scholarly journals Virtual Water Flow and Water Footprint Assessment of an Arid Region: A Case Study of South Khorasan Province, Iran

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1755 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ehsan Qasemipour ◽  
Ali Abbasi
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Arid Region ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
Consumption Pattern ◽  
South Khorasan

Water challenges—especially in developing countries—are set to be strained by population explosion, growing technology, climate change and a shift in consumption pattern toward more water-intensive products. In these situations, water transfer in virtual form can play an important role in alleviating the pressure exerted on the limited water resources—especially in arid and semi-arid regions. This study aims to quantify the 10-year average of virtual water trade and the water footprint within South Khorasan—the third largest province in Iran—for both crops and livestock products. The virtual water content of 37 crops and five livestock is first estimated and the water footprint of each county is consequently measured using a top-down approach. The sustainability of the current agricultural productions is then assessed using the water scarcity (WS) indicator. Results of the study show that in spite of the aridity of the study area, eight out of 11 counties are net virtual water exporters. Birjand—the most populous county—is a net virtual water importer. The 10-year average water footprint of the region is measured as 2.341 Gm3 per year, which accounts for 2.28% of national water footprint. The region’s average per capita water footprint however, with 3486 m3, is 115% higher than the national ones. Crop production and livestock production are responsible for 82.16% and 17.84% of the total water footprint. The current intensive agricultural practices in such an arid region have resulted in a water scarcity of 206%—which is far beyond the sustainability criteria. This study gives the water authorities and decision-makers of the region a picture of how and where local water resources are used through the food trade network. The generated information can be applied by the regional policymakers to establish effective and applicable approaches to alleviate water scarcity, guarantee sustainable use of water supplies, and provide food security

Calculation and Analysis of Water Footprint in Shunyi District of Beijing

2013 ◽  
Vol 295-298 ◽  
pp. 964-969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Su Ling Liu ◽  
Yu Xin Wang ◽  
Xiao Hui Mao
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Resource ◽  
Carrying Capacity ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
Consumption Pattern ◽  
Water Resources Carrying Capacity ◽  
Per Capita

The water footprint and consumption pattern is an effective tool for quantitifying the volume of water resources consumption in certain region [ ].Shunyi’s water footprint in the period 2006-2010 is calculated in this article from the view of virtual water. The general water footprint in Shunyi District at the year 2010 reached 790 million m3 and water footprint per capita was 536.48 cubic meters. Shunyi 's water resource quantity per capita was 501.27 m3 in the same year and the Water Scarcity Index was 1.98. The result of calculation shows that the water resource volume of exploitation in Shunyi District of Beijing has been beyond the water resources carrying capacity.

A multi-region input-output model for optimizing virtual water trade flows in agricultural crop production

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen B. Aviso ◽  
Sed Anderson K. Holaysan ◽  
Michael Angelo B. Promentilla ◽  
Krista Danielle S. Yu ◽  
Raymond R. Tan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
Trade Flows ◽  
Input Output ◽  
Virtual Water Trade ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Economic Productivity

Purpose The onset of climate change is expected to result in variations in weather patterns which can exacerbate water scarcity issues. This can potentially impact the economic productivity of nations as economic activities are highly dependent on water especially for agricultural countries. In response to this, the concepts of virtual water and water footprint have been introduced as metrics for measuring the water intensity of products, services and nations. Researchers have thus looked into virtual water trade flows as a potential strategy for alleviating water scarcity. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Environmentally extended input-output models (IOMs) are often used to analyze interactions between economic and ecological systems. This work thus develops a multi-regional input-output model for optimizing virtual water trade between different geographic regions in consideration of local environmental resource constraints, product demands and economic productivity. Findings A case study on agriculture crop production and trade in different regions of the Philippines is utilized to demonstrate the capabilities of the model. The results show that the optimal strategy does not necessarily limit a water-scarce region to produce less water-intensive crops. Research limitations/implications The model uses an input-output framework whose fixed coefficients reflect a fixed technological state. As such, the model is best used for short-term projections, or projections for mature technological state (i.e. where no major gains in efficiency or yield can be foreseen). Practical implications The proposed modeling framework can be used in any geographic region (provided relevant statistical data are available for calibration) to provide decision support for optimal use of limited water resources. Originality/value The model proposed in this work has general applicability to the optimal planning of agro-industrial systems under water footprint constraints. This modeling approach will be particularly valuable in the future, as climate change causes changes in precipitation patterns and water availability.

Water Footprint and Virtual Water Trade of Cash Crops

2021 ◽  
pp. 174-194
Author(s):  
Sunakshi Budhiraja ◽  
Sukanya Das ◽  
Badri Narayanan Gopala Krishnan
Keyword(s):  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
Virtual Water Trade ◽  
Water Flows ◽  
Cash Crops ◽  
Viable Solution ◽  
Sustainable Agricultural Practices ◽  
Opening Up

Virtual water flows (VWF) among states or countries have been proposed as a viable solution to mitigate water scarcity. The aim of this study is to assess the virtual water content and flows from India, for six cash crops, coffee, cotton, jute, sugarcane, tea, and tobacco, and their derived products over a period 1980-2013. The virtual water trade (VWT) estimates across three time periods show India to be a net exporter of virtual water for all the cash crops, except jute. The quantity of virtual water traded has increased over the decades with the increase in the quantum of crops traded. With free trade policies and the opening up of the economy, export quantities increased during the 1990s and the period thereafter, leading to larger virtual water exports. Sustainable agricultural practices for all crops, and in all countries, can help in reducing the water flow of these crops and help in controlling the water scarcity solution.

scholarly journals GLOBAL WATER RESOURCES: CHALLENGES OF THE 21st CENTURY

2020 ◽  
pp. 6-16
Author(s):  
V. Khilchevskyi
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Fresh Water ◽  
River Runoff ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
River Flow ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
Human Society ◽  
The World ◽  
Global Water

The article provides an analytical overview of the state of global water resources and their use in the world. The focus is on the most important component of water resources – freshwater, which on the planet is only 2.5 % of the total. The most accessible renewable water resources are river runoff, which is distributed unevenly on the surface of the planet: Asia (32 %), South America (28 %), North America (18 %), Africa (9 %), Europe (7%), Australia and Oceania (6 %). Along with the characteristics of the known components of freshwater resources (river runoff, groundwater, glaciers), attention is also focused on trends in attracting unconventional sources (recovered wastewater or gray water, desalinated, specially collected rainwater). The total use of fresh water in the world is only 9 % of the total river flow of the planet. At the same time, the problem of water scarcity was included in the list of the World Economic Forum 2015, as one of the global risks in terms of the potential impact on human society in the next decade. Among the causes of global water, scarcity are geographical and socio-economic. Geographical reasons are the spatial and temporal (seasonal) mismatch of the demand for fresh water and its availability. Socio-economic reasons are the growth of the world’s population, urbanization, improving living standards, changes in consumption patterns, and an increase in irrigated land. The latter has become key to the growth of global water demand. Experts forecast that the limited access to fresh water in 2050 can be felt by 3.3 billion more people than in 2000. The article gives examples of a methodology for the hydrological assessment of water scarcity (calculation of the ratio of the volume of annual renewable water resources to the population) and the methodology of economic and geographical assessment. Other approaches to assessing water resources by creating new paradigms (water – blue, green, virtual, water footprint) have been characterized. Throughout the history of mankind, there have been many conflicts related to water. Active water cooperation between countries today reduces the risk of military conflicts. This conclusion was made after studying transboundary water relations in more than 200joint river basins, covering 148 countries. The right to safe water and sanitation is a fundamental right of everyone (UN, 2010). Therefore, among the 17 sustainable development goals adopted by the UN for implementation for the period 2015-2030, Global Goal 6 “Clean Water and Good Sanitary Conditions” is aimed at ensuring sustainable management of water resources and sanitation for all. This will save people from diseases, and society will be given the opportunity to be more productive in economic terms.

scholarly journals Agro-economic and socio-environmental assessments of food and virtual water trades of Iran

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Karandish ◽  
Hamideh Nouri ◽  
Marcela Brugnach
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
Environmental Indicators ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Water Crisis ◽  
Food Trade ◽  
Water Limitations

AbstractEnding hunger and ensuring food security are among targets of 2030’s SDGs. While food trade and the embedded (virtual) water (VW) may improve food availability and accessibility for more people all year round, the sustainability and efficiency of food and VW trade needs to be revisited. In this research, we assess the sustainability and efficiency of food and VW trades under two food security scenarios for Iran, a country suffering from an escalating water crisis. These scenarios are (1) Individual Crop Food Security (ICFS), which restricts calorie fulfillment from individual crops and (2) Crop Category Food Security (CCFS), which promotes “eating local” by suggesting food substitution within the crop category. To this end, we simulate the water footprint and VW trades of 27 major crops, within 8 crop categories, in 30 provinces of Iran (2005–2015). We investigate the impacts of these two scenarios on (a) provincial food security (FSp) and exports; (b) sustainable and efficient blue water consumption, and (c) blue VW export. We then test the correlation between agro-economic and socio-environmental indicators and provincial food security. Our results show that most provinces were threatened by unsustainable and inefficient blue water consumption for crop production, particularly in the summertime. This water mismanagement results in 14.41 and 8.45 billion m3 y−1 unsustainable and inefficient blue VW exports under ICFS. “Eating local” improves the FSp value by up to 210% which lessens the unsustainable and inefficient blue VW export from hotspots. As illustrated in the graphical abstract, the FSp value strongly correlates with different agro-economic and socio-environmental indicators, but in different ways. Our findings promote “eating local” besides improving agro-economic and socio-environmental conditions to take transformative steps toward eradicating food insecurity not only in Iran but also in other countries facing water limitations.

Water resources efficiency assessment in crop production from the perspective of water footprint

2021 ◽  
pp. 127371
Author(s):  
Xinchun Cao ◽  
Wen Zeng ◽  
Mengyang Wu ◽  
Tingyu Li ◽  
Sheng Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Efficiency Assessment

scholarly journals An improved method for calculating regional crop water footprint based on hydrological process analysis

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-Bo Luan ◽  
Ya-Li Yin ◽  
Pu-Te Wu ◽  
Shi-Kun Sun ◽  
Yu-Bao Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Process Analysis ◽  
Irrigation District ◽  
Hydrological Process ◽  
Total Water ◽  
Crop Water ◽  
Total Consumption

Abstract. Fresh water is consumed during agricultural production. With the shortage of water resources, assessing the water use efficiency is crucial to effectively managing agricultural water resources. The water footprint is a new index for water use evaluation, and it can reflect the quantity and types of water usage during crop growth. This study aims to establish a method for calculating the region-scale water footprint of crop production based on hydrological processes. This method analyzes the water-use process during the growth of crops, which includes irrigation, precipitation, underground water, evapotranspiration, and drainage, and it ensures a more credible evaluation of water use. As illustrated by the case of the Hetao irrigation district (HID), China, the water footprints of wheat, corn and sunflower were calculated using this method. The results show that canal water loss and evapotranspiration were responsible for most of the water consumption and accounted for 47.9 % and 41.8 % of the total consumption, respectively. The total water footprints of wheat, sunflower and corn were 1380–2888 m3/t, 942–1774 m3/t, and 2095–4855 m3/t, respectively, and the blue footprint accounts for more than 86 %. The spatial distribution pattern of the green, blue and total water footprint for the three crops demonstrated that higher values occurred in the eastern part of the HID, which had more precipitation and was further from the irrigating gate. This study offers a vital reference for improving the method used to calculate the crop water footprint.

scholarly journals Vulnerabilities of the European Union’s Economy to Hydrological Extremes Outside its Borders

Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ertug Ercin ◽  
Daniel Chico ◽  
Ashok K. Chapagain
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
Green Water ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The World ◽  
Current Water ◽  
External Water ◽  
The Eu

Climate change is leading to increased water scarcity and drought in many parts of the world. This has implications for the European Union (EU) because a lot of the water intensive goods consumed or used there are produced abroad. This makes the EU’s economy dependent on water resources well beyond its borders since when a country imports water intensive goods, indirectly it also imports virtual water (water needed to produce the imported goods). This study maps the EU’s global dependency on water resources outside its borders in terms of virtual water imports and assesses how water scarcity and drought may disrupt supplies of key food crops that it imports. The EU uses approximately 668 km3 of water for all of the goods it produces, consumes and exports, annually. Around 38% of that water comes from outside its borders, which means that the EU’s economy is highly dependent on the availability of water in other parts of the world. In the near future, supplies of certain crops to the EU could be disrupted due to water scarcity in other parts of the world; a large portion of the water used in producing soybeans, rice, sugarcane, cotton, almonds, pistachios and grapes for import to the EU comes from areas with significant or severe levels of water scarcity. Although the immediate risks to the EU’s economy are due to current water scarcity levels, any disruption to rainfall patterns that occur in the future, due to the effects of climate change in the countries of origin of key crops, could have a far greater impact. This is because as much as 92% of the EU’s total external water demand from agriculture is attributed to green water use, availability of which has relatively higher vulnerability to drought.

Non-negligible regional differences in the driving forces of crop-related water footprint and virtual water flows: a case study for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meng Li ◽  
La Zhuo ◽  
Pute Wu
Keyword(s):  
Water Consumption ◽  
Regional Differences ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
Driving Factors ◽  
Bth Region

<p>Water scarcity is a significant risk for meeting increasing food demand around the world. The importance of identifying the driving forces behind water consumption in agriculture and relative virtual water (VW) flows has been widely reported in order to provide practical advice for sustainable agricultural water resource management. However, the regional differences in the driving forces behind either water consumption or VW flows were largely ignored. To fill the crucial gap, taking nine major crops grown in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region in China over 2000-2013 as the study case, we investigate the regional differences in socio-economic driving forces on both the estimated water footprint (WF) in crop production and relative inter-city VW flows for each crop per year. Results show that although there is little change in total WFs in crop production (~43.3 billion m<sup>3</sup>/y on annual average), the WF per unit mass of crop decreased and the crop structure in the total WFs changed greatly. The BTH region was a VW importer with net VW import of 11.7 billion m<sup>3</sup>/y by 2013. The per capita GDP was the main positive driver of both total WFs of crop production and relative VW flows. Whereas the economic productivity and consumption ability were inhibiting factors for the WFs and VW flows, respectively. The levels of total crop WFs in agricultural cities were more sensitive to the effects of the main driving factors. The intensity of driving factors behind the inter-regional crop-related VW flows was shown to be directly related to the regional role as an importer or exporter. The current analysis suggests to develop characteristic agriculture considering the local role and regional differences in terms of water consumption and relative inter-regional VW flows, aiming for a balance between water sustainability, food security and economic developments.</p>

Agricultural infrastructure: the forgotten key driving force on crop-related water footprints and virtual water flows in developing countries: a case for China

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongrong Huang ◽  
La Zhuo ◽  
Pute Wu
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
High Water ◽  
North Coast ◽  
Water Flows

<p>Agricultural infrastructure plays important roles in boosting food production and trade system in developing countries, while as being a ‘grey solutions’, generates increasingly risks on the environmental sustainability. There is little information on impacts of agricultural infrastructure developments on water consumption and flows, (i.e. water footprint and virtual water flows) related to crop production, consumption and trade especially in developing countries with high water risk. Here we, taking mainland China over 2000-2017 as the study case, identified and evaluated the strengths and spatial heterogeneities in main socio-economic driving factors of provincial water footprints and inter-provincial virtual water flows related to three staple crops (rice, wheat and maize). For the first time, we consider irrigation (II), electricity (EI) and road infrastructures (RI) in the driving factor analysis through the extended STIRPAT (stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence and technology) model. Results show that the II, EI and RI in China were expanded by 33.8 times, 4.5 times and 2.4 times, respectively by year 2017 compared to 2000. Although the II was the most critical driver to effectively reduce the per unit water footprint, especially the blue water footprint in crop production (i.e., increasing water efficiency), the developments of II led to the bigger total water consumption. Such phenomenon was observed in Jing-Jin region, North Coast and Northwest China with water resource shortage. The EI and RI had increasing effects on provincial virtual water export, and the corresponding driving strengths varied across spaces. Obviously, the visible effects from the agricultural infrastructures on regional water consumption, water productivity and virtual water patterns cannot be neglected. </p>

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