Indicator hierarchy for traceability of water inputs, reuse, and discharge, connecting field operations to executive leadership and regulatory compliance.
Without a coherent indicator tree, site data remains fragmented, reporting becomes inconsistent, and leadership cannot connect operational water flows to strategic decision-making. Data Riders built a KPI hierarchy and explanatory framework for water governance, connecting infrastructure, water permits, production, reuse, losses, effluents, and confidence levels within a model aligned with the Water Accounting Framework (WAF).
Water balance
Inputs, outputs, and storage by period, with stated accuracy.
Water security
Scarcity risk, hydrological dependency, and climate scenarios.
Water quality
Parameters by source and destination, treated effluent, and discharges.
Resource provisioning
Water permits, new withdrawal, reuse, losses, and operational consumption.
Financial
Water cost, investment, and economic performance of water use.
Vertical integration
From field data to strategic and reputational indicators.
- Operational availability.
- Demand.
- Reused water vs. new water.
- Operational consumption.
- Water incorporated into product.
- Treated and discharged effluents.
- Water management indicators were defined and structured hierarchically to ensure traceability of inputs, reuse, and discharge, and to evaluate risks related to water availability, regulatory compliance, and financial performance.
- The KPI structure covers water balance, water security, water quality management, resource provisioning, and finance, with vertical integration from field data to strategic and reputational indicators.
- The specific logic includes operational availability, demand, reused vs. new water, operational consumption, water in product, and treated/discharged effluents, all tied to traceability and consistency.
- Implementation is explicitly linked to higher maturity, more reliable data, and greater transparency for stakeholders.
Sources: pilot report and water resources kick-off KPI slides (Data Riders internal material, client kept anonymous). Aligned with the ICMM Water Accounting Framework (WAF).
- End-to-end traceability.
- More consistent and auditable reporting.
- Greater transparency for stakeholders.
- Direct elevation of water governance maturity.
Talk to Data Riders about designing a water indicator hierarchy aligned with the WAF and international best practices.




