Effects of Regulated Water Flows on Regeneration of Fremont Cottonwood

Virtual water is defined as the water needed to produce a product. We can use virtual water flow calculations to estimate the water efficiency of a country, as well as its economic dependence on water resources. Former studies on this area have focused on quantifying the virtual water flows between countries, in an international context. In this study we reduce the action framework to regions within a country, determining the virtual water balance between two Spanish regions: Castilla-La Mancha and Murcia. In 2004, Castilla-La Mancha exported to Murcia 2,453,442 tons of commercial products, from which 1,191,628 tons were agricultural goods. In terms of virtual water, it means 1,365 hm3, including food-processing, and industrial products. It is necessary to add 350 hm3 to the result, because of the water transfer (Tajo-Segura transfer) between the rivers basins of these regions, so the final virtual water number, in 2004, was 1,715 hm3. The other way round, Murcia exported in 2004 2,069,000 tons of products, from which 490,351 tons were agricultural goods. That supposes 712 hm3 of virtual water. Virtual water flow is unbalanced and displaced towards Murcia with a difference of 1,003 hm3.

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Advances in Environmental Hydraulics

Water ◽

10.3390/w13091192 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (9) ◽

pp. 1192

Author(s):

Carlo Gualtieri ◽

Dongdong Shao ◽

Athanasios Angeloudis

Keyword(s):

Environmental Quality ◽

Natural Water ◽

Environmental Water ◽

Water Systems ◽

Scientific Study ◽

Environmental Hydraulics ◽

Transport And Transformation ◽

Water Flows ◽

Transformation Processes

Environmental Hydraulics (EH) is the scientific study of environmental water flows and their related transport and transformation processes affecting the environmental quality of natural water systems, such as rivers, lakes, and aquifers, on our planet Earth [...]

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Evaluating Cryospheric Water Withdrawal and Virtual Water Flows in Tarim River Basin of China: An Input–Output Analysis

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13147589 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (14) ◽

pp. 7589

Author(s):

Yang Yang ◽

Shiwei Liu ◽

Cunde Xiao ◽

Cuiyang Feng ◽

Chenyu Li

Keyword(s):

Water Resources ◽

River Basin ◽

Socioeconomic Development ◽

Virtual Water ◽

Water Withdrawal ◽

Tarim River ◽

Tarim River Basin ◽

Input Output ◽

Output Analysis ◽

Water Flows

In Tarim River Basin (TRB), the retreat of glacier and snow cover reduction due to climate warming threatens the regional economy of downstream basins that critically depends on meltwater. However, the quantitative evaluation of its impact on multiple sectors of the socioeconomic system is incomplete. Based on compiled regional input–output table of the year 2012, this study developed a method to analyze the relationships between economic activities and related meltwater withdrawal, as well as sectoral transfer. The results show that the direct meltwater withdrawal intensity (DMWI) of agriculture was much higher than other sectors, reaching 2348.02 m3/10,000 CNY. Except for A01 (agriculture) and A02 (mining and washing of coal), the embodied meltwater withdrawal (EMW) driven by the final demand of other sectors was greater than direct meltwater withdrawal, and all sectors required inflows of virtual water (72.45 × 108 m3, accounting for 29% of total supply from cryospheric water resources) for their production processes in 2012. For sectors with high DMWI, improving water-use efficiency is an effective way to reduce water withdrawal. To some extent, the unbalanced supply of cryospheric water resources due to geographical segregation can be regulated by virtual water flows from water-saving to water-intensive sectors. Such decisions can affect the balance between socioeconomic development and environment conservation for long-term sustainability.

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