water resource management - interesting concepts
TRANSCRIPT
RCMS: Business Advisory Services
“Sharpening your competitive edge”
John ThomasJoint Director
FICCI - Resource Conservation & Management GroupEmail: [email protected]
Aug 2006
RCMS: Business Advisory Services
“Sharpening your competitive edge”
RCMS: Business Advisory Services
“Sharpening your competitive edge”
RCMS: Business Advisory Services
“Sharpening your competitive edge”
Some Statistics ……….
RCMS: Business Advisory Services
“Sharpening your competitive edge”
% water75to 55 The average adult body has .
thirds of our body weight is water. -Twopercent water80 A human embryo is more than
percent water74 A newborn baby is .
The water you drink literally becomes you !The water you drink literally becomes you !
The functions of water go far beyond just hydration. They include aiding digestion, weight loss, battling
water retention, regulating body temperature, aiding the kidney in excretion, lubricating our joints, the list goes on and on and on.
RCMS: Business Advisory Services
“Sharpening your competitive edge”
RCMS: Business Advisory Services
“Sharpening your competitive edge”
How much water goes in to produce …..
1) A cup of coffee ?
2) 1 kg of Wheat ?
RCMS: Business Advisory Services
“Sharpening your competitive edge”
©2006 UNESCO-IHE and University of Twente.
RCMS: Business Advisory Services
“Sharpening your competitive edge”
RCMS: Business Advisory Services
“Sharpening your competitive edge”
1. VIRTUAL WATER
2. WATER FOOTPRINT
RCMS: Business Advisory Services
“Sharpening your competitive edge”
The virtual water concept
VIRTUAL WATER content of a product: is the volume of
water used to produce the product, measured at the place
where the product was actually produced (production site
specific definition)OR
where the product is consumed (consumption site specific
The adjective ‘virtual’ refers to the fact that most of the water used to
produce a product is in the end not contained in the product. The real
water content of products is generally negligible if compared to the
virtual water content.
where the product is consumed (consumption site specific
definition).
RCMS: Business Advisory Services
“Sharpening your competitive edge”National Virtual Water Balances(related to the international trade of products)
Period 1997-2001.
©2006 UNESCO-IHE and University of Twente.
Net exporters are shown in GREEN and
Net importers in RED.
RCMS: Business Advisory Services
“Sharpening your competitive edge”
Regional virtual water balances and net interregional virtual water
flows related to the trade in agricultural products.Period: 1997-2001
©2006 UNESCO-IHE and University of Twente.
RCMS: Business Advisory Services
“Sharpening your competitive edge”
National Water saving – A nation can save its domestic water
resources by importing a water-intensive product rather than
produce it domestically.
Applications of Virtual Water ConceptApplications of Virtual Water ConceptApplications of Virtual Water ConceptApplications of Virtual Water Concept
Global Water saving – International trade can save water
globally if a water-intensive commodity is traded from an
area where it is produced with high water productivity
(resulting in products with low virtual water content) to an
area with lower water productivity.
RCMS: Business Advisory Services
“Sharpening your competitive edge”
The water footprint concept was introduced in 2002 by Arjen
Hoekstra in analogy to the well known concept of ‘ecological
footprint'.
RCMS: Business Advisory Services
“Sharpening your competitive edge”
TheTheTheThe ‘WATER FOOTPRINT’ ConceptConceptConceptConcept
The ‘Water Footprint’‘Water Footprint’‘Water Footprint’‘Water Footprint’ of an individual, business or nation is
defined as the total volume of fresh water that is used to
produce the foods and services consumed by the individual,
business or nation. A water footprint is generally expressed in
terms of the volume of water use per year.terms of the volume of water use per year.
Individual Water footprintThe water footprint of an individual is defined as the total
water used for the production of the goods and services
consumed by the individual. It can be estimated by multiplying
all goods and services consumed by their respective virtual
water content.
RCMS: Business Advisory Services
“Sharpening your competitive edge”
The water footprint of a nation is defined as the
total amount of water that is used to produce the
Nation's Water footprintNation's Water footprintNation's Water footprintNation's Water footprintNation's Water footprintNation's Water footprintNation's Water footprintNation's Water footprintNation's Water footprintNation's Water footprintNation's Water footprintNation's Water footprint
total amount of water that is used to produce the
goods and services consumed by the inhabitants
of the nation.
RCMS: Business Advisory Services
“Sharpening your competitive edge”
The national water footprint can be assessed
in two ways.
1. Bottom Up Approach 2. Top-down Approach
1. The bottom-up approach is to consider the sum of all goods
and services consumed multiplied with their respective virtual
water content. It should be noted that the virtual water content
of one particular consumption good can vary as a function of the
place and conditions of production.
2. In the top-down approach, the water footprint of a nation can
be calculated as the total use of domestic water resources plus
the net virtual water import.
RCMS: Business Advisory Services
“Sharpening your competitive edge”
RCMS: Business Advisory Services
“Sharpening your competitive edge”
©2006 UNESCO-IHE and University of Twente.