4.2.13 (HL)—Water stress definition

Water stress includes unsafe, unaffordable or ecologically insufficient water even when total quantity is not scarce.

Check quality, access, treatment, price and environmental flows alongside available volume. A rainy region can be stressed by pollution, broken pipes or over-abstraction.

A wet city with contaminated wells and no treatment has water stress without classic physical scarcity.

Ecosystem access/function; water is being diverted even if human supply remains.

Stress is broader than scarcity; do not infer security from rainfall or national supply alone.