Urban Source Watersheds

This map shows the source watersheds of 534 cities. "Although the 100 largest cities in the world occupy less than 1 percent of our planet’s land area, their source watersheds — the rivers, forests and other ecosystems from which they get their water— cover over 12 percent. [...] The availability and quality of that water supply, and hence the costs to move and treat it, depend heavily on how land in those source watersheds is used." (Nature Conservancy, 2015). For more information, access the Urban Water Blueprint report here: http://www.iwa-network.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Urban-Water-Blueprint-Report.pdf You can also visit the Urban Water Blueprint website here: http://water.nature.org/waterblueprint/#/intro=true

Data and Resources

Field Value
access_constraints ["Unless otherwise specified, no restriction applies."]
bbox-east-long 180
bbox-north-lat 90
bbox-south-lat -90
bbox-west-long -180
contact-email a.barranco-fabre@unesco.org
coupled-resource []
dataset-reference-date [{"type": "publication", "value": "2018-07-02T14:40:00Z"}]
graphic-preview-description Thumbnail for 'Urban Source Watersheds'
graphic-preview-file http://ihp-wins.unesco.org/uploaded/thumbs/layer-7915e8f8-4e11-11e8-a93b-005056062634-thumb.png?v=84568676
graphic-preview-type image/png
guid 7915e8f8-4e11-11e8-a93b-005056062634
licence []
metadata-date 2020-12-10T20:07:51Z
progress completed
resource-type dataset
responsible-party [{"name": "UNESCO IHP", "roles": ["originator"]}]
spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-180.0, -90.0], [180.0, -90.0], [180.0, 90.0], [-180.0, 90.0], [-180.0, -90.0]]]}
spatial-reference-system 4326
spatial_harvester true
temporal-extent-begin 2015-01-01T15:05:00+00:00
temporal-extent-end 2015-12-31T15:05:00+00:00
Tags
  • amerigeo
  • amerigeoss
  • basin
  • drinking-water
  • geo
  • geoss
  • global
  • human-settlements
  • sdg
  • surface-water
  • unesco
  • water
isopen False
metadata_created 2025-11-24T19:28:02.441895
metadata_modified 2025-11-24T19:28:02.441899
notes This map shows the source watersheds of 534 cities. "Although the 100 largest cities in the world occupy less than 1 percent of our planet’s land area, their source watersheds — the rivers, forests and other ecosystems from which they get their water— cover over 12 percent. [...] The availability and quality of that water supply, and hence the costs to move and treat it, depend heavily on how land in those source watersheds is used." (Nature Conservancy, 2015). For more information, access the Urban Water Blueprint report here: http://www.iwa-network.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Urban-Water-Blueprint-Report.pdf You can also visit the Urban Water Blueprint website here: http://water.nature.org/waterblueprint/#/intro=true
num_resources 18
num_tags 12
title Urban Source Watersheds