Showing papers on "Water scarcity published in 2010"

A revised approach to water footprinting to make transparent the impacts of consumption and production on global freshwater scarcity

Abstract: Through the interconnectedness of global business, the local consumption of products and services is intervening in the hydrological cycle throughout the world to an unprecedented extent. In order to address the unsustainable use of global freshwater resources, indicators are needed which make the impacts of production systems and consumption patterns transparent. In this paper, a revised water footprint calculation method, incorporating water stress characterisation factors, is presented and demonstrated for two case study products, Dolmio ® pasta sauce and Peanut M&M's ® using primary production data. The method offers a simple, yet meaningful way of making quantitative comparisons between products, production systems and services in terms of their potential to contribute to water scarcity. As such, capacity is created for change through public policy as well as corporate and individual action. This revised method represents an alternative to existing volumetric water footprint calculation methods which combine green and blue water consumption from water scarce and water abundant regions such that they give no clear indication about where the actual potential for harm exists.

Is physical water scarcity a new phenomenon? Global assessment of water shortage over the last two millennia

Abstract: In this letter we analyse the temporal development of physical population-driven water scarcity, i.e. water shortage, over the period 0 AD to 2005 AD. This was done using population data derived from the HYDE dataset, and water resource availability based on the WaterGAP model results for the period 1961‐90. Changes in historical water resources availability were simulated with the STREAM model, forced by climate output data of the ECBilt‐CLIO‐VECODE climate model. The water crowding index, i.e. Falkenmark water stress indicator, was used to identify water shortage in 284 sub-basins. Although our results show a few areas with moderate water shortage (1000‐1700 m 3 /capita/yr) around the year 1800, water shortage began in earnest at around 1900, when 2% of the world population was under chronic water shortage (<1000 m 3 /capita/yr). By 1960, this percentage had risen to 9%. From then on, the number of people under water shortage increased rapidly to the year 2005, by which time 35% of the world population lived in areas with chronic water shortage. In this study, the effects of changes in population on water shortage are roughly four times more important than changes in water availability as a result of long-term climatic change. Global trends in adaptation measures to cope with reduced water resources per capita, such as irrigated area, reservoir storage, groundwater abstraction, and global trade of agricultural products, closely follow the recent increase in global water shortage.

How inequitable is the global distribution of responsibility, capability, and vulnerability to climate change: A comprehensive indicator-based assessment

Abstract: While it is generally asserted that those countries who have contributed least to anthropogenic climate change are most vulnerable to its adverse impacts some recently developed indices of vulnerability to climate change come to a different conclusion. Confirmation or rejection of this assertion is complicated by the lack of an agreed metric for measuring countries’ vulnerability to climate change and by conflicting interpretations of vulnerability. This paper presents a comprehensive semi-quantitative analysis of the disparity between countries’ responsibility for climate change, their capability to act and assist, and their vulnerability to climate change for four climate-sensitive sectors based on a broad range of disaggregated vulnerability indicators. This analysis finds a double inequity between responsibility and capability on the one hand and the vulnerability of food security, human health, and coastal populations on the other. This double inequity is robust across alternative indicator choices and interpretations of vulnerability. The main cause for the higher vulnerability of poor nations who have generally contributed little to climate change is their lower adaptive capacity. In addition, the biophysical sensitivity and socio-economic exposure of poor nations to climate impacts on food security and human health generally exceeds that of wealthier nations. No definite statement can be made on the inequity associated with climate impacts on water supply due to large uncertainties about future changes in regional water availability and to conflicting indicators of current water scarcity. The robust double inequity between responsibility and vulnerability for most climate-sensitive sectors strengthens the moral case for financial and technical assistance from those countries most responsible for climate change to those countries most vulnerable to its adverse impacts. However, the complex and geographically heterogeneous patterns of vulnerability factors for different climate-sensitive sectors suggest that the allocation of international adaptation funds to developing countries should be guided by sector-specific or hazard-specific criteria despite repeated requests from participants in international climate negotiations to develop a generic index of countries’ vulnerability to climate change.

Preparing for a Warmer World: Towards a Global Governance System to Protect Climate Refugees

Abstract: Climate change threatens to cause the largest refugee crisis in human history. Millions of people, largely in Africa and Asia, might be forced to leave their homes to seek refuge in other places or countries over the course of the century. Yet the current institutions, organizations, and funding mechanisms are not sufficiently equipped to deal with this looming crisis. The situation calls for new governance. We outline and discuss in this article a blueprint for a global governance architecture for the protection and voluntary resettlement of climate refugees—defined as people who have to leave their habitats because of sudden or gradual alterations in their natural environment related to one of three impacts of climate change: sea-level rise, extreme weather events, and drought and water scarcity. We provide an extensive review of current estimates of likely numbers and probable regions of origin of climate refugees. With a view to existing institutions, we argue against the extension of the definition o...

Water Footprinting: How to Address Water Use in Life Cycle Assessment?

Abstract: As freshwater is a vital yet often scarce resource, the life cycle assessment community has put great efforts in method development to properly address water use. The International Organization for Standardization has recently even launched a project aiming at creating an international standard for ‘water footprinting’. This paper provides an overview of a broad range of methods developed to enable accounting and impact assessment of water use. The critical review revealed that methodological scopes differ regarding types of water use accounted for, inclusion of local water scarcity, as well as differentiation between watercourses and quality aspects. As the application of the most advanced methods requires high resolution inventory data, the trade-off between ‘precision’ and ‘applicability’ needs to be addressed in future studies and in the new international standard.

Water deficit and nitrogen nutrition of crops. A review

Abstract: Among the environmental factors that can be modified by farmers, water and nitrogen are the main ones controlling plant growth. Irrigation and fertilizer application overcome this effect, if adequately used. Agriculture thus consumes about 85% of the total fresh water used worldwide. While only 18% of the world’s cultivated areas are devoted to irrigated agriculture, this total surface represents more than 45% of total agricultural production. These data highlight the importance of irrigated agriculture in a framework where the growing population demands greater food production. In addition, tighter water restrictions and competition with other sectors of society is increasing pressure to diminish the share of fresh water for irrigation, thus resulting in the decrease in water diverted for agriculture.The effect of water and nutrient application on yield has led to the overuse of these practices in the last decades. This misuse of irrigation and fertilizers is no longer sustainable, given the economic and environmental costs. Sustainable agriculture requires a correct balance between the agronomic, economic and environmental aspects of nutrient management. The major advances shown in this review are the following: (1) the measurement of the intensity of drought and N deficiency is a prerequisite for quantitative assessment of crop needs and management of both irrigation and fertilizer application. The N concentration of leaves exposed to direct irradiance allows both a reliable and high-resolution measurement of the status and the assessment of N nutrition at the plant level. (2) Two experiments on sunflower and on tall fescue are used to relate the changes in time and irrigation intensity to the crop N status, and to introduce the complex relationships between N demand and supply in crops. (3) Effects of water deficits on N demand are reviewed, pointing out the high sensitivity of N-rich organs versus the relative lesser sensitivity of organs that are poorer in N compounds. (4) The generally equal sensitivities of nitrifying and denitrifying microbes are likely to explain many conflicting results on the impact of water deficits on soil mineral N availability for crops. (5) The transpiration stream largely determines the availability of mineral N in the rhizosphere. This makes our poor estimate of root densities a major obstacle to any precise assessment of N availability in fertilized crops. (6) The mineral N fluxes in the xylem are generally reduced under water deficit and assimilation is generally known to be more sensitive to water scarcity. (7) High osmotic pressures are maintained during grain filling, which enables the plant to recycle large amounts of previously assimilated N. Its part in the total grain N yield is therefore generally higher under water deficits. (8) Most crop models currently used in agronomy use N and water efficiently but exhibit different views on their interaction.

Applying the Input-Output Method to Account for Water Footprint and Virtual Water Trade in the Haihe River Basin in China

Abstract: The virtual water strategy which advocates importing water intensive products and exporting products with low water intensity is gradually accepted as one of the options for solving water crisis in severely water scarce regions. However, if we count the virtual water embodied in imported products as the water saved for a region, we might overestimate the saving by including the virtual water that is later re-exported in association with the proceeded products made from the originally imported products. This problem can be avoided by accounting for the saved water through calculating water footprint (WF) in domestic final consumptive products. In this paper, an input−output analysis (IOA) based on the water footprint accounting framework is built to account for WF and virtual water trade of final consumptive products in the water stressed Haihe River basin in China for the year 1997, 2000, and 2002. The input−output transaction tables of the three years are constructed. The results show WF of 46.57, 44.52,...

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

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).

The Economics of Managing Scarce Water Resources

Abstract: This article surveys the literature on the economics of water scarcity and water demand. We examine demand estimation in diverted uses (urban, agricultural, and industrial), as well as the ...

Reclaiming freshwater sustainability in the Cadillac Desert.

Abstract: Increasing human appropriation of freshwater resources presents a tangible limit to the sustainability of cities, agriculture, and ecosystems in the western United States. Marc Reisner tackles this theme in his 1986 classic Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water. Reisner’s analysis paints a portrait of region-wide hydrologic dysfunction in the western United States, suggesting that the storage capacity of reservoirs will be impaired by sediment infilling, croplands will be rendered infertile by salt, and water scarcity will pit growing desert cities against agribusiness in the face of dwindling water resources. Here we evaluate these claims using the best available data and scientific tools. Our analysis provides strong scientific support for many of Reisner’s claims, except the notion that reservoir storage is imminently threatened by sediment. More broadly, we estimate that the equivalent of nearly 76% of streamflow in the Cadillac Desert region is currently appropriated by humans, and this figure could rise to nearly 86% under a doubling of the region’s population. Thus, Reisner’s incisive journalism led him to the same conclusions as those rendered by copious data, modern scientific tools, and the application of a more genuine scientific method. We close with a prospectus for reclaiming freshwater sustainability in the Cadillac Desert, including a suite of recommendations for reducing region-wide human appropriation of streamflow to a target level of 60%.

Virtual Water: A Helpful Perspective, but not a Sufficient Policy Criterion

Abstract: The topic of virtual water has received substantial attention in recent years, both in scholarly literature and the popular press. Many authors have described the “flow of virtual water” between countries that engage in the trade of agricultural crops and livestock products. Some have suggested that water-short countries should import water-intensive agricultural products from water-abundant countries, while using their limited domestic water resources for higher valued activities. While compelling at first, such a policy prescription can be misleading. Virtual water is a helpful phrase for describing the water required to produce agricultural products and other goods. Discussions of virtual water have been effective in encouraging public officials and citizens to focus on water scarcity issues. Yet the phrase is not based on an underlying conceptual framework. Hence, the virtual water perspective cannot be used alone as a criterion for selecting optimal policies. Trading strategies based on the virtual water perspective are not consistent with the economic concept of comparative advantage. In a similar fashion, distinguishing between the “blue water” and “green water” components of virtual water is helpful in a descriptive sense, but these phrases are not based on an underlying conceptual framework that can serve as a policy criterion for selecting among alternative policy options.

Socio-technical transitions in water scarcity contexts: Public acceptance of greywater reuse technologies in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona

Abstract: Greywater reuse systems are becoming more and more common in the new multi-storey buildings of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. A main driver of this trend has been the recent approval of ambitious local regulations aimed at saving water and using decentralised, alternative resources in a context of growing scarcity. Users must assume new responsibilities in water management and new capacities need to be developed at the very micro level to attain a successful implementation of these regulations. A survey of 120 greywater users and in-depth interviews with the main actors of the water sector was conducted in the town of Sant Cugat del Valles, in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. The municipality's six years experience on greywater use provided an exceptional opportunity to assess community perceptions during the socio-technical transition process. Sant Cugat was the first municipality in Spain that enforced the installation of such systems in new buildings. Results show that the perception of health risks, operation regimes, perceived costs and environmental awareness are, in different degrees, significant determinants of public acceptance. The main institutional, technical, and economic challenges that need to be addressed during the ongoing socio-technical transition process are also explored. Improving the level of knowledge of these systems among users would reduce the risk of social refusal of the new technology. Public authorities and implementers need to stimulate social learning processes with specific actions and build trust among residents in the new governance network if decentralised and alternative water supply systems are to find a place in the everyday life of urban populations.

Can China cope with its water crisis?--perspectives from the North China Plain.

Abstract: by Chunmiao Zheng1,2,3, Jie Liu3, Guoliang Cao2, Eloise Kendy4, Hao Wang5, and Yangwen Jia5 1Corresponding author: Department of Geological Sciences, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487; (205) 348-0579; fax: (205) 348-0818; czheng@ua.edu 2Department of Geological Sciences, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487. 3Center for Water Research, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China. 4Environmental Flow Program, The Nature Conservancy, Helena, MT 59601. 5Department of Water Resources, China Institute of Water Resources & Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China.

Finding Practical Approaches to Integrated Water Resources Management.

Abstract: Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) has often been interpreted and implemented in a way that is only really suited to countries with the most developed water infrastructures and management capacities. While sympathetic to many of the criticisms levelled at the IWRM concept and recognising the often disappointing levels of adoption, this paper and the series of papers it introduces identify some alternative ways forward in a developmental context that place more emphasis on the practical in-finding solutions to water scarcity. A range of lighter, more pragmatic and context-adapted approaches, strategies and entry points are illustrated with examples from projects and initiatives in mainly 'developing' countries. The authors argue that a more service-orientated (WASH, irrigation and ecosystem services), locally rooted and balanced approach to IWRM that better matches contexts and capacities should build on such strategies, in addition to the necessary but long-term policy reforms and river basin institution-building at higher levels. Examples in this set of papers not only show that the 'lighter', more opportunistic and incremental approach has potential as well as limitations but also await wider piloting and adoption.

Water in Mexico City: what will climate change bring to its history of water-related hazards and vulnerabilities?

Abstract: This paper describes the risks that Mexico City faces from flooding and water scarcity, how these risks developed over time and how climate change will affect them. It begins by discussing the climatic and hydrological conditions that explain the abundance of water resources and the droughts and floods that have affected the city and its surrounds for centuries. It then presents the water- relevant implications of climate change for the city and considers who is likely to be most impacted. Floods, droughts and other water-relevant hazards are the result not only of "nature" (and now of human-induced climate change) but also of past and present socio-environmental changes. This helps explain why Mexico City's population, infrastructure and systems are less able to cope with climate change.

Wastewater production, treatment, and irrigation in Middle East and North Africa

Abstract: The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is the driest region of the world with only 1% of the world’s freshwater resources. The increasing competition for good-quality water has cut into agriculture’s water share but since the use of freshwater for domestic, industrial and municipal activities generates wastewater, the volume of wastewater used in agriculture has increased. About 43% of wastewater generated in the MENA region is treated; a relatively high percentage compared to other developing-country dominated regions. This is because of the perceived importance of wastewater as a water resource and several oil-rich countries with the resources to treat wastewater. The MENA region has an opportunity for beneficial reuse of wastewater but few countries in the region have been able to implement substantial wastewater treatment and reuse programs. The major constraints leading to seemingly slow and uneven reuse of wastewater are: inadequate information on the status of reuse or disposal of wastewater and associated environmental and health impacts; incomplete economic analysis of the wastewater treatment and reuse options, usually restricted to financial feasibility analysis; high costs and low returns of developing wastewater collection networks and wastewater treatment plants; lack of wastewater treatment and reuse cost-recovery mechanisms and lack of commitment to support comprehensive wastewater treatment programs; mismatch between water pricing and regional water scarcity; preference for freshwater over wastewater; and inefficient irrigation and water management schemes undermining the potential of wastewater reuse. However, some countries such as Tunisia, Jordan, and Israel have policies in place that address wastewater treatment through a range of instruments. Policymakers in these countries consider use of treated wastewater to be an essential aspect of strategic water and wastewater planning and management. With flexible policy frameworks addressing rapid demographic changes and increasing water scarcity in the MENA region, water reuse has great potential if integrated with resource planning, environmental management and financing arrangements.

Water Planning Under Climatic Uncertainty in Phoenix: Why We Need a New Paradigm

Abstract: The uncertainties associated with global climate models pose substantial hurdles for urban water planning. Despite growing consensus among climatologists that the American Southwest is headed for a warmer and drier future, water planners in metropolitan Phoenix and elsewhere are reluctant to consider long-term climate change as a significant factor in increased risk of future water scarcity. A new paradigm for climate research and water planning is needed—one that is based on an assumption of uncertainty and a vision of multiple plausible futures, managing risk, and adaptive behaviors. To this end, we downscaled global climate models from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Third and Fourth Assessment Reports for the watersheds north of Phoenix and estimated changes in runoff using a hydrological model. Results then were used as inputs to WaterSim, an integrated simulation model of water supply and demand in Phoenix. The model simulated “what if” scenarios under varying policy decisions and futu...

Vulnerability assessment of climate-induced water shortage in Phoenix

Abstract: Global warming has profound consequences for the climate of the American Southwest and its overallocated water supplies. This paper uses simulation modeling and the principles of decision making under uncertainty to translate climate information into tools for vulnerability assessment and urban climate adaptation. A dynamic simulation model, WaterSim, is used to explore future water-shortage conditions in Phoenix. Results indicate that policy action will be needed to attain water sustainability in 2030, even without reductions in river flows caused by climate change. Challenging but feasible changes in lifestyle and slower rates of population growth would allow the region to avoid shortage conditions and achieve groundwater sustainability under all but the most dire climate scenarios. Changes in lifestyle involve more native desert landscaping and fewer pools in addition to slower growth and higher urban densities. There is not a single most likely or optimal future for Phoenix. Urban climate adaptation involves using science-based models to anticipate water shortage and manage climate risk.

Sustainable Event Management: A Practical Guide

Abstract: 1. Sustainability and Events Areas of Impact The Power of Change Corporate Social Responsibility The Sustainability Sell - In The Industry, Suppliers and Contractors Leaving a Legacy Sustainability Policy The Carbon Issue Measuring Sustainability Certification and Best Practice 2. Communications and Marketing Green Positioning Stakeholder Communication Audience Communications Communication Tools 3. Energy and Emissions Indoor Events Powering Outdoor Events Sustainable Biofuels Zero Emissions Energy Lighting VOCs and Waste Emissions Carbon Offsetting Measuring Performance 4. Transport Freight Crew and Participant Transport Audience Transport Measuring Performance 5. Water Water Scarcity Water Use and Conservation Water Messaging and Promotion Waste Water Management Toilets Showers Measuring Performance 6. Purchasing and Resource Use Impact of Consumption Purchasing Policy Life Cycle Impact and Ecological Footprinting Product Re-Design Environmentally Responsible Purchasing Eco Labelling Climate Impact of Purchasing Ethically and Socially Responsible Purchasing Product Guide Re-Use and Re-Purposing 7. Waste Waste Management in your Community What Waste at your Event? Production Waste Audience Waste Waste Prevention Waste Management Techniques Biodegradable Waste Recycle Salvage Measuring Performance Waste and Climate Change