EU Water Abstraction Records — EEA WISE

Keyless. Pay per record. How much water Europe withdraws — abstraction volumes by country, spatial unit, use, and period, verbatim.

This actor turns the European Environment Agency (EEA) WISE State of Environment (Waterbase) water-abstraction dataset into clean, per-record data — how much water Europe abstracts, by country, spatial unit, and use. Each run reads the EEA's keyless DiscoData SQL service and delivers one row per abstraction observation, structured for water-resource and abstraction-pressure analysis, reusable with acknowledgement of the EEA, with no personal data of any kind.

What this is, in one paragraph

The EEA compiles national water-abstraction (withdrawal) reporting into the WISE State of Environment (Waterbase) water-abstraction dataset — how much water is taken from the environment, split by the source and the sector that uses it. This actor reads that table and delivers one record per spatial unit / observed-property / period: the country and spatial unit, the observed-property USE CODE (for example, abstraction from groundwater for public water supply, or from surface water for agriculture) carried verbatim, the time period and reference year, the observed VOLUME in the source units verbatim, and the observation-STATUS flag. It is the withdrawals side of Europe's water balance — the demand pressure on the resource.

Who buys this and for what job

• Water-resource analysts quantifying withdrawals by country, basin, and sector
• Abstraction-pressure and scarcity teams sizing demand against available resource
• Researchers comparing abstraction volumes and uses across Europe and over time
• Data engineers who want the WISE water-abstraction table as clean rows from a keyless source.

EEA licence — reuse with acknowledgement

One licence rider travels on every record. EEA data may be reused, including commercially, provided the source is acknowledged: "Source: European Environment Agency (EEA)." Where third-party content is marked, it keeps its own terms. These are reported values and labels as filed — not a compliance verdict.

Spatial-unit grain — no person data

The unit of every record is a water-abstraction observation for a spatial unit — a withdrawal volume, never a person. The spatial unit is a location code; there is no contact, operator, or responsible-person field in the source, and none is selected or emitted; the free-text remark and metadata narrative fields are excluded at field selection. A person-key guard runs on every record as a backstop.

Sample output

Real rows from a live run of this actor (first 5 rows, selected columns).

One full record from the same run, exactly as delivered:

{
  "record_id": "AL:ABS_GW_DOM:2022",
  "country_code": "AL",
  "spatial_unit_identifier": "AL",
  "spatial_unit_identifier_scheme": "countryCode",
  "observed_property": "ABS_GW_DOM",
  "time_period": "2022",
  "year": "2022",
  "observed_volume": 0.023652,
  "observation_status": "A",
  "source": "EEA WISE State of Environment (Waterbase) — water abstraction",
  "source_url": "https://discodata.eea.europa.eu/",
  "licence": "European Environment Agency (EEA) WISE State of Environment (Waterbase) — water abstraction volumes. Reuse is permitted, including for commercial purposes, provided the source is acknowledged: 'Source: European Environment Agency (EEA)'. Third-party content, where marked, keeps its own terms.",
  "attribution": "Source: European Environment Agency (EEA), WISE State of Environment (Waterbase).",
  "disclaimer": "Water abstraction (withdrawal) volumes by country / spatial unit / use / period from the EEA WISE State of Environment (Waterbase) water-abstraction dataset. Each record carries the spatial unit, the observed-property USE CODE (e.g. abstraction by source and sector such as groundwater for domestic use) VERBATIM, the time period, the observed VOLUME in the SOURCE UNITS verbatim, and the observation-STATUS flag. Country / spatial-unit grain — there is no contact, operator, or responsible-person field in the source, and none is selected or emitted (free-text remark fields excluded at field selection); a person-key guard runs on every record as a backstop.",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-25T17:22:09Z"
}

Pricing

Event	Free plan	Bronze	Silver	Gold / Platinum / Diamond
water_abstraction_record	$0.05	$0.045	$0.04	$0.0335

Delivered before charged. Blocked runs and empty results cost nothing.

Input

Field	Type	Default	Description
countryCode	string	—	Optional 2-letter country code (e.g. DE, FR).
year	integer	—	Optional reference year to filter.
maxRecords	integer	500	Ceiling on records delivered and billed.

Output

One JSON object per abstraction observation. Real example (values as reported):

{
  "record_id": "AT_SU_0001:gross freshwater abstraction by groundwater for public water supply:2016",
  "country_code": "AT",
  "spatial_unit_identifier": "AT_SU_0001",
  "spatial_unit_identifier_scheme": "eionetSchema",
  "observed_property": "gross freshwater abstraction by groundwater for public water supply",
  "time_period": "2016",
  "year": "2016",
  "observed_volume": 123.4,
  "observation_status": "A",
  "source": "EEA WISE State of Environment (Waterbase) \u2014 water abstraction",
  "source_url": "https://discodata.eea.europa.eu/",
  "observed_at": "2026-08-23T00:00:00Z"
}

An unbilled RUN_RECEIPT records the robots check, the filters, rows seen and delivered, and whether charged equals delivered.

Field reference

Each record is one abstraction observation. Identity: record_id, country_code, spatial_unit_identifier, and spatial_unit_identifier_scheme. Use and period: observed_property (the USE CODE, verbatim), time_period, and year. Measurement: observed_volume (in the source units) and observation_status. Provenance travels on every record: source, source_url, licence, attribution, disclaimer, and observed_at.

How a run works

A run first re-reads the source host's robots posture from your runtime — the EEA DiscoData host — and stops at the door if that ever changes. It pages the WISE water-abstraction table (filtered to your optional countryCode and optional year), and flattens each row to one record — carrying every value and label verbatim, never anything person-shaped — delivered before it is charged, so a blocked or empty run costs you nothing. The actor stops at your maxRecords ceiling and records charge_equals_delivered in the receipt.

Coverage and scope

The table holds on the order of 68,058 rows. Because each record carries the country_code, the spatial unit, the observed-property use code, and the year, segmenting is straightforward. Pull one slice, or the whole table to seed a warehouse.

Working with the data

The abstractions are a demand ledger, and the fields make them additive. Because every record pairs an observed_property use code with an observed_volume at a spatial_unit_identifier, an analyst can build a country's or a basin's withdrawal profile by sector without unit-guessing — the volume travels in the source units, and the observation_status flag marks provisional or estimated figures. The year frames each volume in time, so multi-year abstraction trends assemble directly.

Identifiers and joins

Every record carries the spatial_unit_identifier and country_code, keying each withdrawal to the fleet's water-return and reservoir-storage cells for the same spatial unit, and lining the withdrawals up against the WFD pressure and status cells so abstraction pressure can be read alongside the body's condition.

Withdrawals versus returns

A water-abstraction figure is water TAKEN from the environment; a water-return figure is water PUT BACK (or lost) — the two halves of the human water balance. This cell reads the abstraction table; the companion return-flow cell reads the returns table. Keeping them as separate actors means a buyer pays only for the side they need, and pulling both and joining on the spatial unit lets net consumption be estimated — withdrawals minus returns — on a like-for-like basis.

Cost guidance

One water_abstraction_record per delivered row: cost = rows delivered × your plan's per-record price. Scope with countryCode and optional year to keep runs bounded. 1,000 rows is $50 (Free) / $33.50 (Gold).

Honest limitations

• As reported. Values, labels, and flags are as filed; this actor reformats, it does not audit or recompute.
• A label, not a verdict. These are reported values and classifications, not an independent compliance or conservation assessment.
• Acknowledge the EEA. The acknowledgement travels on every record.
• No person data of any kind.

Differentiation

This is a net-new category for the NexGenData fleet. It is distinct from eu-water-return-flow-records — that cell carries returned water, leakage and losses (water put back or lost), while this cell carries the WITHDRAWALS (water taken); withdrawals vs returns. Its specific job is the WISE water-abstraction volumes by spatial unit, use, and period.

The NexGen Signal family

Part of the NexGen Signal family of pay-per-record data products:

• EU Reservoir Storage Records — EEA WISE
• EU Water Return Flow Records — EEA WISE
• EU Water Emission Load Records — EEA WISE
• EU Riverine Pollutant Load Records — EEA WISE
• EU Surface Water Chemical Status Records — EEA WISE

Source: European Environment Agency (EEA), WISE State of Environment (Waterbase) (discodata.eea.europa.eu). EEA data may be reused, including commercially, provided the source is acknowledged: "Source: European Environment Agency (EEA)"; marked third-party content keeps its own terms. Spatial-unit / use / period grain; the spatial unit is a location code; free-text remark/metadata fields excluded, no contact/operator/responsible-person field selected or emitted. No natural-person data of any kind. Values and labels as filed, not a compliance verdict.