scholarly journals Identification of Major Inefficient Water Consumption Areas Considering Water Consumption, Efficiencies, and Footprints in Australia

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (18) ◽  
pp. 6156
Author(s):  
Muhammad Atiq Ur Rehman Tariq ◽  
Riley Raimond Damnics ◽  
Zohreh Rajabi ◽  
Muhammad Laiq Ur Rahman Shahid ◽  
Nitin Muttil
Keyword(s):  
Water Consumption ◽  
Trade Balance ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
State Level ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
Water Usage ◽  
Virtual Water Trade ◽  
Industrial Sectors

Due to population growth, climatic change, and growing water usage, water scarcity is expected to be a more prevalent issue at the global level. The situation in Australia is even more serious because it is the driest continent and is characterized by larger water footprints in the domestic, agriculture and industrial sectors. Because the largest consumption of freshwater resources is in the agricultural sector (59%), this research undertakes a detailed investigation of the water footprints of agricultural practices in Australia. The analysis of the four highest water footprint crops in Australia revealed that the suitability of various crops is connected to the region and the irrigation efficiencies. A desirable crop in one region may be unsuitable in another. The investigation is further extended to analyze the overall virtual water trade of Australia. Australia’s annual virtual water trade balance is adversely biased towards exporting a substantial quantity of water, amounting to 35 km3, per trade data of 2014. It is evident that there is significant potential to reduce water consumption and footprints, and increase the water usage efficiencies, in all sectors. Based on the investigations conducted, it is recommended that the water footprints at each state level be considered at the strategic level. Further detailed analyses are required to reduce the export of a substantial quantity of virtual water considering local demands, export requirements, and production capabilities of regions.

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 The Paradox of the Virtual Water Trade Balance in the Mediterranean Region

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2978
Author(s):  
Alexandros Gkatsikos ◽  
Konstadinos Mattas
Keyword(s):  
Water Consumption ◽  
Trade Balance ◽  
Trade Deficit ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
Total Water ◽  
Water Sustainability ◽  
Virtual Water Trade ◽  
Produce Water ◽  
Total Water Consumption ◽  
The Mediterranean

Climate change, water shortages and desertification threaten the economic and environmental sustainability in the Mediterranean. Limited rainfall and higher temperatures put agricultural production, which relies on water availability, in jeopardy. Thereupon, Mediterranean countries pursue agri-food resilience and water preservation through efficient water policies. Hence, water-deprived areas ought to import rather than produce water-intensive products to maintain water inventories and sustainability consequently. As this study examines the water sustainability for a Mediterranean water-scarce region with a particular focus on agriculture, the virtual water trade balance explores this hypothesis. A regional input–output model is constructed, and then total water consumption and the virtual water flows for each economic sector are estimated to determine the virtual water trade balance of the economy. Results indicate that the study area has a trade deficit and struggles economically but is a net importer of virtual water and secures water sustainability. As this virtual water deficit relies heavily on agriculture and originates in vast total water consumption rather than a large trade deficit, a paradox occurs; water-intensive cultivations and animals that consume 91.75% of water resources end up appearing to be water-saving. Further research is needed to strike a balance between economic growth and environmental protection.

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.

scholarly journals Direct and indirect water use within the Australian economy

Water Policy ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 1227-1239
Author(s):  
Beatriz Reutter ◽  
Paul A. Lant ◽  
Joe L. Lane
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
State Level ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
Temporal Analysis ◽  
Input Output ◽  
Economic Sectors ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Australian Economy ◽  
Australian Bureau Of Statistics

Abstract We present the first analysis of water use in the Australian economy to account for inter-state trade, exports and consumption patterns, across all economic sectors and incorporating a temporal analysis. This is achieved by using the environmentally extended input-output technique, combining state-level input-output and water accounts from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Results show that the three big eastern economies (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland) rely mostly on water used within their jurisdictions. Approximately one-third of water consumption is for exported commodities, with the biggest export flows of virtual water being associated with agricultural production. Comparing results across the years (2000–2011), the water consumption associated with the provision of goods and services has decreased by 32% for exports, and by 38% for domestic markets. To date in Australia, the focus for improved trans-boundary water management (within Australia) has been on improved mechanisms for sharing physical allocation of water; these results provide the trans-boundary economic dependencies related to water availability. Recent innovations in the compilation of economic input-output models create an opportunity to progress this analysis, exploring in detail the economy–water interlinkages. It is our intention that the paper shows the value of analysing water flows using the multi-regional input-output techniques.

Water footprint and virtual water trade in Spain

2009 ◽  
pp. 49-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Consuelo Varela-Ortega ◽  
Roberto Rodríguez Casado ◽  
M Ramón Llamas ◽  
Paula Novo ◽  
Maite Aldaya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Footprint ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
Virtual Water Trade

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>

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.

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