Can water stressed regions be characterised when there is sparse data?

In the identification of effective mitigation strategies to combat water stress, indicators for natural hydrological potential, water stress and mitigation measures are important. Ideally, such indicators should meet two conditions: (1) public availability (preferably in digital format), and (2) distinguishing capacity at the required scale of drainage sub-basins. However, water stress indicators tend to be available, if at all, only for large-scale administrative units (country or province), and there is a clear need to consider how water stress can be assessed in unmonitored regions. In this paper, an attempt has been made to define a simple approach for indicator mapping, using a few key indicators based on information from water management practices in eight selected test sites of the EU funded Aquastress project. Within this project, the approach outlined here will be tested and validated.