VIRTUAL WATER POTENTIAL OF SELECTED COMMODITIES IN CO-OPERATION OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC WITH COUNTRIES OF THE WESTERN BALKANS

Abstract. National water use accounts are generally limited to statistics on water withdrawals in the different sectors of economy. They are restricted to "blue water accounts" related to production, thus excluding (a) "green" and "grey water accounts", (b) accounts of internal and international virtual water flows and (c) water accounts related to consumption. This paper shows how national water-use accounts can be extended through an example for Indonesia. The study quantifies interprovincial virtual water flows related to trade in crop products and assesses the green, blue and grey water footprint related to the consumption of crop products per Indonesian province. The study shows that the average water footprint in Indonesia insofar related to consumption of crop products is 1131 m3/cap/yr, but provincial water footprints vary between 859 and 1895 m3/cap/yr. Java, the most water-scarce island, has a net virtual water import and the most significant external water footprint. This large external water footprint is relieving the water scarcity on this island. Trade will remain necessary to supply food to the most densely populated areas where water scarcity is highest (Java).

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Virtual water accounting for the globalized world economy: National water footprint and international virtual water trade

Ecological Indicators ◽

10.1016/j.ecolind.2012.07.024 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 28 ◽

pp. 142-149 ◽

Cited By ~ 193

Author(s):

Zhan-Ming Chen ◽

G.Q. Chen

Keyword(s):

World Economy ◽

Water Footprint ◽

Virtual Water ◽

Virtual Water Trade ◽

Water Accounting ◽

Globalized World ◽

National Water

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The water footprint of Indonesian provinces related to the consumption of crop products

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/hessd-6-5115-2009 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 6 (4) ◽

pp. 5115-5137 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

F. Bulsink ◽

A. Y. Hoekstra ◽

M. J. Booij

Keyword(s):

Water Use ◽

Water Scarcity ◽

Water Footprint ◽

Virtual Water ◽

Water Efficiency ◽

Grey Water ◽

Water Flows ◽

External Water ◽

Water Accounts ◽

National Water

Abstract. National water use accounts are generally limited to statistics on water withdrawals in the different sectors of economy. They are restricted to "blue water accounts" related to production, thus excluding (a) "green" and "grey water accounts", (b) accounts of internal and international virtual water flows and (c) water accounts related to consumption. This paper shows how national water-use accounts can be extended through an example for Indonesia. The study quantifies interprovincial virtual water flows related to trade in crop products and assesses the green, blue and grey water footprint related to the consumption of crop products per Indonesian province. The study shows that the average water footprint in Indonesia insofar related to consumption of crop products is 1131 m3/cap/yr, but provincial water footprints vary between 859 and 1895 m3/cap/yr. Java, the most water-scarce island, has a net virtual water import and the most significant external water footprint. This large external water footprint is releasing the water scarcity on this island. There are two alternative routes to reduce the overall water footprint of Indonesia. On the one hand, it may be reduced by promoting wise crop trade between provinces – i.e. trade from places with high to places with low water efficiency. On the other hand, the water footprint can be reduced by improving water efficiency in those places that currently have relatively low efficiency, which equalises production efficiencies and thus reduces the need for imports and enhances the opportunities for exports. In any case, trade will remain necessary to supply food to the most densely populated areas where water scarcity is highest (Java).

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

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-93928-9 ◽

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.

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Assessment of national water footprint versus water availability - Case study for Egypt

Alexandria Engineering Journal ◽

10.1016/j.aej.2020.12.038 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 60 (4) ◽

pp. 3577-3585

Author(s):

Mohamed ElFetyany ◽

Hanan Farag ◽

Samah H. Abd El Ghany

Keyword(s):

Water Availability ◽

Water Footprint ◽

National Water

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Water Footprint and Virtual Water Trade of Maize in the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Water ◽

10.3390/w13131769 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (13) ◽

pp. 1769

Author(s):

Maria Macarena Arrien ◽

Maite M. Aldaya ◽

Corina Iris Rodriguez

Keyword(s):

Buenos Aires ◽

Water Footprint ◽

Local Level ◽

Virtual Water ◽

Buenos Aires Province ◽

Pollution Load ◽

Basin Scale ◽

Water Volumes ◽

Water Scarce ◽

First Time

Agriculture is the largest fresh water consuming sector, and maize is the most produced and consumed crop worldwide. The water footprint (WF) methodology quantifies and evaluates the water volumes consumed and polluted by a given crop, as well as its impacts. In this work, we quantified for the first time the green WF (soil water from precipitation that is evapotranspired) and the green virtual water exports of maize from Buenos Aires province, Argentina, during 2016–2017, due to the relevance of this region in the world maize trade. Furthermore, at local level, we quantified the green, blue (evapotranspired irrigation), and grey (volume of water needed to assimilate a pollution load) WF of maize in a pilot basin. The green WF of maize in the province of Buenos Aires ranged between 170 and 730 m3/ton, with the highest values in the south following a pattern of yields. The contribution of this province in terms of green virtual water to the international maize trade reached 2213 hm3/year, allowing some water-scarce nations to ensure water and water-dependent food security and avoid further environmental impacts related to water. At the Napaleofú basin scale, the total WF of rainfed maize was 358 m3/ton (89% green and 11% grey) and 388 m3/ton (58% green, 25% blue, and 17% grey) for the irrigated crop, showing that there is not only a green WF behind the exported maize, but also a Nitrogen-related grey WF.

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Water footprint of Xiamen city from production and consumption perspectives (2001–2012)

Water Science & Technology Water Supply ◽

10.2166/ws.2016.152 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 472-479 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jiefeng Kang ◽

Jianyi Lin ◽

Shenghui Cui ◽

Xiangyang Li

Keyword(s):

Water Footprint ◽

Virtual Water ◽

Agricultural Products ◽

Top Down ◽

Average Production ◽

Production And Consumption ◽

Xiamen City ◽

Per Capita ◽

The City ◽

Per Capita Consumption

Providing a comprehensive insight, water footprint (WF) is widely used to analyze and address water-use issues. In this study, a hybrid of bottom-up and top-down methods is applied to calculate, from production and consumption perspectives, the WF for Xiamen city from 2001 to 2012. Results show that the average production WF of Xiamen was 881.75 Mm3/year and remained relatively stable during the study period, while the consumption WF of Xiamen increased from 979.56 Mm3/year to 1,664.97 Mm3/year over the study period. Xiamen thus became a net importer of virtual water since 2001. Livestock was the largest contributor to the total WF from both production and consumption perspectives; it was followed by crops, industry, household use, and commerce. The efficiency of the production WF has increased in Xiamen, and its per capita consumption WF was relatively low. The city faces continuing growth in its consumption WF, so more attention should be paid to improving local irrigation, reducing food waste, and importing water-intensive agricultural products.

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A spatially detailed blue water footprint of the United States economy

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences ◽

10.5194/hess-22-3007-2018 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 22 (5) ◽

pp. 3007-3032 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Richard R. Rushforth ◽

Benjamin L. Ruddell

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Water Use ◽

Water Footprint ◽

Virtual Water ◽

The United States ◽

Energy Information Administration ◽

Blue Water ◽

Consumptive Use ◽

The Us ◽

Per Capita

Abstract. This paper quantifies and maps a spatially detailed and economically complete blue water footprint for the United States, utilizing the National Water Economy Database version 1.1 (NWED). NWED utilizes multiple mesoscale (county-level) federal data resources from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), the US Department of Transportation (USDOT), the US Department of Energy (USDOE), and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to quantify water use, economic trade, and commodity flows to construct this water footprint. Results corroborate previous studies in both the magnitude of the US water footprint (F) and in the observed pattern of virtual water flows. Four virtual water accounting scenarios were developed with minimum (Min), median (Med), and maximum (Max) consumptive use scenarios and a withdrawal-based scenario. The median water footprint (FCUMed) of the US is 181 966 Mm3 (FWithdrawal: 400 844 Mm3; FCUMax: 222 144 Mm3; FCUMin: 61 117 Mm3) and the median per capita water footprint (FCUMed′) of the US is 589 m3 per capita (FWithdrawal′: 1298 m3 per capita; FCUMax′: 720 m3 per capita; FCUMin′: 198 m3 per capita). The US hydroeconomic network is centered on cities. Approximately 58 % of US water consumption is for direct and indirect use by cities. Further, the water footprint of agriculture and livestock is 93 % of the total US blue water footprint, and is dominated by irrigated agriculture in the western US. The water footprint of the industrial, domestic, and power economic sectors is centered on population centers, while the water footprint of the mining sector is highly dependent on the location of mineral resources. Owing to uncertainty in consumptive use coefficients alone, the mesoscale blue water footprint uncertainty ranges from 63 to over 99 % depending on location. Harmonized region-specific, economic-sector-specific consumption coefficients are necessary to reduce water footprint uncertainties and to better understand the human economy's water use impact on the hydrosphere.

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