Since AWARE is the outcome of a consensus process initiated to harmonize the impact assessment of water consumption in LCA, the AWARE working group advises for caution in the use of regional characterization factor (CF) recalculations. AWARE’s core idea is the conceptual and methodological alignment of LCA practice to obtain comparable LCA results (scores) in the LCA community. The use of CFs for specific parts of the globe contradicts this aim. While studying and cross-checking AWARE with local data is highly relevant, the AWARE working group therefore stresses that:
The AWARE working group does not discourage using regional recalculations in general, which can – if done correctly and following the core concepts of AWARE collected in the Memorandum of Understanding – provide valuable insight into more fine-grained water scarcity issues than global AWARE factors. However, such studies should use the disclaimer that by using regional recalculations they are not in line with the consensus that is AWARE.
Please note the distinction between regionally limited recalculations and spatial aggregations of AWARE CFs. The former are not aligned with the official AWARE method, whereas the latter are consistent with it, as they derive AWARE factors at coarse resolutions (country, province) using the consensus-based CFs.
Following publications compare global AWARE CFs with regional data:
Bontinck, P. A., Grant, T., Kaewmai, R., & Musikavong, C. (2021). Recalculating Australian water scarcity characterisation factors using the AWARE method. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 26(8), 1687–1701. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-021-01952-8
Lee, U., Xu, H., Daystar, J., Elgowainy, A., & Wang, M. (2019). AWARE-US: Quantifying water stress impacts of energy systems in the United States. Science of the Total Environment, 648, 1313–1322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.08.250
Andrade, E. P., de Araújo Nunes, A. B., de Freitas Alves, K., Ugaya, C. M. L., da Costa Alencar, M., de Lima Santos, T., da Silva Barros, V., Pastor, A. V., & de Figueirêdo, M. C. B. (2020). Water scarcity in Brazil: Part 1—Regionalization of the AWARE model characterization factors. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 25(12), 2342–2358. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-019-01643-5
Kaewmai, R., Grant, T., Eady, S., Mungkalasiri, J., & Musikavong, C. (2019). Improving regional water scarcity footprint characterization factors of an available water remaining (AWARE) method. Science of the Total Environment, 681, 444–455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.013
Sanchez-Matos, J., Andrade, E. P., & Vázquez-Rowe, I. (2023). Revising regionalized water scarcity characterization factors for selected watersheds along the hyper-arid Peruvian coast using the AWARE method. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-023-02195-5
Sanchez-Matos, J., Vázquez-Rowe, I., & Kahhat, R. (2024). AWARE characterization factors in Peru encompassing El Niño and climate change events: Does increased water availability guarantee less water scarcity? The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-024-02369-9
Higham, C. D., Singh, R., & Horne, D. J. (2024). The Water Footprint of Pastoral Dairy Farming: The Effect of Water Footprint Methods, Data Sources and Spatial Scale. Water, 16(3), Article 3. https://doi.org/10.3390/w16030391
Du, L., Yang, Y., Bai, X., Xu, S., Lin, L., & Liu, M. (2024). Water scarcity footprint and water saving potential for large-scale green hydrogen generation: Evidence from coal-to-hydrogen substitution in China. Science of The Total Environment, 940, 173589. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173589
Kirshen, A. B., Moran, B. J., Munk, L. A., Russo, A. A., McKnight, S. V., Jenckes, J., Corkran, D. B., Bresee, M., & Boutt, D. F. (2025). Freshwater inflows to closed basins of the Andean plateau in Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia. Communications Earth & Environment, 6(1), 177. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02130-6
Renzi, N., Rugani, B., Pacetti, T., Penna, D., Caporali, E., Bresci, E., & Castelli, G. (2025). An advanced hydrological method for the characterization of Life Cycle Water Footprint at the local scale (Nos. EGU25-361). Copernicus Meetings. EGU25. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-361
Ferreiro-Crespo, I., Villanueva-Rey, P., Couce-Rodriguez, A., Carreira-Garcia, C., Robles, E., Lorenzo-Toja, Y., & Feijoo, G. (2026). AWARE historic and 2024 characterization factors for Spain. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 31(1), 31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-026-02603-6