OLAS Population-based Water Stress and Risk Dataset for Latin America and the Caribbean

LAC is the most water-rich region in the world by most metrics; however, water resource distribution throughout the region does not correspond demand. To understand water risk throughout the region, this dataset provides population and land area estimates for factors related to water risk, allowing users to explore vulnerability throughout the region to multiple dimensions of water risk. This dataset contains estimates of populations living in areas of water stress and risk in 27 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) at the municipal level. The dataset contains categories of 18 factors related to water risk and 39 indices of water risk and population estimates within each with aggregations possible at the basin, state, country, and regional level. The population data used to generate this dataset were obtained from the WorldPop project 2020 UN-adjusted population projections, while estimates of water stress and risk come from WRI’s Aqueduct 3.0 Water Risk Framework. Municipal administrative boundaries are from the Database of Global Administrative Areas (GADM). For more information on the methodology users are invited to read IADB Technical Note IDB-TN-2411: “Scarcity in the Land of Plenty”, and WRIs “Aqueduct 3.0: Updated Decision-relevant Global Water Risk Indicators”.