Available support and information on SDG indicator 6.3.2
The UN-Water Integrated Monitoring Initiative for SDG 6
The UN-Water Integrated Monitoring Initiative for SDG 6 supports countries in monitoring water- and sanitation-related issues within the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and in compiling country data to report on global progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6. The 2020 Data Drive is part of this Integrated Monitoring Initiative for Sustainable Development Goal 6 (IMI-SDG6) and involves countries collecting and reporting data on various SDG 6 indicators to multiple UN agencies. The United Nations Environment Programme is supporting countries to report on SDG indicator 6.3.2.
SDG Indicator 6.3.2: "Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality"
Target 6.3 sets out to improve ambient water quality – this page explains why and how to monitor progress towards the indicator 6.3.2 under this target, and what support is available for countries to do so.
The indicator tracks the percentage of water bodies in a country with good ambient water quality. “Good” indicates an ambient water quality that does not damage ecosystem function and human health according to core ambient water quality parameters. These parameters are organized into groups (oxygen, salinity, nitrogen, phosphorous, pH) that use simply to measure the characteristics of water in order to create a globally comparable picture of a country's pressures on the quality of its freshwater bodies.
In addition to this simple water quality index, the methodology for 6.3.2 is flexible enough to allow countries to submit other relevant data that may be of national concern and uses alternative sources of data, such as satellite-based Earth Observation, and Citizen Science initiatives, modeling, or biological approaches.