1: Aquastat Information Management

1.4 AQUASTAT in SWS: proposed dataflow

AQUASTAT dataflow will predominantly be triggered by the filling and compilation of the Water and Agriculture questionnaire by the AQUASTAT network of National Correspondents. In the future, a tailored questionnaire harvester could be created in collaboration with CSI to automatically extract data from filled surveys and output it as an SWS compliant dataset. Once in the SWS, the technical unit will benefit from the tools and other features that have been developed to make the AQUASTAT dataflow as seamless as possible. On this basis, the flowchart below gives the AQUASTAT dataflow that has been fostered by the ESS - SWS team.

Developed AQUATAST - SWS dataflow

Figure 1.2: Developed AQUATAST - SWS dataflow


1.5 AQUASTAT Elements

The next chapters will treat the modules as well as their datasets and datatables in more details. However, after describing the current SWS resources involved in the AQUASTAT - SWS migration framework, it is important to have a look at how the technical units references its data and the list of the data collected, processed, and disseminated.

1.5.1 International Classification Systems

AQUASTAT datasets use the following international classification systems to reference its elements:

  • The International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities: ISIC4;

  • The System of Environmental-Economic Accounting for Water: SEEA-Water for water resources and withdrawals;

  • The World Census of Agriculture 2020: WCA (Volume 1), for irrigation definitions.

1.5.2 Current AQUASTAT Variables

Variables are AQUASTAT elements that are non-calculated. These can be from different sources as described in the table below.

Table 1.1: AQUASTAT variable codes and names actually collected.
element_code element_name disseminated
4100 Total area of the country D
4101 Arable land area D
4102 Permanent crops area D
4104 Total population D
4106 Urban population D
4109 Male population economically active in agriculture I
4110 Female population economically active in agriculture I
4111 Human Development Index (HDI) [highest = 1] D
4112 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) D
4113 Agriculture, value added (% GDP) D
4114 Total population with access to improved drinking-water source (JMP) D
4115 Rural population with access to improved drinking-water source (JMP) D
4116 Urban population with access to improved drinking-water source (JMP) D
4151 Long-term average annual precipitation in depth D
4152 Evaporation from artificial lakes and reservoirs I
4153 Water resources produced internally in a 10th dry year frequency I
4154 Groundwater produced internally D
4155 Surface water produced internally D
4156 Overlap between surface water and groundwater D
4159 Surface water: entering the country (total) D
4161 Surface water: inflow submitted to treaties D
4162 Surface water: inflow secured through treaties D
4165 Surface water: total flow of border rivers D
4168 Surface water: accounted flow of border rivers D
4171 Surface water: leaving the country to other countries (total) D
4172 Surface water: outflow to other countries not submitted to treaties D
4173 Surface water: outflow to other countries submitted to treaties D
4174 Surface water: outflow to other countries secured through treaties D
4177 Groundwater: entering the country (total) D
4178 Groundwater: leaving the country to other countries (total) D
4193 Exploitable: regular renewable surface water D
4194 Exploitable: irregular renewable surface water D
4195 Exploitable: regular renewable groundwater D
4197 Total dam capacity D
4250 Agricultural water withdrawal D
4251 Municipal water withdrawal D
4252 Industrial water withdrawal D
4260 Irrigation water requirement D
4264 Desalinated water produced D
4265 Direct use of treated municipal wastewater D
4266 Depletion rate of renewable groundwater resources I
4267 Abstraction of fossil groundwater I
4268 Expected time that fossil groundwater will last I
4269 Produced municipal wastewater D
4270 Treated municipal wastewater D
4261 Fresh surface water withdrawal D
4262 Fresh groundwater withdrawal D
4303 Area equipped for irrigation drained D
4304 Non-irrigated cultivated area drained D
4306 Water harvesting area I
4307 Irrigation potential D
4308 Area equipped for full control irrigation: surface irrigation D
4309 Area equipped for full control irrigation: sprinkler irrigation D
4310 Area equipped for full control irrigation: localized irrigation D
4312 Area equipped for irrigation: equipped lowland areas D
4314 Flood recession cropping area non-equipped D
4315 Cultivated wetlands and inland valley bottoms non-equipped D
4316 Area equipped for irrigation: spate irrigation D
4318 Area equipped for irrigation: actually irrigated D
4320 Area equipped for irrigation by groundwater D
4321 Area equipped for irrigation by surface water D
4322 Area equipped for irrigation by mixed surface water and groundwater D
4326 Area equipped for power irrigation (surface water or groundwater) D
4329 % of total grain production irrigated D
4332 Total area of small irrigation schemes I
4333 Total area of medium irrigation schemes I
4334 Total area of large irrigation schemes I
4335 Average cost of irrigation development in public schemes I
4336 Average cost of operation and maintenance in public schemes I
4337 Average cost of drainage development in public schemes I
4338 Average cost of irrigation rehabilitation in public schemes I
4339 Average cost of irrigation development in private schemes I
4340 Average cost of operation and maintenance cost in private schemes I
4341 Average cost of drainage development in private schemes I
4342 Average cost of irrigation rehabilitation in private schemes I
4343 Average cost of installation of sprinkler irrigation: on farm I
4344 Average cost of installation of localized irrigation: on farm I
4345 Harvested irrigated temporary crop area: Wheat D
4346 Harvested irrigated temporary crop area: Rice D
4347 Harvested irrigated temporary crop area: Barley D
4348 Harvested irrigated temporary crop area: Maize D
4349 Harvested irrigated temporary crop area: Millet D
4350 Harvested irrigated temporary crop area: Sorghum D
4351 Harvested irrigated temporary crop area: Other cereals D
4352 Harvested irrigated temporary crop area: Potatoes D
4353 Harvested irrigated temporary crop area: Sweet Potatoes D
4354 Harvested irrigated temporary crop area: Cassava D
4355 Harvested irrigated temporary crop area: Other roots and tubers D
4356 Harvested irrigated permanent crop area: Plantains D
4357 Harvested irrigated temporary crop area: Sugarcane D
4358 Harvested irrigated temporary crop area: Sugar beet D
4359 Harvested irrigated temporary crop area: Leguminous crops D
4360 Harvested irrigated temporary crop area: Vegetables D
4361 Harvested irrigated permanent crop area: Bananas D
4362 Harvested irrigated permanent crop area: Citrus D
4363 Harvested irrigated permanent crop area: Cocoa beans D
4364 Harvested irrigated permanent crop area: Coffee D
4365 Harvested irrigated permanent crop area: Tea D
4366 Harvested irrigated temporary crop area: tobacco D
4367 Harvested irrigated temporary crop area: Cotton D
4368 Harvested irrigated permanent crop area: Rubber D
4369 Harvested irrigated temporary crop area: Fodder D
4370 Harvested irrigated permanent crop area: Oil palm D
4371 Harvested irrigated temporary crop area: Soybeans D
4372 Harvested irrigated temporary crop area: Groundnuts D
4373 Harvested irrigated temporary crop area: Sunflower D
4374 Harvested irrigated temporary crop area: Sesame D
4375 Harvested irrigated permanent crop area: Coconuts D
4376 Harvested irrigated temporary crop area: Flowers D
4377 Harvested irrigated temporary crop area: Other crops D
4378 Harvested irrigated permanent crop area: Other crops D
4379 Total harvested irrigated crop area (full control irrigation) D
4400 Area salinized by irrigation D
4401 Area waterlogged by irrigation D
4403 Population affected by water related disease D
4410 Irrigated crop yield: Wheat I
4411 Irrigated crop yield: Rice I
4412 Irrigated crop yield: Barley I
4413 Irrigated crop yield: Maize I
4414 Irrigated crop yield: Millet I
4415 Irrigated crop yield: Sorghum I
4416 Irrigated crop yield: Other cereals I
4417 Irrigated crop yield: Potatoes I
4418 Irrigated crop yield: Sweet potatoes I
4419 Irrigated crop yield: Cassava I
4420 Irrigated crop yield: Other roots and tubers I
4421 Irrigated crop yield: Plantain I
4422 Irrigated crop yield: Sugar cane I
4423 Irrigated crop yield: Sugar beet I
4424 Irrigated crop yield: Pulses I
4425 Irrigated crop yield: Vegetables I
4426 Irrigated crop yield: Bananas I
4427 Irrigated crop yield: Citrus I
4428 Irrigated crop yield: Cocoa beans I
4429 Irrigated crop yield: Coffee I
4430 Irrigated crop yield: Tea I
4431 Irrigated crop yield: Tobacco I
4432 Irrigated crop yield: Cotton I
4433 Irrigated crop yield: Rubber I
4434 Irrigated crop yield: Fodder I
4435 Irrigated crop yield: Oil palm I
4436 Irrigated crop yield: Soybeans I
4437 Irrigated crop yield: Groundnuts I
4438 Irrigated crop yield: Sunflower I
4439 Irrigated crop yield: Sesame I
4440 Irrigated crop yield: Coconuts I
4441 Irrigated crop yield: Flowers I
4449 Population economically active I
4451 Direct use of agricultural drainage water D
4452 Groundwater: accounted inflow D
4453 Groundwater: accounted outflow to other countries D
4454 Conservation agriculture area D
4460 Water withdrawal for cooling of thermoelectric plants I
4461 Area equipped for full control irrigation: actually irrigated D
4465 Area equipped by direct use of treated municipal wastewater D
4469 Permanent meadows and pastures irrigated D
4472 National Rainfall Index (NRI) D
4473 Number of people undernourished (3-year average) D
4474 Prevalence of undernourishment (3-year average) D
4475 Irrigation water withdrawal D
4476 Water withdrawal for livestock (water and cleaning) I
4477 Water withdrawal for aquaculture I
4478 Freshwater withdrawal by households (self-abstracted) I
4479 Water withdrawal for manufactured products I
4480 Water withdrawal for other industries I
4481 Agricultural fresh surface water withdrawal (self-abstracted) I
4482 Industrial fresh surface water withdrawal (self-abstracted) I
4483 Municipal fresh surface water withdrawal (self-abstracted) I
4484 Agricultural fresh groundwater withdrawal (self-abstracted) I
4485 Industrial fresh groundwater withdrawal (self-abstracted) I
4486 Municipal fresh groundwater withdrawal (self-abstracted) I
4487 Agricultural freshwater withdrawal (self-abstracted) I
4488 Industrial freshwater withdrawal (self-abstracted) I
4489 Municipal freshwater withdrawal (total) I
4490 Direct use of treated municipal wastewater for irrigation purposes D
4491 Not treated municipal wastewater D
4492 Fresh groundwater withdrawal for irrigation (self-abstracted) I
4493 Collected municipal wastewater D
4494 Desalinated water for municipalities I
4495 Desalinated water for agriculture I
4496 Freshwater withdrawal by water supply entity I
4497 Fresh surface water withdrawal for irrigation (self-abstracted) I
4498 Freshwater withdrawal by services (self-abstracted) I
4499 Water from Water Supply Entity used by agriculture I
4500 Water from Water Supply Entity used by industry I
4501 Water from Water Supply Entity used by households I
4502 Total water used (withdrawal + WSE) I
4503 Total water used by agriculture I
4504 Total water used by industry I
4505 Total water used by households I
4506 Total Water Supply Entity (WSE) water used I
4507 Freshwater withdrawal for irrigation (self-abstracted) I
4508 In-stream water usage by hydropower plants I
4510 Treated municipal wastewater discharged (secondary water) D
4511 Water reserved for ecosystems I
4512 Direct use of the not treated municipal wastewater for irrigation purposes D
4513 Area equipped for irrigation by direct use of non-treated municipal wastewater D
4515 Number of municipal wastewater treatment facilities D
4516 Capacity of the municipal wastewater treatment facilities D
4517 Not treated municipal wastewater discharged (secondary water) D
4520 Harvested irrigated temporary crop area: Total D
4521 Harvested irrigated permanent crop area: Total D
4522 Harvested irrigated permanent crop area: Grass and Fodder D
4523 Harvested irrigated permanent crop area: Grapes D
4524 Harvested irrigated permanent crop area: Other fruits D
4525 Harvested irrigated permanent crop area: Olives D
4526 Area equipped for irrigation by direct use of agricultural drainage water D
4530 Produced industrial wastewater I
4537 Gender Inequality Index (GII) D
4539 Area equipped for irrigation by desalinated water D
4541 Interannual variability (WRI) D
4542 Seasonal variability (WRI) D
4543 Flood occurrence (WRI) D
4544 % of the area equipped for irrigation managed by women D
4545 % of the agricultural holdings with irrigation managed by women D
4549 Environmental Flow Requirements D
4557 Ratio between rainfed and irrigated yields I
4559 Land area I
4560 Inland waterd I
4546 Industry, value added to GDP I
4547 Services, value added to GDP I
4548 Agriculture, value added to GDP I
4160 Surface water: inflow not submitted to treaties D

1.5.3 Current AQUASTAT indicators

The indicators in AQUASTAT are calculated variables.
Table 1.2: AQUASTAT indicators
element_code element_name disseminated calculated source
4103 Cultivated area (arable land + permanent crops) D C FAOSTAT
4105 Rural population D C FAOSTAT
4107 Population density D C DERIVED
4108 Population economically active in agriculture I C DERIVED
4150 Long-term average annual precipitation in volume D C DERIVED
4157 Total internal renewable water resources (IRWR) D C DERIVED
4158 Total internal renewable water resources per capita D C DERIVED
4164 Surface water: accounted inflow D C DERIVED
4176 Surface water: total external renewable D C DERIVED
4182 Water resources: total external renewable D C DERIVED
4185 Total renewable surface water D C DERIVED
4187 Total renewable groundwater D C DERIVED
4188 Total renewable water resources D C DERIVED
4190 Total renewable water resources per capita D C DERIVED
4192 Dependency ratio D C DERIVED
4196 Total exploitable water resources D C DERIVED
4253 Total water withdrawal D C DERIVED
4254 Agricultural water withdrawal as % of total water withdrawal D C DERIVED
4255 Municipal water withdrawal as % of total withdrawal D C DERIVED
4256 Industrial water withdrawal as % of total water withdrawal D C DERIVED
4257 Total water withdrawal per capita D C DERIVED
4271 Agricultural water requirement as % of agricultural water withdrawal I C DERIVED
4273 Agricultural water withdrawal as % of total renewable water resources D C DERIVED
4263 Total freshwater withdrawal D C DERIVED
4275 MDG 7.5. Freshwater withdrawal as % of total renewable water resources D C DERIVED
4300 Total cultivated area drained D C DERIVED
4305 % of total cultivated area drained D C DERIVED
4311 Area equipped for full control irrigation: total D C DERIVED
4313 Area equipped for irrigation: total D C DERIVED
4317 Total agricultural water managed area D C DERIVED
4319 % of agricultural water managed area equipped for irrigation D C DERIVED
4323 % of area equipped for irrigation by groundwater D C DERIVED
4324 % of area equipped for irrigation by surface water D C DERIVED
4325 % of area equipped for irrigation by mixed surface water and groundwater D C DERIVED
4327 % of area equipped for irrigation power irrigated D C DERIVED
4328 % of the area equipped for irrigation actually irrigated D C DERIVED
4330 % of irrigation potential equipped for irrigation D C DERIVED
4331 % of the cultivated area equipped for irrigation D C DERIVED
4445 % of area equipped for irrigation salinized D C DERIVED
4446 % of area equipped for irrigation drained D C DERIVED
4448 Other agricultural water managed area I C DERIVED
4450 Freshwater withdrawal as % of internal renewable water resources I C DERIVED
4455 Conservation agriculture area as % of arable land area D C DERIVED
4457 Municipal water withdrawal per capita (total population) I C DERIVED
4458 GDP per Capita D C DERIVED
4459 Area equipped for full control irrigation: pressurized (sprinkler + localized) I C DERIVED
4462 Harvested irrigated crop area as % of the full control irrigation area actually irrigated I C DERIVED
4463 % of area equipped for full control irrigation actually irrigated D C DERIVED
4464 Irrigated cropping intensity D C DERIVED
4466 % of area equipped by direct use of treated municipal wastewater D C DERIVED
4467 Freshwater withdrawal as % of total water withdrawal I C DERIVED
4468 Municipal water withdrawal per capita (urban population) I C DERIVED
4470 % of total country area cultivated D C DERIVED
4471 Dam capacity per capita D C DERIVED
4509 Exploitable: total renewable surface water D C DERIVED
4514 % of area equipped for irrigation by direct use of non-treated municipal wastewater D C DERIVED
4527 % of area equipped for irrigation by direct use of agricultural drainage water D C DERIVED
4531 Industrial water withdrawal per capita I C DERIVED
4532 Agricultural water withdrawal per capita I C DERIVED
4533 Area equipped by direct use of treated municipal wastewater D C DERIVED
4534 Area equipped by direct use of not treated municipal wastewater D C DERIVED
4535 Direct use of treated municipal wastewater D C DERIVED
4536 Overlap: between surface water and groundwater D C DERIVED
4538 % of economically active population active in agriculture I C DERIVED
4540 % of area equipped for irrigation by desalinated water D C DERIVED
4550 SDG 6.4.2. Water Stress D C DERIVED
4551 SDG 6.4.1. Water Use Efficiency I C DERIVED
4552 SDG 6.4.1. Irrigated Agriculture Water Use Efficiency I C DERIVED
4553 SDG 6.4.1. Industrial Water Use Efficiency I C DERIVED
4554 SDG 6.4.1. Services Water Use Efficiency I C DERIVED
4555 % of agricultural GVA produced by irrigated agriculture I C DERIVED
4556 % of arable land irrigated I C DERIVED
4558 GDP deflator (2015) I C DERIVED

1.5.4 Current External data

The AQUASTAT calculated variables Rural Population and Cultivated area (arable land + permanent crops) are actually not calculated variables as they can be extracted from FAOSTAT. To solve it, the faoswsAquastatExternal module extracts these and other external data used by AQUASTAT and save them in the SWS-complaint aquastat_external dataset. This dataset is then used as one of the inputs of the faoswsAquastatUpdate module.

Table 1.3: External AQUASTAT variables.
element_code element_name source source_item_code source_element_code data_link
4101 Arable land area FAOSTAT 6621 5110 http://fenixservices.fao.org/faostat/static/bulkdownloads/Inputs_LandUse_E_All_Data_(Normalized).zip
4102 Permanent crops area FAOSTAT 6650 5110 http://fenixservices.fao.org/faostat/static/bulkdownloads/Inputs_LandUse_E_All_Data_(Normalized).zip
4103 Cultivated area (arable land + permanent crops) FAOSTAT 6620 5110 http://fenixservices.fao.org/faostat/static/bulkdownloads/Inputs_LandUse_E_All_Data_(Normalized).zip
4104 Total population FAOSTAT 3010 511 http://fenixservices.fao.org/faostat/static/bulkdownloads/Population_E_All_Data_(Normalized).zip
4105 Rural population FAOSTAT 3010 551 http://fenixservices.fao.org/faostat/static/bulkdownloads/Population_E_All_Data_(Normalized).zip
4106 Urban population FAOSTAT 3010 561 http://fenixservices.fao.org/faostat/static/bulkdownloads/Population_E_All_Data_(Normalized).zip
4112 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) FAOSTAT 22008 6110 http://fenixservices.fao.org/faostat/static/bulkdownloads/Macro-Statistics_Key_Indicators_E_All_Data_(Normalized).zip
4113 Agriculture, value added (% GDP) FAOSTAT 22016 6103 http://fenixservices.fao.org/faostat/static/bulkdownloads/Macro-Statistics_Key_Indicators_E_All_Data_(Normalized).zip
4473 Number of people undernourished (3-year average) FAOSTAT 210011 6132 http://fenixservices.fao.org/faostat/static/bulkdownloads/Food_Security_Data_E_All_Data_(Normalized).zip
4474 Prevalence of undernourishment (3-year average) FAOSTAT 210041 6121 http://fenixservices.fao.org/faostat/static/bulkdownloads/Food_Security_Data_E_All_Data_(Normalized).zip
4559 Land area FAOSTAT 6601 5110 http://fenixservices.fao.org/faostat/static/bulkdownloads/Inputs_LandUse_E_All_Data_(Normalized).zip
4560 Inland watersd FAOSTAT 6680 5110 http://fenixservices.fao.org/faostat/static/bulkdownloads/Inputs_LandUse_E_All_Data_(Normalized).zip
4561 Total area of the country (incl. coastal water) FAOSTAT 6600 5110 http://fenixservices.fao.org/faostat/static/bulkdownloads/Inputs_LandUse_E_All_Data_(Normalized).zip
4562 Land area equipped for irrigation FAOSTAT 6690 5110 http://fenixservices.fao.org/faostat/static/bulkdownloads/Inputs_LandUse_E_All_Data_(Normalized).zip
4563 Land area actually irrigated FAOSTAT 6616 5110 http://fenixservices.fao.org/faostat/static/bulkdownloads/Inputs_LandUse_E_All_Data_(Normalized).zip
4564 Agriculture area actually irrigated FAOSTAT 6611 5110 http://fenixservices.fao.org/faostat/static/bulkdownloads/Inputs_LandUse_E_All_Data_(Normalized).zip
4565 Cropland area actually irrigated FAOSTAT 6694 5110 http://fenixservices.fao.org/faostat/static/bulkdownloads/Inputs_LandUse_E_All_Data_(Normalized).zip
4566 Permanent meadows & pastures area actually irrigated FAOSTAT 6657 5110 http://fenixservices.fao.org/faostat/static/bulkdownloads/Inputs_LandUse_E_All_Data_(Normalized).zip
4567 Forestry area actually irrigated FAOSTAT 6695 5110 http://fenixservices.fao.org/faostat/static/bulkdownloads/Inputs_LandUse_E_All_Data_(Normalized).zip
4458 GDP per capita FAOSTAT 22014 6119 http://fenixservices.fao.org/faostat/static/bulkdownloads/Macro-Statistics_Key_Indicators_E_All_Data_(Normalized).zip
4558 GDP Deflators FAOSTAT 22024 6179 http://fenixservices.fao.org/faostat/static/bulkdownloads/Deflators_E_All_Data_(Normalized).zip

IMPORTANT: FAOSTAT data used by AQUASTAT is an in-house source, but in the faoswsAquastatExternal module it is being treated as an external source to facilitate the workflow.