Journal articles on the topic 'Water footprint (WF)'
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1
Ewaid, Salam, Salwan Abed, and Nadhir Al-Ansari. "Water Footprint of Wheat in Iraq." Water 11, no. 3 (March 14, 2019): 535. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w11030535.
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The water footprint (WF) is an indicator of indirect and direct fresh water use. In respect of facilitating decision-making processes, WF gives an excellent perspective on how and where fresh water is used in the supply chain. More than 39 million people live in Iraq and, with a growing population, there is a water shortage and a rising demand for food that cannot be met in the future. In this study, the WF of wheat production is estimated for the year 2016–2017 for 15 Iraqi provinces. The WF was calculated using the method of Mekonnen and Hoekstra (2011) and the CROPWAT and CLIMWAT softwares’ crop water requirement option. It was found that the WF in m3/ton was 1876 m3/ton. The 15 provinces showed variations in WFs, which can be ascribed to the difference in climate and production values. The highest wheat WF was found in Nineveh province, followed by Muthanna, Anbar, and Basra. The last three provinces produce little and have a high WF so, in these provinces, wheat can be replaced with crops that need less water and provide more economic benefit. There is an opportunity to reduce the green WF by increasing production from the 4 rain-fed provinces, which will reduce the need for production from the irrigated provinces and, therefore, reduce the use of blue water.
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Rao, J. Himanshu, Mahesh Kumar Hardaha, and Hardikkumar Mansukhbhai Vora. "The Water Footprint Assessment of Agriculture in Banjar River Watershed." Current World Environment 14, no. 3 (December 30, 2019): 476–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.12944/cwe.14.3.15.
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The water footprint (WF) is a spatially explicit character of water use in terms of consumption or pollution for producing a product, commodity or service. The WF of a crop may be defined as the amount of water required for producing the crop over the complete growing season. The present study was carried out to assess the WF of agriculture in Banjar river watershed (BRW) over the period 2000 - 2013. The WF of crops were evaluated and their further multiplication with production (ton/yr) in the watershed yielded the water footprint of crop production (WFCP) in Banjar river watershed whose further summation gave WF of agriculture in BRW. The findings depicted that the water footprint of rice was maximum (7848 m3/ton) followed by gram (5782 m3/ton) and wheat (5417 m3/ton). The crop with least WF was maize (2886 m3/ton). These values of WF are much higher than the national average WF for different crops grown in India. Lower crop yields due to improper irrigation practices, low fertilizer application rates and improper on farm water management practices are the primary reasons of such high values of WF of crops in BRW. The water footprint of agriculture in BRW was 690.37 million m3/yr with 59.74 % WFgreen, 39.69 % WFblue and 0.56 % WF grey. Rice was having maximum share in water footprint of agriculture in BRW with 87.38 % of total water footprint followed by gram (4.97 %), wheat (4.33 %) and maize (1.31%).
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LAI-LI, WANG, DING XUE-MEI, and WU XIONG-YING. "Water footprint assessment for Chinese textiles manufacturing sector." Industria Textila 68, no. 02 (March 1, 2017): 116–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.35530/it.068.02.1303.
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The industrial manufacturing of textiles is water intensive. The textiles manufacturing sector is one of the largest freshwater consumption sectors, and also is one of the largest wastewater discharge sectors in China. This study aims at assessing Chinese textiles manufacturing sector’s water footprints (WFs) and investigating the influencing factors of them based on WF methodology and Kaya identities. The results showed that the demanded blue operational WF and the actual blue operational WF increased from 1996 to 2011 though there was a transitory decline in 2008. The peak value of demanded blue operational WF and actual blue operational WF was 10.8 Gm3/yr and 7.9 Gm3/yr respectively and appeared in 2007. The original grey operational WF increased faster and much larger than the residuary grey operational WF in the selected temporal interval. WF productivity increased continuously from 1996 to 2011, especially in the period from 2007 to 2011. The scale enlargement of the textiles manufacturing sector is the promotion factor for the increasing of actual blue operational WF and residuary grey operational WF. The decrease of WF intensity is the main inhibited factor. The inhibiting effect of pollutants removal on the increase of residuary grey operational WF is larger than that of water reuse on the increase of actual blue operational WF
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Liu, Heng, Lijun Ren, Huimin Zhuo, and Sanze Fu. "Water Footprint and Water Pinch Analysis in Ethanol Industrial Production for Water Management." Water 11, no. 3 (March 12, 2019): 518. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w11030518.
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Fuel ethanol is considered to be a clean alternative fuel to meet increasing energy demands and mitigate environmental pollution. Faced with challenges in terms of energy security and environmental pollution, China is vigorously developing fuel ethanol. However, ethanol-manufacturing is a water-intensive industry; it consumes large volumes of fresh water and generates a corresponding amount of waste water. Expansion of this industry can reduce water quality and cause water stress. This study aims to combine the water footprint (WF) with a water pinch analysis technique to manage water consumption and sewage discharge systematically in an ethanol plant. A well-operated cassava ethanol plant in China was chosen as a case study. The WF of industrial ethanol production was evaluated. The total WF was 17.08 L/L ethanol, comprised of a 7.69 L blue water footprint (BWF), and a 9.39 L gray water footprint (GWF). The direct WF was 16.38 L/L ethanol, and the indirect WF was 0.70 L/L ethanol. Thereafter, a water pinch analysis was conducted, and the optimal direct water reuse scheme was studied. After the water network was optimized, the BWF was reduced by 0.98 L/L ethanol, while the GWF was reduced by 1.47 L/L ethanol. These results indicate that the combined use of WF and pinch analysis can provide the starch-based ethanol industry with an effective tool to improve its water management.
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Wang, Lai Li, Xue Mei Ding, and Xiong Ying Wu. "The Water Footprint of Wool Scouring." Key Engineering Materials 671 (November 2015): 65–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/kem.671.65.
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Raw wool contains high percentage by weight of natural contaminants. It is usually treated by a scouring process in the first stage of textile processing. Wool scouring process consumes large quantities of fresh water and produces concentrated effluent with very high oxygen demand, aggravating the water resource shortage and environmental impacts. Water footprint (WF) is a multidimensional indicator that shows water consumption volumes by source and polluted volumes by type of pollution. This study discusses the environmental impacts assessment of wool scouring process based on the WF theory. Through cases study, it was found that chemical oxygen demand (CODCr) was the most critical pollutant associated with the largest pollutant-specific original grey WF (WFori, grey), while NH3-N was the most critical pollutant associated with the largest pollutant-specific residuary grey WF (WFres, grey). The average WFori, greyof wool scouring process was 51878 m3/d, approximately 291 times of blue WF (WFblue). After treatment of the scouring effluent through floatation reflux-biological contact oxidizing technology, the WFori, greyreduced to 558 m3/d. Refluxing and regulating, oil removal were two important processes that contributed largely to effluent treatment as they reduced WFori, greyby 28537 m3/d and 23171 m3/d, respectively.
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Da Silva, Vicente De Paulo Rodrigues, Kettrin Farias Bem Maracajá, Lincoln Eloi De Araújo, José Dantas Neto, Danilo De Oliveira Aleixo, and João Hugo Baracuy da Cunha Campos. "Water footprint of individuals with different diet patterns." Ambiente e Agua - An Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Science 8, no. 1 (April 26, 2013): 250. http://dx.doi.org/10.4136/ambi-agua.967.
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The “water footprint” (WF) concept has been recently introduced as an important indicator of human water consumption. WF is defined as the total volume of water used during the production and consumption of goods and services as well as of direct water consumption by humans. The objective of this work was to use the WF concept to analyze vegetarian and non-vegetarian consumers with different levels of family income. A case study was conducted with residents of Caicó city (Brazil) in order to estimate total amount of water consumed or polluted while producing the goods and services utilized by these consumers. The results indicated that, on average, the WF of the vegetarian consumer represents 58% of non- vegetarian consumers. The WF of the non-vegetarian female consumer was 10-13% smaller than that of the male consumer while for vegetarian consumers the female’s WF was only 5.8% less than the male’s. The WF of the consumer increases linearly with the family income. A population’s water footprint increases as a function of family income and decreases according to eating habits.
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Elina, Saarivuori, Molarius Riitta, Wessman-Jääskeläinen Helena, and Poussa Liisa. "Connecting water footprint and water risk assessment: case packaging board." Water Practice and Technology 10, no. 2 (June 1, 2015): 229–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.2166/wpt.2015.025.
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A company can evaluate water impacts related to its activities with the help of water footprint (WF), allowing manufacturer to identify freshwater consumption and degradation hotspots along the value chain. However, WF does not directly consider the environmental or process related risks caused by water use. This study aims at providing a framework for more extensive and complementary water assessments by connecting two environmental tools, WF and water risk assessment. Product system of a packaging board is used as a case example. WF assessment is carried out in accordance with the ISO 14046 Standard. Risk analysis focuses on the WF hotspots by analysing the local environmental circumstances and the main risks, their likelihood and consequences. The results show that water stress indicator is sensitive to input and output water qualities. The significance of local environmental circumstances (potential for droughts and shallow water levels, upstream water storages) on the water-based risks are highlighted in the results. The use of complementary methods reveals opposing interests: the lowest WF results of the studied scenarios include a risk for poor product quality. The results offer valuable information to a manufacturer on self-inflicted water impact and the role of indirect water use, helping to integrate water risk approach in the strategic planning.
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Xu, Ziyao, Jijian Lian, Ran Wang, Ying Qiu, Tianhua Song, and Kaixun Hua. "Development of Method for Assessing Water Footprint Sustainability." Water 14, no. 5 (February 22, 2022): 694. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w14050694.
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Large scale production of water-intensive industrial products can intensify water scarcity, resulting in potential unsustainable water use at local and regional scales. This study proposes a methodological framework for assessing the WF sustainability of multiple interdependent products in a system, and one of China’s four major large modern coal chemical industry bases is used as a case study. A Mixed-Unit Input-Output (MUIO) model was applied to calculate the blue water footprint (WF) for 19 major coal-based energy and chemicals in the study area, based on which the WF sustainability of production of the products were assessed using different indicators. Technical coefficient matrix and direct water consumption vector of the products were constructed based a database that were built by field research in the study area. Accounting result indicates that the blue WF of the coal-based products range from 2.5 × 10−4 m3/kWh for coal-fired power to 55.25 m3/t for Polytetrahydrofuran. The sustainability assessment reveals that the blue WF of all products produced in the study area are sustainable at both product and regional levels, while over half of them have reached the advanced level. However, the blue WF of a few products with large production capacities has just crossed the sustainable thresholds, posing potential threat to the local environment. This paper concludes with a discussion on the choice of blue WF accounting approach, methods to promote WF sustainability of coal-based products, and suggestions for the WF management in general.
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Zhuo, La, Bianbian Feng, and Pute Wu. "Water Footprint Study Review for Understanding and Resolving Water Issues in China." Water 12, no. 11 (October 25, 2020): 2988. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w12112988.
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The water footprint (WF) is a widely recognised and comprehensive indicator of both the direct and indirect appropriation of freshwater. It has been utilised for diverse functions, including as a key indicator of the planetary boundaries and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Focusing on the nation with the greatest WF, i.e., China, this study reviews journal articles both in English and Chinese published from January 2003 to June 2020. Using CiteSpace and bibliometric analysis of papers, journals, and keywords, we explore state-of-the-art WF accounting, driving forces, and effects. Visible differences in WF accounting keywords and spatial scales between English and Chinese literature are identified. Reported WF values for the same product varied across studies, and there was a lack of information regarding uncertainties. Key driving factors have been largely investigated for agricultural WFs but not for other sectors. The WF impact analyses primarily assess the environmental effects, ignoring the associated social and economic impacts. The development of WF studies has improved our understanding of water issues in China. However, there are still existing knowledge gaps to be filled to find solutions to WF-related issues.
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Thaler, S., M. Zessner, F. Bertran De Lis, N. Kreuzinger, and R. Fehringer. "Considerations on methodological challenges for water footprint calculations." Water Science and Technology 65, no. 7 (April 1, 2012): 1258–64. http://dx.doi.org/10.2166/wst.2012.006.
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We have investigated how different approaches for water footprint (WF) calculations lead to different results, taking sugar beet production and sugar refining as examples. To a large extent, results obtained from any WF calculation are reflective of the method used and the assumptions made. Real irrigation data for 59 European sugar beet growing areas showed inadequate estimation of irrigation water when a widely used simple approach was used. The method resulted in an overestimation of blue water and an underestimation of green water usage. Dependent on the chosen (available) water quality standard, the final grey WF can differ up to a factor of 10 and more. We conclude that further development and standardisation of the WF is needed to reach comparable and reliable results. A special focus should be on standardisation of the grey WF methodology based on receiving water quality standards.
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Wisam Wedaa, Zainab, Salwan Ali Abed, and Salam Hussein Ewaid. "The Agricultural Water Footprint of Al-Qadisiyah Governorate, Southern Iraq." IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1029, no. 1 (May 1, 2022): 012025. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1029/1/012025.
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Abstract Rapid urbanization, pollution, and increasing water consumption together with climate change necessitated to process of more effective measurement, management, and decision mechanisms on regional water resources. The concept of water footprint (WF) is a parameter that has been introduced to the scientific literature in recent years similar to the ecological and carbon footprints. The WF of any field or product refers to the total volume of water resources that are processed or contaminated directly or indirectly during the production process. The current work is the first study assessing and discussing the agricultural water footprint of an Iraqi governorate by analyzing blue and green WFs of agricultural production in Qadisiyah governorate, southern Iraq for 2010-2020. Recently developed WF methodology has been used. The blue and green evapotranspiration amounts were estimated by the crop water requirement (CWR) option in CROPWAT 8.0 software. The statistical data including meteorological data, rainfall statistics, local crop coefficients, cultivation area, crop production amounts and animal statistics data have been utilized. The average annual agricultural WF of Qadisiyah governorate for the 10 years between 2010-2020 was determined to be 1,315,201,621 Mm3/yr. The largest water-consuming sector is crop production (54%). Cereal and feed crops are the main component of water consumption. The rice crop followed by wheat is the primary crop production comprising about 44% of the total WF and require water supplied from rivers. Vegetable production has only 14% of the crops WF. The green WF was only 15% of the crop production WF. The largest share of water used for animal production is related to broiler chickens (44%) and 37% for dairy cattle. The study area is fertile land for crop production. However, limited water resources and scarcity of the region restrict the agricultural activities. The sustainability of freshwater resources of the governorate could be provided by reducing the WF and blue water contents. This study is expected to contribute to the national authorities to develop more accurate irrigation water management policies.
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Xing, Haohan, Weichao Zheng, Baoming Li, Zhidan Liu, and Yuanhui Zhang. "Water Footprint Assessment of Eggs in a Parent-Stock Layer Breeder Farm." Water 11, no. 12 (December 2, 2019): 2546. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w11122546.
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Egg production and consumption of eggs in China account for about 40% of the global total, and this constitutes a significant demand for water resources. The shortage of water resources in China means egg production in this country has serious water challenges. However, there are few studies concerning water use in egg production. In this study, the water footprint network (WFN) methodology was applied to analyze the water footprint (WF) of intensive egg production using a typical parent-stock layer breeder farm in North China as a model, which raises 208,663 layer breeders and produces about 2791.39 t eggs per year. The feed and water consumption over 353 days were collected for analysis, and the water footprint of chicken eggs was estimated at the farm level. The water footprint of eggs in a parent-stock layer breeder farm in China was therefore assessed in detail for the first time, and suggestions are put forward to reduce the egg water footprint from the perspective of the production chain and improving water use efficiency on the farm. The results show that (1) the green WF of eggs (water volume/egg weight) ranged from 1.917 to 2.114 m3/kg, the blue WF was 0.584 to 0.644 m3/kg and the grey WF was 0.488 to 0.538 m3/kg; (2) the indirect WF generated by feed contributed over 99.8% of the total; (3) eggs laid by Hy-line Brown hens have a lower WF than those from Hy-line Sonia hens, and the studied layer breeder farm had a higher WF than the global average based on the literature. In this paper, the variation of the WF was also analyzed, and some advice on water management for layer farms in China is provided.
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Sun, Yanzhi, Lei Shen, and Chunxia Lu. "Study on the water footprint and external water dependency of Beijing." Water Supply 16, no. 4 (February 27, 2016): 1077–85. http://dx.doi.org/10.2166/ws.2016.022.
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Beijing has experienced rapid economic development and population growth during recent decades, aggravating water scarcity. In order to investigate the water consumption of Beijing, this paper quantitatively evaluates the water footprint (WF), the intensity of the water footprint (Iwf) and the external water dependency (WD) based on the top-down and bottom-up methods. We obtain the following major conclusions: (1) the total WF in Beijing is 353 108 m³ in 2012; per capita WF is 1,704 m³, which is 8 times that of the entity water of Beijing; (2) the Iwf in Beijing rises after 2007, indicating that there remains a great potential for improving water-use efficiency; (3) through virtual water trade, the external WF takes over 70% of the total WF annually; therefore, Beijing has faced more severe water resource stress recently; (4) through the spatial analysis of external WD, we identify that in each side of the Hu line, distribution of distance of the flow of imported virtual water shows homogeneity, and that WD in the southeast region is high and in the northwest is weak.
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Ibidhi, R., and H. Ben Salem. "Water footprint of livestock products and production systems: a review." Animal Production Science 60, no. 11 (2020): 1369. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/an17705.
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This paper reviews the small but growing literature on the water footprint (WF) of livestock production and provides an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of this indicator. We identified 42 papers published in peer-reviewed international journals between 2000 and 2017, which covered the WF of dairy, meat and egg production using life-cycle assessment and WF network methodologies. The WF of livestock products decreases with the level of intensification of the farming system. In addition, the WF of meat is higher than that of either milk or eggs. The WF of beef is much larger than the WFs from sheep, goat, pork and chicken. The WF variation among different animal products is explained by the difference of the feed conversion ratio. Ruminants (cattle, sheep and goat) have a poor feed conversion ratio compared with monogastric animals (poultry and swine). Estimating the WF of livestock production and economic analysis of water use at different stages of production will help farmers and other stakeholders to identify the most demanding activities in term of water use, and implement strategies to improve water-use efficiency. Thus, feed production was identified as the largest contributor of the WF of livestock production. Options to reduce the WF of livestock production include the use of low-WF feeds, more efficient irrigation of crops used for livestock feed, and reduced consumption of animal-sourced protein in human diets through substitution with plant proteins. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis highlighted the importance of combining WF with other environmental-footprint and sustainability indicators to provide more reliable information for decision makers.
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Raluy, Rosa Gemma, Paula Quinteiro, and Ana Cláudia Dias. "Water Footprint of Forest and Orchard Trees: A Review." Water 14, no. 17 (August 31, 2022): 2709. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w14172709.
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The measurement of water consumption by trees is fundamental for detecting potential opportunities to mitigate water resource depletion. The water footprint (WF) is a tool to address the environmental effects related to water use, identifying ways to reduce overall water consumption. This work presents a review, updating the information on how WF is being addressed when applied to forest and orchard trees, identifying the methodological trends of the WF studies, and highlighting the main challenges that deserve further research for a consistent WF assessment of these trees. A sample with 43 publications selected based on keyword screening criteria was comprehensively reviewed, showing that most of the studies focus on orchard trees (mainly olive and citrus trees). The bulk of the studies only presented accounting or inventory results (i.e., water volumes consumed) and disregarded their sustainability or impact. This review highlights that a robust WF assessment of forest and orchard trees requires further research for harmonising the quantification of the green water scarcity footprint, and puts key challenges to the WF practitioners, such as the selection of the most adequate method to estimate ET considering trees specificities and climatic parameters, and the adoption of high spatial and temporal resolution for the WF assessment.
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Symeonidou, Stella, and Dimitra Vagiona. "Water Footprint of Crops on Rhodes Island." Water 11, no. 5 (May 24, 2019): 1084. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w11051084.
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The aim of this paper is to evaluate the water footprints (WFs) of all the main crops on Rhodes island at a municipal unit (MU) scale, as well as for the area of the island as a whole. WF estimations are made with a distinction of rainfed and irrigated crops, using CROPWAT 8.0. Rainfed crops and the drip irrigation method are predominant in the study area, which faces water scarcity issues. Furthermore, a reduction factor in plant coefficients is introduced, to adapt to the drip irrigation technique. From the findings obtained, useful conclusions are drawn regarding the most water-demanding crops, but also the type of their WF component (blue/green/gray). In all categories of crops, there are large fluctuations across MUs, mainly due to the different yields. Higher WF values occur for rainfed and irrigated olives, which constitute the predominant crop, followed by hard and soft wheat. WF is a useful indicator identifying which crops require improvement or restructuring in a study area, and quantifies the exact volumes of water, which is a useful element in the formulation of agricultural policy in the context of sustainable water resources management.
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Chan, B. K. C., Ming Yu Xiong, and Guo Ping Zhang. "Mining Impacts on the Environment - Water Footprint Assessment of Copper Cathode and Copper Concentrate." Advanced Materials Research 1130 (November 2015): 644–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.1130.644.
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Water is the source of life and an essential resource for our global economy. It empowers agricultural and industrial production and development, and fosters the nature and ecosystems. With increasing water scarcity, growing population, climate change and extreme weather conditions, together with stricter water regulations, decline in ore grade and increasing controversy on water use between mining operations and local communities, effective governance of shared water resources and protecting water quality is an economic imperative and social responsibility for mining companies. Water Footprint Assessment (WFA) is a holistic methodological framework that allows integrated assessment for operational and supply-chain water use and the associated water footprint sustainability in different sectors at various spatial and temporal scales. This paper presents a WFA for two copper products – copper cathode and copper concentrate produced by Zijin Mining (China) based on the data from 2012 and 2013. The aim of this study is to evaluate the water consumption within the operations and supply chains, to understand the product sustainability and identify water footprint reduction targets to minimize its associated social and environmental impact on natural resources in the catchment. The two copper products were produced from two different processes, hence their different associated water footprints. Evaporation due to the vast area of heap leach pad is the main contribution to the blue water footprint (WF) for copper cathode whereas supply chain WF is negligible. The grey WF is found to be due to total copper concentration in the effluent discharge. This assessment goes beyond water footprint accounting stage and includes the environmental sustainability of the direct water footprint. Opportunities for efficiency improvement across the two processing plants and prevention strategies to reduce impacts on the environment are also discussed. The comprehensive approach makes the WFA unique from other water use assessments and shows its value in water sustainability strategy making.
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Islam, Kamrul, and Shinsuke Murakami. "Accounting for Water Footprint of an Open-Pit Copper Mine." Sustainability 12, no. 22 (November 19, 2020): 9660. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12229660.
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Water is a crucial input for any production system, and mining is no exception. A huge amount of water is being used in the various phases of mining activities. In the coming decades, the competition in using a sufficient amount of fresh water will become a major hurdle for the mining industry. Water footprint (WF), an accounting framework for tracking the amount of water used to produce a unit of product, can be useful to the mining companies by quantifying their water resource appropriation and identifying ways to reduce the consumption. In this study, we accounted for the green, blue, and grey water footprint of an open-pit copper mine that is located in Laos. The input–output water flows of the mine are also developed from the inventory of water use. Moreover, we have calculated the uncertainty in the water footprint accounting to check the robustness of the findings. According to the results, the green, blue, and grey WF of the studied mine are 52.04, 988.83, and 69.78 m3/tonne of copper concentrate, respectively. After the installation of a passive effluent treatment system in 2013, the calculated grey WF of the mine was 13.64 m3/tonne, a fivefold decrease than before. The uncertainty in the footprint ranges between 8% to 11% which shows the robustness of the analysis. Although green WF is ignored by most studies, we suggest incorporating it into the accounting. The responsible share of a supply-chain WF to the total blue WF is about 98%, which is quite huge. Water embedded in the hydroelectricity is mainly responsible for such a huge amount of blue WF. Evidently, the use of electricity from hydropower results in the consumption of a large amount of water in exchange for a reduction in carbon emissions. Thus, the article attempts to demonstrate the escalating importance of WF accounting of this mine.
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Sawalhah, Mohammed N., Hatim M. E. Geli, Jerry L. Holechek, Andres F. Cibils, Sheri Spiegal, and Craig Gifford. "Water Footprint of Rangeland Beef Production in New Mexico." Water 13, no. 14 (July 15, 2021): 1950. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w13141950.
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New Mexico (NM) has been identified as the state in the US that will be most adversely impacted by climate change and associated water stress. Roughly 92% of NM is rangeland, most of which is grazed by beef cattle. We calculated the blue (surface and ground) and green (precipitation) water footprints (WF) of NM beef cattle industry (cow-calf, backgrounding, and feedlot). This analysis indicated that the weighted average WF of NM beef cattle was 28,203 L/kgmeat. The majority of the WF was accounted for green water (82%; 23,063 L/kgmeat) used by rangeland forages. Blue water accounted for only 18% (5140 L/kgmeat) of the total beef WF estimate. The relative contribution of green vs. blue water varied significantly among the different phases of beef production. In cow-calf, green water accounted for 99.5% of the WF whereas blue water, accounted for 100% of beef WF during backgrounding and feedlot. Based on our estimate, NM cow-calf operations is about a third or a quarter of the blue water (m3/year) used to produce corn or wheat, and only 5% or less of the water used to produce cotton or hay. In NM, irrigation accounts for about 84% of freshwater use followed by public/domestic use of 10%. Mining, thermo-electric, livestock production, aquaculture, and industrial uses collectively account for the other 6%.
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Pleerux, Narong, Narissara Aimkuy, and Attawut Nardkulpat. "Water Consumption Assessment of Mangosteen: A Bottom-Up Approach." WSEAS TRANSACTIONS ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT 18 (December 30, 2022): 1267–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.37394/232015.2022.18.119.
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A water consumption assessment using a bottom-up approach is applied in this research; the smallest level of water consumption assessment shows the water consumption behavior at the farm level of 55 mangosteen farms in the Khlung District of Chanthaburi Province, Thailand, in the production year 2019. The findings revealed that the average water footprint (WF) was 774.60 m3/ton, which was divided into a green water footprint of 519.04 m3/ton and the blue water footprint of 255.56 m3/ton. Stage 5 was the mangosteen’s growth stage that had the highest WF: this stage was the fruit’s maturation period, whose WF was equivalent to 41.16% of the yearly water consumption. The WF of mangosteen data for the production year 2019 is a crucial baseline that will enable farmers to understand the actual water consumption in mangosteen production at the farm level. It will be feasible to determine the trend of changing water use, particularly if the mangosteen WF data is regularly gathered each year and it has led to appropriate water consumption planning per the needs of the mangosteen. Furthermore, this research also raised farmers’ awareness concerning the water consumption of mangosteen production.
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Achraf, Abdelhak, Said Boudhar, Houda Lechheb, and Hicham Ouakil. "Sectoral water footprint dynamics: An input-output structural decomposition analysis for Morocco." E3S Web of Conferences 234 (2021): 00041. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202123400041.
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Over the last decades, Morocco has been facing increasingly severe water scarcity. To quantify water use in Morocco, we refer to the water footprint (WF) concept, including both direct and indirect water use. WF considered covers internal WF and exported virtual water (VW). We used the input-output structural decomposition analysis (SDA) to quantitatively analyze the drivers of changes in Morocco’s sectoral WF from 1995 to 2015. The considered mechanisms governing WF changes are the technological, economic system efficiency, and structural effects. The WF growth experienced in Morocco primarily resulted from final demand changes. The technological effect acted as an additional increase factor. Nevertheless, the economic system efficiency effect contributed to the water conservation process. Unfortunately, it was not sufficient to reverse the expansion of Morocco’s WF resulted from other driving factors. Agriculture is the dominant economic sector in WF changes, regardless of any driving factor and any period considered. The study provides insight into Morocco’s water policy limits and helps develop policies towards sustainable water resources planning and management. That is by suggesting that final demand structure adjustment and technological innovation in the agricultural sector should be at the center of Morocco’s strategies in addressing water scarcity.
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Maré, Frikkie, and Henry Jordaan. "Industrially Finished Calves: A Water Footprint-Profitability Paradox." Water 11, no. 12 (December 5, 2019): 2565. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w11122565.
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The feed conversion rate is one of the most important determinants of the water footprint (WF) of beef and is known to vary between different cattle breeds. The objective of this study was to estimate the WF of industrially finished calves of seven different cattle breeds on two different feeding regimes: normal pre-determined feeding period (NPFP) and profit-maximising feeding period (PMFP). Data were collected by finishing 35 calves of each of the seven breeds in a feedlot. Green, blue and grey WFs were estimated for the different feeding regimes, and a feedlot simulation provided the effect of the different feeding regimes on the water footprint, financial margin and the water footprint per rand of margin. The results indicated that the water footprint differed notably between breeds on the same feeding regime, as well as between the feeding regimes. While the PMFP had a 1% higher water footprint per year in a typical feedlot than the NPFP, the financial margin was 33% more, resulting in a 24% decrease in the water footprint per South African rand of margin. The contributions of green, blue and grey water to the total WF were 91.5%, 2.5% and 6%, respectively, irrespective of breed or feeding regime.
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Fagundes, Eliane Aparecida Antunes, José Dantas Neto, Vicente Paulo Rodrigues Silva, Domingos Sávio Barbosa, and Vera Lúcia Antunes Lima. "Water footprint as a sustainable water use indicator in spring area of pantanal biome, Brazil." Ciência e Natura 42 (June 29, 2020): e67. http://dx.doi.org/10.5902/2179460x35060.
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Water footprint (WF) is an indicator of fresh water consumption that considers in its calculation the used water volume during the production process. The research objective was to evaluatecotton, corn and soybean crops WF at the São Lourenço-MT sub-basin area. The water consumption was quantified in Green Water Footprint (WFGreen) and Gray Water Footprint (WFGray). The WFGreen of each crop was calculated by the evapotranspiration value throughout the crop growing period. The WFGray was counted separately for a group of nine agrochemicals. In the current scenario there is sustainability in the sub-basin of the São Lourenço river, but with the agricultural current area expansion rate, in 2025 there will be no such sustainability.
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Kang, Jiefeng, Jianyi Lin, Shenghui Cui, and Xiangyang Li. "Water footprint of Xiamen city from production and consumption perspectives (2001–2012)." Water Supply 17, no. 2 (September 20, 2016): 472–79. http://dx.doi.org/10.2166/ws.2016.152.
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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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Vanham, Davy. "Water Resources for Sustainable Healthy Diets: State of the Art and Outlook." Water 12, no. 11 (November 18, 2020): 3224. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w12113224.
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Sustainable healthy diets are high on the research and policy agendas. One of the crucial resources to provide such diets are water resources. This paper provides a brief overview of the current research state regarding this topic, with a focus on the water footprint concept, as latter quantifies water use along a supply chain. The water footprint (WF) quantifies blue and green water consumption, as both these water resources are essential for food and energy production as well as for the environment. Different kinds of information are embedded in a dietary WF and different data sources and modelling approaches exist, leading to WF dietary amounts that are not always directly comparable. A full sustainability assessment of a dietary WF encompasses three components: (1) an equity assessment of the total WF amount; (2) an efficiency assessment for each food item in the diet as well as (3) an impact assessment (blue water stress and green water scarcity) for each food item in the diet. The paper concludes with an outlook on future research on the topic, listing the following points: (1) future clarity in system boundary and modelling assumptions, with comparison of results between different approaches; (2) full sustainability assessments including all three components; (3) dietary footprint family assessments with the WF as one member; (4) WF assessments for multiple dietary regimes with support to the development of local dietary guidelines and (5) assessment of the synergies with LCA-based mid-point (scarcity-weighted WF) and end-point (especially human health) indicators and evaluation of the validity and empirical significance of these two indicators
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Güney, Emre, and Nuray Demirel. "Water Footprint Assessment of Carbon in Pulp Gold Processing in Turkey." Sustainability 13, no. 15 (July 29, 2021): 8497. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13158497.
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This paper presents water the footprint assessment (WFA) of carbon in pulp (CIP) gold processing. The main objectives of the study are determining grey and blue water footprints and identifying the hotspots of the process. Results revealed that the total blue water footprint, including the extraction and processing of the gold, was found to be 452.40 m3/kg Au, and the grey WF to be 2300.69 m3/kg Au. According to the results, the lost return flow on the direct blue WF side has the largest contribution, with a value of 260.61 m3/kg Au, and the only source of the lost return flow is the tailing pond. On the indirect side, it is seen that the oxygen consumption used for the leaching process has the highest value, with 37.38 m3/kg. Among the nine contaminants in the mine tailings, the critical component responsible for the grey water footprint is by far arsenic, with a value of 1777 m3/kg Au. The results will be used to make recommendations for reducing water consumption in mining operations, for a better design for the environment. The study is a pioneering study, being the first implementation of water footprint assessment in a gold mine in Turkey.
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Satriyo, Purwana, Hidayat Pawitan, Yanuar J. Purwanto, and Yayat Hidayat. "Water Footprint Analysis In Krueng Aceh Watershed, Aceh Province, Indonesia." Aceh International Journal of Science and Technology 6, no. 3 (November 19, 2017): 86–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.13170/aijst.6.3.8655.
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Water is one the most important natural resources to maintain human life and all other living things in the earth. Around 65% water were consumed for drinking purpose, while others were used for daily needs. The increasing amount of work on water use and scarcity in relation to consumption and trade has led to the emergence of the field of Water Footprint (WF). Climate change, rural development, world population growth and industrialization have placed considerable stress on the local availability of water resources. Thus, it is necessary to perform study in order to analyze water demands and supply for sustainable water availability. Recently, water footprint analysis has been widely draw attention to the scientists and engineers. The water footprint analysis is closely related with virtual water from which it is defined as total water volume used for consumption and trade. The main aim of this present study is to analyze and assess the total water requirement based on community water footprint in Krueng Aceh watershed area. The virtual water used in this study are dominant consumption food commodities. The result shows that water footprint per capita in Krueng Aceh watershed area was 674.52 m3/year. Water footprint for rural and urban population were 608.27 m3/year and 740.77 m3/year respectively. The WF of food consumption in urban area of Krueng Aceh watershed is 690.74 m3 / capita / year and 584.22 m3/capita/year or average 625.69 m3/capita/year, while for non-food, the WF per capita is 24.05 m3/year in rural or 32.46% of the total water footprint. Non-food consumption per capita in Krueng Aceh and in urban areas is 50.03 m3/year or 67.53%. The total water demand based on the water footprint is 378,906,655.05 m3 in 2015 which is consumed by most of residents in the Krueng Aceh watershed area. Furthermore, total WF in rural and urban area are 193,489,128.95 m3 and 185,417,526.10 m3 respectively.
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Arrien, Maria Macarena, Maite M. Aldaya, and Corina Iris Rodriguez. "Water Footprint and Virtual Water Trade of Maize in the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina." Water 13, no. 13 (June 26, 2021): 1769. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w13131769.
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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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Cerón Hernández, Víctor Alfonso, Isabel Cristina Hurtado, Isabel Cristina Bolaños, Apolinar Figueroa Casas, and Inés Restrepo Tarquino. "Water footprint analysis as an indicator of sustainability in nonconventional drinking water treatment systems." DYNA 87, no. 213 (April 1, 2020): 140–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.15446/dyna.v87n213.81247.
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The impact of multiple-stage filtration (MSF) was determined in two study systems. Water footprint (WF) was estimated with all its components and their results allowed the identification of those responsible for the environmental impact associated with drinking water production. Climatic conditions of high and low precipitation and socio-cultural context were considered. Results showed technicalshortcomings, such as the presence of fissures that generate losses and the contribution of polluting substances in the effluent from filter washing. Socio-economic limitations increase the WF. Water management can be improved by studying the WF components and their relationships with the socio-cultural component.
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Han, Aixi, Li Chai, and Xiawei Liao. "Demographic Scenarios of Future Environmental Footprints of Healthy Diets in China." Foods 9, no. 8 (July 30, 2020): 1021. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/foods9081021.
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Dietary improvement not only benefits human health conditions, but also offers the potential to reduce the human food system’s environmental impact. With the world’s largest population and people’s bourgeoning lifestyle, China’s food system is set to impose increasing pressures on the environment. We evaluated the minimum environmental footprints, including carbon footprint (CF), water footprint (WF) and ecological footprint (EF), of China’s food systems into 2100. The minimum footprints of healthy eating are informative to policymakers when setting the environmental constraints for food systems. The results demonstrate that the minimum CF, WF and EF all increase in the near future and peak around 2030 to 2035, under different population scenarios. After the peak, population decline and aging result in decreasing trends of all environmental footprints until 2100. Considering age-gender specific nutritional needs, the food demands of teenagers in the 14–17 year group require the largest environmental footprints across the three indicators. Moreover, men’s nutritional needs also lead to larger environmental footprints than women’s across all age groups. By 2100, the minimum CF, WF and EF associated with China’s food systems range from 616 to 899 million tons, 654 to 953 km3 and 6513 to 9500 billion gm2 respectively under different population scenarios. This study builds a bridge between demography and the environmental footprints of diet and demonstrates that the minimum environmental footprints of diet could vary by up to 46% in 2100 under different demographic scenarios. The results suggest to policymakers that setting the environmental constraints of food systems should be integrated with the planning of a future demographic path.
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Zhang, Yuanying, Yimin Chen, and Min Huang. "Water Footprint and Virtual Water Accounting for China Using a Multi-Regional Input-Output Model." Water 11, no. 1 (December 25, 2018): 34. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w11010034.
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Water footprint (WF) is a measure of the actual appropriation of water resources. WF accounting can provide a scientific basis for the managements of water resources. In this study, a multi-regional input-output model is employed to measure the quantity of blue WF (WF) and inter-provincial virtual water (VW) flows in China for the years of 2007 and 2010. The results show that: (1) China’s total WF increased from 205.42 billion m3 in 2007 to 229.34 billion m3 in 2010. Approximately 42% of the WF was attributed to VW embodied in inter-provincial trade. Xinjiang is the largest province of VW export, whereas Shanghai had the largest net VW inflows. (2) From 2007 to 2010, the share of the agricultural sector in the entire VW trade declined, but was still as high as 82.78%, followed by the industrial sector. (3) The north-to-south and south-to-south patterns were witnessed in the domestic VW flows. The provincial WF variations are found to be affected by the per capital GDP, total water resources, per capita water resources, and urban population. (4) By linking VW with an integrated WAVE+ (water accounting and vulnerability evaluation) factor, it was found that virtual scarce water (VSW) was mainly exported by the provinces in northern China. At the national level, the amounts of VSW inflows were consistently greater than those of VSW outflows for both years, 2007 and 2010, implying an increased pressure on the provinces with water deprivation issues. Overall, these results can provide a basis for refining the spatiotemporal allocation of water resources and mitigating the conflict between water supply and demand in China.
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Xie, Wu, Shuai Hu, Fangyi Li, Xin Cao, and Zhipeng Tang. "Carbon and Water Footprints of Tibet: Spatial Pattern and Trend Analysis." Sustainability 12, no. 8 (April 17, 2020): 3294. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12083294.
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Tibet in China has extremely a fragile natural ecosystem, which is under a great pressure from global changes. The carbon footprint (CF) and water footprint (WF), reflecting the pressures of regional development on the natural environment, represent a lacuna in the field of study in Tibet due to missing data. In this paper, the 2012 multi-regional input–output table of China was employed to quantify the CF and WF of Tibet and the relationship between Tibet and other provinces of China. Spatial pattern and key sectors were also studied to demonstrate the current characters and the future trend of footprints. Tibet’s carbon emission was 4.0 Mt, 32.7% of CF, indicating that Tibet was a net importing region of carbon emission. Tibet received embodied carbon emission by trade from other regions, especially from Hebei, Inner Mongolia and Henan provinces, but played a complex role in virtual water allocation by transferring to most provinces and receiving from some provinces. The CF of Tibet will increase under different scenarios of 2030, but the WF can be restricted to 2.5 Gt in the slow scenario. In the future, imports of virtual resources will benefit the fragile ecosystem of Tibet and moreover, it is vital to restrict the local resource-intensive sectors and improve resource-use efficiency.
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Al-Bahouh, Mariam, Vern Osborne, Tom Wright, Mike Dixon, Andrew VanderZaag, and Robert Gordon. "Blue Water Footprints of Ontario Dairy Farms." Water 13, no. 16 (August 16, 2021): 2230. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w13162230.
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The blue water footprint (WF) is an indicator of freshwater required to produce a given end product. Determining the blue WF for milk production, the seasonal water use and the impact of water conservation are important sustainability considerations for the dairy industry in Ontario (Canada). In this study, a water footprint network (WFN) method was used to calculate the seasonal blue WF’s from in-barn water use data and the fat–protein-corrected milk (FPCM) production. Various water conservation options were estimated using the AgriSuite software. Results showed that the total water use (L of water·cow−1·d−1) and the average blue WF (L of water·kg−1 of FPCM) were 246.3 ± 6.8 L·cow−1·d−1 and 7.4 ± 0.2 L·kg−1, respectively. The total water use and the blue WF could be reduced to 182.7 ± 5.1 L·cow−1·d−1 (25.8% reduction) and 5.8 ± 0.1 L·kg−1 (21.6% reduction), respectively, through adaptive water conservation measures as the reuse of the plate cooler and milk house water. For example, conservation practices could reduce the milk house wash water use from 74.3 ± 8.8 L·cow−1·d−1 to 16.6 ± 0.1 L·cow−1·d−1 (77.7% overall reduction).
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Chu, Yingmin, Yanjun Shen, and Zaijian Yuan. "Water footprint of crop production for different crop structures in the Hebei southern plain, North China." Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 21, no. 6 (June 26, 2017): 3061–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-3061-2017.
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Abstract. The North China Plain (NCP) has a serious shortage of freshwater resources, and crop production consumes approximately 75 % of the region's water. To estimate water consumption of different crops and crop structures in the NCP, the Hebei southern plain (HSP) was selected as a study area, as it is a typical region of groundwater overdraft in the NCP. In this study, the water footprint (WF) of crop production, comprised of green, blue and grey water footprints, and its annual variation were analyzed. The results demonstrated the following: (1) the WF from the production of main crops was 41.8 km3 in 2012. Winter wheat, summer maize and vegetables were the top water-consuming crops in the HSP. The water footprint intensity (WFI) of cotton was the largest, and for vegetables, it was the smallest; (2) the total WF, WFblue, WFgreen and WFgrey for 13 years (2000–2012) of crop production were 604.8, 288.5, 141.3 and 175.0 km3, respectively, with an annual downtrend from 2000 to 2012; (3) winter wheat, summer maize and vegetables consumed the most groundwater, and their blue water footprint (WFblue) accounted for 74.2 % of the total WFblue in the HSP; (4) the crop structure scenarios analysis indicated that, with approximately 20 % of arable land cultivated with winter wheat–summer maize in rotation, 38.99 % spring maize, 10 % vegetables and 10 % fruiters, a sustainable utilization of groundwater resources can be promoted, and a sufficient supply of food, including vegetables and fruits, can be ensured in the HSP.
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Zhang, Long, Xiaoyu Luan, Xinyi Chen, Shuhao Zhang, Yukun Liang, and Zhaojie Cui. "Water Footprint Inventory Construction of Cathode Copper Products in a Chinese Eco-Industry." Sustainability 14, no. 10 (May 14, 2022): 5962. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14105962.
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Copper is an important strategic resource for the national economy and social security of China. Water use is a significant component of copper production. However, water shortages and water pollution are two global crises in water resource management. In this study, a copper production industry in China was studied from the perspective of water footprint (WF) and ecological industry (eco-industry). A WF inventory was built by accounting for the entire production and supply chain process, including mining, ore dressing, transportation, smelting, and electrolysis. An index system comprising target, criterion, and variable layers was established to evaluate the sustainable utilization of water resources. It was observed that the studied industry showed a good sustainability for water resource utilization. Only 65.67 tons of freshwater per ton of product was inputted in the entire process due to virtual water (VW) and the use of reclaimed water. However, the WF of each ton of cathode copper product was 162.58 t, and the imported VW of the eco-industry accounted for 92.45%. Increasing the VW import and reducing the VW export can alleviate water shortages. A detailed WF analysis showed that the effects of evaporation and different types of losses on the blue WF (BWF) were significant and should be considered. Upstream water consumption of electricity and other energy sources were also observed to be an important part of the BWF. Regardless of whether freshwater or recycled water was used, the WF can be reduced only by effectively reducing water consumption.
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Hu, Runzhi, Ruiqi Li, Siqi Han, Lin Li, Tuo Yin, Yunkai Li, and Xiuzhi Chen. "Spatiotemporal Evolution and Driving Mechanisms of Water Footprint with Input-Output Paradigm: A Case Study of China." Water 14, no. 15 (July 31, 2022): 2373. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w14152373.
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The evaluation and quantification of water consumption based on water footprint (WF) is important for sustainable utilization of water resources and is becoming one of the key bases for formulating water resources management policies. However, there are few systematic assessments of both temporal changes and spatial patterns of WF in China, and the driving of water footprint intensity (WFI) is rarely reported. Based on the research background, this paper takes China, the world’s largest developing country, as an example to analyze the spatiotemporal evolution of WF through the input–output model. The total WF in China increased by 11.76% from 2002 to 2017. National WFI decreased from 550 m³/104 yuan (2002) to 152 m³/104 yuan (2017). The regions found to have the highest WF in China include Shandong, Henan, and Hebei, and regions with higher WFI are distributed in East China. From 2002 to 2017, the total WF of each province in China changed significantly. Guangdong, Fujian, and Zhejiang provinces’ total WF decreased markedly during the study period. The results show that the grain output per capita and GDP per capita have a significant driving effect on WFI. By adjusting the agricultural structure and improving the comprehensive ability of scientific and technological innovation, it is possible to reduce the WFI in China.
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Zhi, Y., Z. F. Yang, and X. A. Yin. "Decomposition analysis of water footprint changes in a water-limited river basin: a case study of the Haihe River basin, China." Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 18, no. 5 (May 6, 2014): 1549–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-1549-2014.
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Abstract. Decomposition analysis of water footprint (WF) changes, or assessing the changes in WF and identifying the contributions of factors leading to the changes, is important to water resource management. Instead of focusing on WF from the perspective of administrative regions, we built a framework in which the input-output (IO) model, the structural decomposition analysis (SDA) model and the generating regional IO tables (GRIT) method are combined to implement decomposition analysis for WF in a river basin. This framework is illustrated in the WF in Haihe River basin (HRB) from 2002 to 2007, which is a typical water-limited river basin. It shows that the total WF in the HRB increased from 4.3 × 1010 m3 in 2002 to 5.6 × 1010 m3 in 2007, and the agriculture sector makes the dominant contribution to the increase. Both the WF of domestic products (internal) and the WF of imported products (external) increased, and the proportion of external WF rose from 29.1 to 34.4%. The technological effect was the dominant contributor to offsetting the increase of WF. However, the growth of WF caused by the economic structural effect and the scale effect was greater, so the total WF increased. This study provides insights about water challenges in the HRB and proposes possible strategies for the future, and serves as a reference for WF management and policy-making in other water-limited river basins.
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Liu, Yang, Jianyi Lin, Huimei Li, Ruogu Huang, and Hui Han. "Driving Forces of Food Consumption Water Footprint in North China." Water 13, no. 6 (March 16, 2021): 810. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w13060810.
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The water footprint (WF) vividly links water resources with virtual water of food, providing a novel perspective on food demand and water resources management. This study estimates the per capita WF of food consumption for six provinces in North China. Then, the study applies the logarithmic mean Divisia index method to decompose the driving forces of their WF changes. Results show that the per capita WF of food consumption in Beijing, Tianjin, and Inner Mongolia increases significantly in 2005–2017, whereas that in the other three provinces in North China varies slightly. All provinces have shown the same trend of food structure changes: the grain decreased, whereas the meat increased. In general, the urban effect was positive, and the rural effect was negative for all regions. The urban effects in Beijing and Tianjin played a leading role, whereas the rural effects in the other four provinces played a leading role from 2005–2009. However, the urban effects in all provinces played a leading role in 2010–2017. The WF efficiency increased in each province, and the effect in urban areas is stronger due to the higher water use efficiency. For most provinces, the consumption structure was positive because the diet shifted toward more meat consumption. The food consumption per capita effect was the major driving force in Beijing and Tianjin due to the increased consumption level, whereas the population proportion effect exerted a weak effect. To alleviate the pressure on water resources, further improving water use efficiency in food production and changing the planting structure should be emphasized for all regions in North China.
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Menendez, Hector M., Benjamin L. Turner, and Luis O. Tedeschi. "144 A modeling framework to assess the impact of the texas beef cattle water footprint on livestock sustainability." Journal of Animal Science 97, Supplement_3 (December 2019): 147. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jas/skz258.301.
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Abstract Anticipated growth in the demand for beef products driven by increased protein consumption, brings into question the efficiency, sustainability, profitability, and social dimensions of water use for U.S. beef production. Current assessment of U.S. beef production provides a wide range (695 to 14,191 L H2O/kg) of water footprint (WF) measurements of green (rainfed), blue (ground or surface), and grey (waste treatment) water use, but lacks defined region-specific estimates. The objective of this ongoing study is to develop a dynamic mathematical model for Texas beef cattle WF (TXWFB) that allows users to estimate a Texas WF, evaluate assumptions and parameters of current WF methodologies, identify water-use inefficiencies, and provide policy recommendations for a sustainable WF. The TXWFB was developed using Vensim DSS™ and evaluated with the Model Evaluation System™. The TXWFB model correctly replicated the previously published Chapagain and Hoekstra (2003; CH2003) water footprint results for beef cattle with a 36-month lifespan in both grazing [11,915 m3/t (0.4 t)] and industrial beef cattle [9636 m3/t (0.545 t)] systems. Then, parameters (diet composition and water footprints) from the CH2003 model were used as inputs into the TXWFB model to develop baseline scenarios for Texas, using ten climate regions (36-month lifespan; baseline grazing µ = 26,389 m3/t and industrial µ = 24,615 m3/t). The baseline results were then compared to grazing and industrial scenarios with regionalized Texas parameters for pasture, forage, and crop production (evapotranspiration, drought), diet/phase/region (cow-calf, stocker, and feedlot; 24 months). The TXWFB predictions for regional grazing (µ = 7,591 m3/t) and industrial (µ = 5,948 m3/t) results were 71 to 75% less than the baseline scenarios (P < 0.05). We concluded that the TXWFB estimates were considerably smaller than those previously published, suggesting that current WF methodologies can be refined to more adequately assess beef cattle WF in the US.
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Ding, Dianyuan, Ying Zhao, Hui Guo, Xueyan Li, Jeff Schoenau, and Bingcheng Si. "Water Footprint for Pulse, Cereal, and Oilseed Crops in Saskatchewan, Canada." Water 10, no. 11 (November 9, 2018): 1609. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w10111609.
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The water footprint (WF) of crop production is a friendly approach for the analysis of water resource consumption in agricultural production systems. This study assessed the inter-annual variability of the total WF of three types of main crops, namely, cereal (i.e., spring wheat and barley), oilseed (i.e., canola and sunflower) and pulse (i.e., lentils and chickpea), from the perspective of yield and protein. It also determined the major factors that influence the WFs in Saskatchewan province of Canada. Over the period of 1965–2014, the annual precipitation in Saskatchewan fluctuated considerably but increased slightly with time. The grain yield-based WF ranged between 1.08 and 1.80, 0.90 and 1.38, 1.71 and 2.58, 1.94 and 4.28, 1.47 and 2.37, and 1.39 and 1.79 m3 kg−1; whereas the protein yield-based WF ranged between 7.69 and 10.44, 8.27 and 16.47, 3.79 and 7.75, 4.86 and 11.17, 5.09 and 7.42, and 5.51 and 10.69 m3 kg−1 for spring wheat, barley, canola, sunflower, lentils, and chickpea, respectively. All the WFs of crops generally decreased with time, which could be attributed to precipitation factors. In addition, the scientific and technological progress and agricultural inputs also evidently influenced the grain yield-based WFs of all crops. Pulse crops had a higher grain yield-based WF (an average of 1.59 m3 kg−1 for pulse crops and 1.18 m3 kg−1 for cereal crops) but a lower protein yield-based WF (an average of 6.58 m3 kg−1 for pulse crops and 9.25 m3 kg−1 for cereal crops) than cereal crops. Under conditions of improved protein consumption and healthy living in the future, pulse crops may be a preferred crop.
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Gómez-Llanos, Eva, Agustín Matías-Sánchez, and Pablo Durán-Barroso. "Wastewater Treatment Plant Assessment by Quantifying the Carbon and Water Footprint." Water 12, no. 11 (November 16, 2020): 3204. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w12113204.
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In the context of efficient and sustainable management of the elements of the urban water cycle as an aim of the Water Framework Directive (WFD), the evaluation of indicators such as the water footprint (WF) and the carbon footprint (CF) in a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) provides a quantification of the environmental impact, both negative and positive, which implies its exploitation. In this study, in addition to WF and CF quantification, a joint evaluation of both indicators was conducted. Consumption is indicated by the blue water footprint (WFBlue) and emissions by CF. Both are related to the operational grey water footprint (∆WFG,mef) in two ratios, WFR and CFR. In this way, the water consumed and gases emitted are measured according to the reduction range of the pollutant load of the discharge. The results for four WWTPs show operational scenarios for better management in accordance with the WFD.
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Cao, Chen, Xiaohan Lu, and Xuyong Li. "Risk Assessment and Pressure Response Analysis of the Water Footprint of Agriculture and Livestock: A Case Study of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Region in China." Sustainability 11, no. 13 (July 5, 2019): 3693. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su11133693.
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Excessive water consumption, associated with regional agriculture and livestock development and rapid urbanization, has caused significant stress to the ecological health and sustainable use of water resources. We used the water footprint theory to quantify the spatiotemporal characteristics and variation in the water footprint of agriculture and livestock (WF-AL) in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region of China (2000–2016). We predicted the spatial distribution and sustainability of regional water resources at different levels of annual precipitation. Results showed that the average county WF-AL rose from 8.03 × 108 m3 in 2000 to 10.89 × 108 m3 in 2016. There was spatial heterogeneity compared to the average city WF-AL. The WF-AL varied between the mountains and the plains. The scale of the WF-AL was one of the main reasons for differences in the consumption and distribution of water resources. The development of regional water resources deteriorated from a stable state to an unstable state from 2000 to 2016. Only 5.8% of the areas maintained a stable state of water resources. Even in the predicted wet years, no improvements were found in the instability of water resources in four areas centered on the counties of Xinji, Daming, Luannan, and Weichang. To achieve a medium and long-term balance between WF-AL development and water resource recovery, the WF-AL should be limited and combined with reservoir and cross-regional water transfer.
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Zanetti, Sidney Sara, Maria Sueliane Santos De Andrade, and Roberto Avelino Cecílio. "GREEN WATER FOOTPRINT AND SUSTAINABILITY FOR ESPIRITO SANTO STATE." REVISTA ENGENHARIA NA AGRICULTURA - REVENG 28 (January 29, 2020): 24–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.13083/reveng.v28i.970.
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Water footprint is a relatively new concept of freshwater appropriation that considers its direct and indirect use by a consumer or producer and used as a comprehensive indicator of the appropriation of water resources. The objective of this study was to estimate the green water footprint and evaluate its sustainability in the state of Espírito Santo, using the land use information and indicators of water scarcity. The total green water footprint was estimated by the sum of the green water footprints of pasture, forest, coffee cultivation, forestry, and other agricultural uses. The state’s total green footprint estimated was 47.5 billion m³/year, and the pasture class represented 48.5% of this total, followed by forest (29.8%), coffee cultivation (10.1%), forestry (6.4%), and other crops (5.2%). The ratio between the mean annual total volume of precipitated water and the green WF in the state was 80%. The environmental sustainability assessment shows that the green footprint was unsustainable for most of the year, on average, mainly in the May to September.
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Zhi, Y., Z. F. Yang, and X. A. Yin. "Decomposition analysis of water footprint changes in a water-limited river basin: a case study of the Haihe River Basin, China." Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions 10, no. 12 (December 2, 2013): 14591–615. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/hessd-10-14591-2013.
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Abstract. Decomposition analysis of water footprint (WF) changes, or assessing the changes in WF and identifying the contributions of factors leading to the changes, is important to water resource management. However, conventional studies focus on WF from the perspective of administrative region rather than river basin. Decomposition analysis of WF changes from the perspective of the river basin is more scientific. To address this perspective, we built a framework in which the input–output (IO) model and the Structural Decomposition Analysis (SDA) model for WF could be implemented in a river basin by computing IO data for the river basin with the Generating Regional IO Tables (GRIT) method. This framework is illustrated in the Haihe River Basin (HRB), which is a typical water-limited river basin. It shows that the total WF in the HRB increased from 4.3 × 1010 m3 in 2002 to 5.6 × 1010 m3 in 2007, and the agriculture sector makes the dominant contribution to the increase. Both the WF of domestic products (internal) and the WF of imported products (external) increased, and the proportion of external WF rose from 29.1% to 34.4%. The technological effect was the dominant contributor to offsetting the increase of WF; however, the growth of WF caused by the economic structural effect and the scale effect was greater, so the total WF increased. This study provides insights about water challenges in the HRB and proposes possible strategies for the future, and serves as a reference for WF management and policy making in other water-limited river basins.
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Wang, Jianqin, Lijie Qin, and Hongshi He. "Assessing Temporal and Spatial Inequality of Water Footprint Based on Socioeconomic and Environmental Factors in Jilin Province, China." Water 11, no. 3 (March 13, 2019): 521. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w11030521.
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Freshwater resources are limited and uneven in their spatiotemporal distribution, and substantial increases in water demand from rapidly developing economies and concentrated populations place pressure on the available water. Research on the inequality of water footprint (WF) could provide countermeasures for the rational use and allocation of water resources. We evaluated the temporal and spatial inequality of WF using the Gini coefficient and imbalance index based on socioeconomic and environmental factors in Jilin Province. The results showed that from 2008 to 2015, the overall inequality of WF in Jilin Province was “relative equality”, and the inequalities between the WF and population, cultivated area were “high equality”; between the WF and gross domestic product (GDP) was “relative equality”; and between the WF and natural water endowment was “high inequality”. With respect to space, the differences of WF inequality were significant. In the west, the WF inequality changed greatly, from “relative equality” to “relative inequality” driven by population, GDP, cultivated area, and natural water endowment. In the middle, the WF inequality showed large internal differences with “high inequality” or “high equality” caused by GDP and natural water endowment. In the east, the WF inequality was relatively stable, at “high equality” or “neutral” affected by natural water endowment and population. The varied impact factors reflected the differences in natural resources and socioeconomic conditions in the various regions, and the results might provide a theoretical basis for guiding the rational allocation of water resources.
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Zeng, Z., J. Liu, P. H. Koeneman, E. Zarate, and A. Y. Hoekstra. "Assessing water footprint at river basin level: a case study for the Heihe River Basin in northwest China." Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 16, no. 8 (August 16, 2012): 2771–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-2771-2012.
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Abstract. Increasing water scarcity places considerable importance on the quantification of water footprint (WF) at different levels. Despite progress made previously, there are still very few WF studies focusing on specific river basins, especially for those in arid and semi-arid regions. The aim of this study is to quantify WF within the Heihe River Basin (HRB), a basin located in the arid and semi-arid northwest of China. The findings show that the WF was 1768 million m3 yr−1 in the HRB over 2004–2006. Agricultural production was the largest water consumer, accounting for 96% of the WF (92% for crop production and 4% for livestock production). The remaining 4% was for the industrial and domestic sectors. The "blue" (surface- and groundwater) component of WF was 811 million m3 yr−1. This indicates a blue water proportion of 46%, which is much higher than the world average and China's average, which is mainly due to the aridness of the HRB and a high dependence on irrigation for crop production. However, even in such a river basin, blue WF was still smaller than "green" (soil water) WF, indicating the importance of green water. We find that blue WF exceeded blue water availability during eight months per year and also on an annual basis. This indicates that WF of human activities was achieved at a cost of violating environmental flows of natural freshwater ecosystems, and such a WF pattern is not sustainable. Considering the large WF of crop production, optimizing the crop planting pattern is often a key to achieving more sustainable water use in arid and semi-arid regions.
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Zeng, Z., J. Liu, P. H. Koeneman, E. Zarate, and A. Y. Hoekstra. "Assessing water footprint at river basin level: a case study for the Heihe River Basin in northwest China." Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions 9, no. 5 (May 3, 2012): 5779–808. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/hessd-9-5779-2012.
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Abstract. Increasing water scarcity places considerable importance on the quantification of water footprint (WF) at different levels. Despite progress made previously, there are still very few WF studies focusing on specific river basins, especially for those in arid and semi-arid regions. The aim of this study is to quantify WF within the Heihe River Basin (HRB), a basin located in the arid and semi-arid northwest of China. The findings show that the WF was 1768 million m3 yr−1 in the HRB over 2004–2006. Agricultural production was the largest water consumer, accounting for 96% of the WF (92% for crop production and 4% for livestock production). The remaining 4% was for the industrial and domestic sectors. The "blue" component of WF was 811 million m3 yr−1. This indicates a blue water proportion of 46%, which is much higher than the world average and China's average, which is mainly due to the aridness of the HRB and a high dependence on irrigation for crop production. However, even in such a river basin, blue WF was still smaller than green WF, indicating the importance of green water. We find that blue WF exceeded blue water availability during eight months per year and also on an annual basis. This indicates that WF of human activities was achieved at a cost of violating environmental flows of natural freshwater ecosystems, and such a WF pattern is not sustainable. Considering the large WF of crop production, optimizing the crop planting pattern is often a key to achieving more sustainable water use in arid and semi-arid regions.
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Duan, Peili, and Lijie Qin. "Temporal and spatial changes of water footprint of maize production in Jilin Province." Water Supply 14, no. 6 (June 25, 2014): 1067–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.2166/ws.2014.067.
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Quantitation of the green, blue and grey water footprints (WFs) of crop production can distinguish the water types and amount in crop production, as well as the degree of freshwater pollution. This paper calculates the WF of maize production and assesses the temporal variability and spatial distribution of WFs in different types of rainfall years over Jilin Province from 1998 to 2012. The results indicated that: (1) the annual average WF of maize production was 1,067 m3/ton, which was 53% green, 24% blue and 23% grey (maize production in Jilin Province relies primarily on green water); (2) the drier the year, the higher the WF of maize production; (3) the highest WF of maize production values among 49 counties in the province were in Antu and Tumen counties, whereas the lowest values occurred in Gongzhuling and Lishu counties, whether the year was humid, average or dry; and (4) the WF of maize production was highest in the eastern region, moderate in the western region and lowest in the middle region.
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Fedosov, A. Y., A. M. Menshikh, and M. I. Ivanova. "Assessment of water footprint of vegetable crops." Vegetable crops of Russia, no. 4 (September 4, 2021): 57–64. http://dx.doi.org/10.18619/2072-9146-2021-4-57-64.
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Relevance. Agricultural production is the main consumer of water. Globally, about 70% of fresh water is annually used for agricultural (food and non-food) production. Nearly 40% of the world's food supply comes from irrigation. Globally, the scarcity of irrigation water due to competition between industry and urban consumption threatens food security. Future population growth, income growth and changes in nutrition are expected to increase demand for water. The rate of warming in Russia since the mid-1970s about 2.5 times the global average. The highest rate of temperature increase occurs at high latitudes. The entire territory of Russia is subject to warming, both as a whole for the year and in all seasons. Water Footprint Accounting (WF), proposed by the Water Footprint Network (WFN), has the potential to provide important information for water management, especially in water-stressed regions that rely on irrigation to meet food needs.Methodology. The purpose of this systematic review was to collate and synthesize available data on global water use in vegetable production. Searched online databases covering the areas of environment, social sciences, public health, nutrition and agriculture: Web of Science Core Collection, Scopus, OvidSP MEDLINE, EconLit, OvidSP AGRIS, EBSCO GreenFILE, and OvidSP CAB Abstracts. The search was conducted using predefined search terms that included the concepts of "vegetable crops" and "water footprint".Results. This article provides a brief overview of the vegetable growing water footprint and the sustainability of the blue water footprint. In general, a high green or overall (green + blue) WF may indicate that the vegetable crops are having low yields or inefficient water use. Low green and high blue WF indicate inefficient use of rainwater, which can lead to overexploitation of surface and groundwater. The water footprint can be considered a good economic ergometer, showing the level of water consumption required to obtain a certain vegetable product, whether it brings economic benefits or not, beneficial to society or not.
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Hoehn, Daniel, María Margallo, Jara Laso, Israel Ruiz-Salmón, Ana Fernández-Ríos, Cristina Campos, Ian Vázquez-Rowe, Rubén Aldaco, and Paula Quinteiro. "Water Footprint Assessment of Food Loss and Waste Management Strategies in Spanish Regions." Sustainability 13, no. 14 (July 6, 2021): 7538. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13147538.
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The availability of freshwater is one of the biggest limitations and challenges of food production, as freshwater is an increasingly scarce and overexploited resource in many parts of the world. Therefore, the concept of water footprint (WF) has gained increasing interest, in the same way that the generation of food loss and waste (FLW) in food production and consumption has become a social and political concern. Along this line, the number of studies on the WF of the food production sector is currently increasing all over the world, analyzing water scarcity and water degradation as a single WF indicator or as a so-called WF profile. In Spain, there is no study assessing the influence of FLW generation along the whole food supply chain nor is there a study assessing the different FLW management options regarding the food supply chain’s WF. This study aimed to assess the spatially differentiated WF profile for 17 Spanish regions over time, analyzing the potential linkages of FLW management and water scarcity and water degradation. The assessment considered compliance and non-compliance with the Paris Agreement targets and was based on the life cycle assessment approach. Results are highlighted in a compliance framework; the scenarios found that anaerobic digestion and aerobic composting (to a lesser extent) had the lowest burdens, while scenarios with thermal treatment had the highest impact. Additionally, the regions in the north of Spain and the islands were less influenced by the type of FLW management and by compliance with the Paris Agreement targets.