ABSTRACT
The water grammar integrates the multiple societal and ecosystem dimensions of water metabolism into a coherent accounting method. It combines the distinct narratives for the analysis of ecosystem and societal metabolic pattern, including the different definitions of hierarchical levels of organization, functional compartments, and semantic accounting categories. This chapter shows how to check feasibility and viability of both water supply and water use. The grammar is implemented using practical examples. The MuSIASEM system of accounting is extremely useful for the study of water metabolism, as it allows us to deal with the multi-dimensionality of water and to connect non-equivalent definitions of 'performance' across societal and ecological narratives. The integrated set of semantic categories of accounting of the water grammar can be tailored to the specific characteristics of the case study to generate relevant quantitative and qualitative characterization of both water appropriation and end uses.
