science

System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water

System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water rather than just read about it. In short: Water accounting is a discipline that seeks to provide comprehensive, consistent and comparable policy relevant information related to water. Based on the experience of more than fifty years of national accounts, the discipline that provides the elements to calculate the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) developed the System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water…

Key takeaways

System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Water accounting is a discipline that seeks to provide comprehensive, consistent and comparable policy relevant information related to water. Based on the experience of more than fifty years of national accounts, the discipline that provides the elements to calculate the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) developed the System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water (SEEA-Water), which has been adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) as a statistical interim standard in 2007. The SEEA-Water is a conceptual framework for the organization of physical and economic information related to water using concepts, definitions and classifications consistent to those of the System of National Accounts 2008 (2008 SNA). The SEEA-Water framework is an elaboration of the handbook on Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting 2003 (SEEA 2003) which describes the interaction between the economy and the environment and covers the whole spectrum of natural resources and the environment. To support the implementation of SEEA-Water the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) developed the International Recommendations on Water Statistics (IRWS), which has also been adopted by the UN Member States through the Statistical Commission. The IRWS consolidates the experiences and practices of countries and international organizations. In Australia, the Water Accounting Standards Board has released standards for producing general purpose water accounting reports. These standards are designed to complement the SEEA-Water, but to support the preparation of reports for a wider audience than statisticians and economists. The development of these types of standards is continuing. Today more than fifty countries around the world are implementing or planning to implement water accounts.

Background Water problems around the world are increasing; however, information useful for decision makers within the water sector and related to the water sector seems to be decreasing. Solving water problems requires information from many disciplines. The information has to be coherent and harmonized in order to provide an integrated picture useful for the assessment of the problems. The SEEA-Water was designed specially to provide this much needed framework. This framework is fully compatible with the framework used in the analysis of macro-economic variables throughout the world, which is the System of National Accounts (SNA), which allows to combine hydrologic and water use information with economic information. The SEEA-Water has been adopted as an interim international standard. It will become a standard once it is reviewed in the light of the new version of the System of Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA), which will be submitted for adoption in 2012.

Main features The SEEA-Water covers all of the stocks and flows associated with water, which are organized in two main systems, the Inland Water Resources System and the Water Use System or Economy. The Inland Water Resources System includes all the elements of the natural hydrologic cycle: precipitation, evapotranspiration, surface water, groundwater, etc. The Economy covers all the industries that use water, including agriculture, electricity production, all the different types of services, etc., as specified in the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC), and households. All these elements are designated with a harmonized terminology and set up in standard tables. This allows for the construction of comprehensive, consistent, and comparable indicators relevant for water policy making throughout the world. The International Recommendations for Water Statistics (IRWS) provide further elements regarding terminology, definitions and data sources. The integration of the water accounts in countries requires the combined efforts of different agencies and experts from different disciplines, which often requires special institutional arrangements.

See also System of Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA) Economy-wide material flow accounts Environmental protection expenditure accounts

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water

In research: System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics National accounts, Water and politics, Water management, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water in simple terms?

Why does System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on System of Environmental and Economic Accounting for Water.