Subgroup on Water Accounting

The Subgroup on Water Accounting was established during the London Group meeting in Rome, November 2003, to

Finalize the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting for Water (SEEAW); and

Contribute to the Electronic Discussion Group (EDG) on terms and definitions related to water accounting established by the United Nations Statistics Division and Division for Sustainable Development with a view to harmonizing the definitions and classifications used in international questionnaires with the accounting framework.

With the adoption by the UN Statistical Commission of the SEEAW as an [interim] international statistical standard in March 2007, the Sub Group successfully achieved its objectives and has ceased to exist.

The Subgroup, moderated by UNSD, primarily focused its work on the finalization of the SEEAW. The primary means of communication were electronic through a password-protected website which facilitated the sharing of material, including various versions of draft chapters and communication within the subgroup.

The SEEAW went through an extensive consultation process: A complete preliminary draft of the SEEAW was discussed at a meeting of the Subgroup on Water Accounting, 11-13 May 2005 in New York. A revised draft was widely circulated for comments and discussed in the User-Producer Conference: Water Accounting for Integrated Water Resource Management (22-24 May 2006, Voorburg), and later at the UN Committee of Experts on Environmental Economic Accounting (UNCEEA) meetings (29-31 August 2005 and 22 - 23 June 2006, New York).