Water Footprint Assessment: optimizing water use for social,

environmental & economic benefits

The Water We Eat

Brussels, Belgium

13 April 2011

Mission ~ Promoting sustainable, equitable and efficient water use through:

1. Developing standards for WF assessment;

2. Facilitating R&D related to the WF concept;

3. Promoting WF knowledge exchange & dissemination;

4. Developing WF assessment practical tools; and

5. Supporting organisations in applying a WF assessment and developing a sustainable and fair water policy

The Water Footprint Network

143 partners from 34 countries:

bringing together expertise from academia, businesses, investment banks, civil society, governments and international organisations.

Founding partners:

WWF

International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group)

Netherlands Water Partnership

UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education

University of Twente

Water Neutral Foundation

World Business Council for Sustainable Development

Water footprint network

GLOBAL WATER FOOTPRINT STANDARD

“Forty years down the road we will have 9 billion humans living on the Earth. Nearly fifty per cent more than what we have today. The impact of any activity, be it economic or social, will have an unprecedented print on water. It is, therefore, critical that policy makers and the public, let alone the political community, are aware of what the water footprint is, how it is established and how it does evolve in time and space.”

Professor A. Szollosi-Nagy, Rector, UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education

► The WF is an indicator of water use that looks at both direct and indirect water use of a consumer or producer.

► Water use is measured in terms of water volumes consumed (evaporated or otherwise not returned) or polluted per unit of time.

► The water footprint is a geographically and temporally explicit indicator, not only showing volumes of water consumption and pollution, but also the locations.

► A water footprint can be calculated for a process, a product, a consumer, group of consumers (e.g. municipality, province, state or nation) or a producer (e.g. a public organization, private enterprise).

The water footprint concept

Operational water footprint• the direct water use by the producer – for producing,

manufacturing or for supporting activities.

Supply-chain water footprint• the indirect water use in the producer’s supply chain.

Direct & indirect water footprint

Green water footprint

► volume of rainwater evaporated.

Blue water footprint

► volume of surface or groundwater evaporated.

Grey water footprint

► volume of polluted water.

Three water footprints

Direct water footprint Indirect water footprint

Green water footprint Green water footprint

Blue water footprint Blue water footprint

Grey water footprint Grey water footprint

Water

consumption

Water

pollution

[Hoekstra et al., 2011]

Return flow

Water withdrawal

The traditionalstatistics

on water use

Components of a water footprint

The water footprint of a consumer

Indirect WF Direct WF

bluewateruse

greywater

Farmer RetailerFood

processer

Virtualwaterflow

Virtualwaterflow

Virtualwaterflow

greenandbluewateruse

bluewateruse

greywater

greywater

Consumer

bluewateruse

greywater

[Hoekstra, 2008]

Coherence in water footprint accounts

add product water footprintsof all products produced

Water footprint of a group of consumers

Water footprint of a group of producers (e.g. a

sector)

Water footprint within a geographically delineated

area

Water footprint of a producer (business,

company)

Product water footprints

Process water footprints

Water footprint of consumer

add product water footprintsof all products consumed

add process water footprints of allprocesses in a production system of a product

add process water footprintsof all processes occurring within the area

[Hoekstra et al., 2011]

[Hoekstra & Chapagain, 2008]

[Hoekstra & Chapagain, 2008]

283 Mm3/yr

485 Mm3/yr

3467 Mm3/yr

165 Mm3/yr

Green water footprint Million m3/yr

186 Mm3/yr

325 Mm3/yr

EU25's impact on green water resources

Water footprint of EU’s cotton consumption (green water)

[Hoekstra & Chapagain, 2008]

Blue water footprint Million m3/yr

2959Mm3/yr

690 Mm3/yr

421 Mm3/yr

2459 Mm3/yr

803 Mm3/yr

581 Mm3/yr

533 Mm3/yr

450 Mm3/yr

EU25's impact on blue water resources

[Hoekstra & Chapagain, 2008]

Water footprint of EU’s cotton consumption (blue water)

Former Aral Sea, Central Asia

Cotton for export

Signs of global water scarcity

Global water footprint of UK consumption

62% of the UK water footprintis outside its own borders

[Chapagain & Orr, 2008]

WFP(m3/cap/yr)600 - 800800 - 10001000 - 12001200 - 13001300 - 15001500 - 18001800 - 21002100 - 2500No Data

Water footprint per capita

[Hoekstra & Chapagain, 2008]

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

Chi

na

Indi

a

Japa

n

Pak

ista

n

Indo

nesi

a

Bra

zil

Mex

ico

Rus

sia

Nig

eria

Thai

land

Italy

US

A

Wat

er fo

otpr

int (

m3/c

ap/y

r)

Domestic water consumption Industrial goods Agricultural goods

Water footprint per capita

Global average water footprint

[Hoekstra & Chapagain, 2008]

(Likely) biofuel crop choice in different regions

Bio-ethanol:maizeBio-diesel: soya

Bio-ethanol:sugar beetBio-diesel: rapeseed

Bio-ethanol:sugar cane, maizeBio-diesel: soya

Bio-ethanol:wheatBio-diesel: rapeseed

Bio-ethanol:sugar caneBio-diesel: palm oil, soya

Bio-ethanol: -Bio-diesel: palm, jatropha

Bio-ethanol:sugar caneBio-diesel: palm,jatropha

Bio-ethanol:sugar caneBio-diesel: soya, palm oil

Bio-ethanol:maize, wheatBio-diesel: rapeseed

Water footprint of biofuels from different crops [litre/litre]

[Gerbens-Leenes, Hoekstra & Van der Meer, 2009]

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Environmental f low requirement, met

Environmental f low requirement, not met

Blue w ater availability

Blue w ater footprint

Blue w ater availability

Runoff (under undeveloped conditions)

m3/s

Runoff

Environmentalflow requirement

Water footprint sustainability assessment:

Water footprint sustainability assessment

Direct water use

Indirect water use(supply chain)

Green water footprintBlue water footprintGrey water footprint

1 specific watershed

All watersheds

Global sustainability

Responsible,efficient water use

Geographic sustainability

Globally equitable & efficient sustainability

Response Strategies for Local Water Footprint &

Impacts Reduction

Instruments to Drive Water

Footprint & Impacts

Reduction

Sustainable, equitable, efficient water use; water

stewardship

Water Footprint

Sustainability Assessment

Water footprint response strategies

Water footprint assessment: Water footprint response strategies

Instrument Water Footprint Application Contribution to Sustainable Water Use

Benchmarking Best estimates for highest reasonable efficiency for green, blue, grey water for sector in geographic area

Responsible, efficient water use at producer/ company level

Agricultural policy Standards of agricultural practice based on benchmarks, national/ sub-national cropping patterns

Responsible, efficient water use at national/ sub-national level, sustainable water use at catchment level

Foreign/ trade policy Global water footprint accounting, water availability/ scarcity, benchmarks, sustainability assessment

Responsible, efficient water use at the global level

Reporting Standardized methodology for calculating water use, sustainability assessment

Awareness raising for investors, consumers

Water footprint assessment: Water footprint response strategies

Instrument Water Footprint Application Contribution to Sustainable Water Use

Labeling Standardized methodology for calculating water use, sustainability assessment

Awareness raising & sustainable consumer water footprint

Certification Standardized methodology for calculating water use, sustainability assessment (water availability/ scarcity), response strategy analysis

“Good water stewardship” criteria at business level, awareness raising for consumers/ business, linking consumers to business

Environment Policy

Standardized methodology for calculating water use, sustainability assessment (water availability/ scarcity)

“Good water stewardship” at national level

Energy Policy

Standardized methodology for calculating water use, water footprint of biofuels

Water use and crop production trade off analysis for energy sources

Ruth MathewsWater Footprint NetworkRuth.Mathews@waterfootprint.orgwww.waterfootprint.org