Exploring solutions to alleviate the regional water stress from virtual water flows in China

2021 ◽  
pp. 148971
Author(s):  
Feng Wang ◽  
Beiming Cai ◽  
Xi Hu ◽  
Yu Liu ◽  
Wei Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Water Stress ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
Water Flows ◽  
Regional Water

scholarly journals Physical and virtual water transfers for regional water stress alleviation in China

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (4) ◽  
pp. 1031-1035 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xu Zhao ◽  
Junguo Liu ◽  
Qingying Liu ◽  
Martin R. Tillotson ◽  
Dabo Guan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Water Stress ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
National Level ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
Water Transfer ◽  
Water Transfers ◽  
Provincial Level ◽  
Water Flows

Water can be redistributed through, in physical terms, water transfer projects and virtually, embodied water for the production of traded products. Here, we explore whether such water redistributions can help mitigate water stress in China. This study, for the first time to our knowledge, both compiles a full inventory for physical water transfers at a provincial level and maps virtual water flows between Chinese provinces in 2007 and 2030. Our results show that, at the national level, physical water flows because of the major water transfer projects amounted to 4.5% of national water supply, whereas virtual water flows accounted for 35% (varies between 11% and 65% at the provincial level) in 2007. Furthermore, our analysis shows that both physical and virtual water flows do not play a major role in mitigating water stress in the water-receiving regions but exacerbate water stress for the water-exporting regions of China. Future water stress in the main water-exporting provinces is likely to increase further based on our analysis of the historical trajectory of the major governing socioeconomic and technical factors and the full implementation of policy initiatives relating to water use and economic development. Improving water use efficiency is key to mitigating water stress, but the efficiency gains will be largely offset by the water demand increase caused by continued economic development. We conclude that much greater attention needs to be paid to water demand management rather than the current focus on supply-oriented management.

scholarly journals Assessing impacts of water regulations on alleviating regional water stress with a system dynamics model

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 635-643 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huiping Huang ◽  
Jiangfeng Wang ◽  
Yuping Han ◽  
Lei Wang ◽  
Xinsheng Li
Keyword(s):  
Water Stress ◽  
System Dynamics ◽  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
Haihe River Basin ◽  
System Dynamics Model ◽  
Dynamics Model ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Regional Water

Abstract Many areas around the world are faced with water scarcity and virtual water can provide ways to resolve the problem. This paper presents a comprehensive water system based on a system dynamics model to assess how water regulations from the viewpoint of virtual water affect the regional water stress index in the Haihe River Basin, China. The results show that green water absorption, blue water consumption, virtual water flow, and water use efficiency play important roles in the water resources system. Water stress can be relieved by improving the infiltration coefficient, irrigation efficiency, industrial water use efficiency, and virtual water import.

scholarly journals Drivers of virtual water flows on regional water scarcity in China

2019 ◽  
Vol 207 ◽  
pp. 1112-1122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beiming Cai ◽  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Klaus Hubacek ◽  
Kuishuang Feng ◽  
ZhenLiang Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
Water Flows ◽  
Regional Water

scholarly journals Implementing the Water-Energy-Food Nexus at Various Scales: Trans-Boundary Challenges and Solutions

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolaus Scott McLachlan
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Water ◽  
Land Acquisition ◽  
Nile Basin ◽  
Science And Policy ◽  
Water Flows ◽  
Foreign Land ◽  
Water Simulation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Regional Water

AbstractWatersheds, climate regimes and nature in general do not abide to boundaries created by human institutions, increasing the difficulty for these institutions to manage them. Human activity is, on the other hand, capable of linking geographically separate regions through trade and supply chains. Implementing the water-energyfood nexus therefore often requires science and policy to work on a trans-boundary level. This article looks at two examples of quantitative trans-boundary approaches in science. Johansson explored the effects of foreign land acquisition on regional water scarcity through virtual water flows. The virtual water flows were based on the water used to produce the exported food and energy crops. The flows were aggregated on a national basis to compare countries. Van der Krogt presented a water simulation model for the Eastern Nile Basin, developed through joint cooperation between the four Eastern Nile countries. The model incorporates information on all current, planned and potential water infrastructure and irrigation projects into different scenarios. These are compared with a long term hydrological baseline to assess the impact development has on downstream water supply. This new tool allows Eastern Nile countries to better understand how their actions can affect downstream neighbours.

Estimation of the virtual water trade between two Spanish regions: Castilla-la Mancha and Murcia

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 831-840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ángel De Miguel ◽  
Eloy García ◽  
Irene De Buestamante
Keyword(s):  
Water Flow ◽  
Food Processing ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
Water Transfer ◽  
Water Efficiency ◽  
International Context ◽  
Water Flows ◽  
Spanish Regions ◽  
La Mancha ◽  
Virtual Water Flow

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.

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

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.

scholarly journals Assessment of regional trade and virtual water flows in China

2007 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dabo Guan ◽  
Klaus Hubacek
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Water ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
Water Flows

A step forward toward the high-resolution assessment of virtual water flows at the company’s scale

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena De Petrillo ◽  
Marta Tuninetti ◽  
Francesco Laio
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
The State ◽  
Green Water ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Food Trade ◽  
Water Flows ◽  
Final Consumer

<p>Through the international trade of agricultural goods, water resources that are physically used in the country of production are virtually transferred to the country of consumption. Food trade leads to a global redistribution of freshwater resources, thus shaping distant interdependencies among countries. Recent studies have shown how agricultural trade drives an outsourcing of environmental impacts pertaining to depletion and pollution of freshwater resources, and eutrophication of river bodies in distant producer countries. What is less clear is how the final consumer – being an individual, a company, or a community- impacts the water resources of producer countries at a subnational scale. Indeed, the variability of sub-national water footprint (WF in m<sup>3</sup>/tonne) due to climate, soil properties, irrigation practices, and fertilizer inputs is generally lost in trade analyses, as most trade data are only available at the country scale. The latest version of the Spatially Explicit Information on Production to Consumption Systems model  (SEI-PCS) by Trase provides detailed data on single trade flows (in tonne) along the crop supply chain: from local municipalities- to exporter companies- to importer companies – to the final consumer countries. These data allow us to capitalize on the high-resolution data of agricultural WF available in the literature, in order to quantify the sub-national virtual water flows behind food trade. As a first step, we assess the detailed soybean trade between Brazil and Italy. This assessment is relevant for water management because the global soybean flow reaching Italy may be traced back to 374 municipalities with heterogeneous agricultural practises and water use efficiency. Results show that the largest flow of virtual water from a Brazilian municipality to Italy -3.52e+07 m<sup>3</sup> (3% of the total export flow)- comes from Sorriso in the State of Mato Grosso. Conversely, the highest flow of blue water -1.56e+05 m<sup>3</sup>- comes from Jaguarão, in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, located in the Brazilian Pampa. Further, the analysis at the company scale reveals that as many as 37 exporting companies can be identified exchanging to Italy;  Bianchini S.A is the largest virtual water trader (1.88 e+08 m<sup>3</sup> of green water and 3,92 e+06 m<sup>3</sup> of blue water), followed by COFCO (1,06 e+08 m<sup>3</sup> of green water and 6.62 m<sup>3</sup> of blue water)  and Cargill ( 6.96 e+07 m<sup>3</sup> of green water and 2.80 e+02 m<sup>3</sup> of blue water). By building the bipartite network of importing companies and municipalities originating the fluxes we are able to efficiently disaggregate the supply chains , providing novel tools to build sustainable water management strategies.</p>

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