1. An inventory to show how water is consumed, used or otherwise involved in a particular process or place; e.g. within a steel plant or a house.

2. Globally, approximately 97% of the Earth’s water occurs in the oceans. Of the fresh water, 75% is locked up in ice sheets and glaciers, almost 25% is groundwater, and lakes, reservoirs, swamps, river channels, biospheric water, atmospheric water, and soil moisture together account for the remainder. The amount of water at each stage of the hydrologic cycle is called the water storage. See water budget, global.