Corporate Water Footprint Accounting and Impact Assessment: The Case of the Water Footprint of a Sugar-Containing Carbonated Beverage

All water use in the world is ultimately linked to final consumption by consumers. It is therefore interesting to know the specific water requirements of various consumer goods, particularly the water-intensive ones. This information is relevant not only for consumers, but also for food processors, retailers, and traders. The objective of this paper is to carry out a pilot study on water footprint accounting and impact assessment for a hypothetical sugar-containing carbonated beverage in a 0.5 l PET-bottle produced in a hypothetical factory that takes its sugar alternatively from sugar beet, sugar cane and high fructose maize syrup and from different countries. The composition of the beverage and the characteristics of the factory are hypothetical but realistic. The data assumed have been inspired by a real case. This paper does not only look at the water footprint of the ingredients of the beverage, but also at the water footprint of the bottle, other packaging materials and construction materials, paper and energy used in the factory. Although most companies focus on their own operational performance, this paper shows that it is important to consider freshwater usage along the supply chain. The water footprint of the beverage studied has a water footprint of 150 to 300 l of water per 0.5 l bottle, of which 99.7–99.8% refers to the supply chain. The study also shows that agricultural ingredients that constitute only a small fraction in weight of the final product have the biggest share at the total water footprint of a product.     

河南省2008年水足迹分析

水足迹是反映人类对水资源消费情况的一个全新概念,其计算方法有自上而下法和自下而上法,分别采用两种方法计算河南省2008年水足迹.结果表明:采用自上而下法计算的水足迹总量为1 179.011亿m3,人均水足迹为1 188.759 m3/人;采用自下而上法计算的水足迹总量为495.675亿m3,人均水足迹为499.774 m3/人.总体而言,河南省经济生产以自给为主,水匮乏度很高.未来在水资源开发利用过程中,应注意调整作物种植结构、改变消费模式、实施虚拟水战略.     

基于GIS的河南省水足迹时空差异研究

计算了2000—2012年河南省各市的水足迹及其相关评价指标,利用GIS工具分析其空间变化特征,并讨论了水足迹与GDP增长的相关关系。结果表明:河南省多年平均水足迹为1 291.282 1亿m~3,内部水足迹中,农畜产品生产用水所占比例最大,但呈逐年下降趋势,居民日常生活所消耗的水量所占比例最小,外部水足迹占水足迹总量的比例很小;人均水足迹为1 337.77 m~3/人,呈现逐年上升的趋势;水足迹强度为0.11 m~3/元,呈逐年下降趋势;水足迹自给率为98.91%,对外依赖度为1.09%。基于GIS的空间分析表明:河南省各市的水足迹总量、人均水足迹、水足迹强度和对外依赖度等存在差异,但分布格局基本一致。总体而言,河南省的水资源压力很大。     

System Dynamic Model for Crop Production,Water Footprint,and Virtual Water Nexus

Intended for comprehensive assessment of water usage in agricultural for food production and to address its future, it is essential to scrutinize the dynamic behavior of crop production and its water footprint and virtual water trade. Through the current research a System Dynamic model that can be applied to estimate crop production, water footprint, and virtual water nexus was developed. The system could be applied to explore how water footprint of crop production and consumption change under proposed planned scenarios which differ from each other in terms of main drivers of change. The drivers of change include population, per capita crop consumption, crop trade patterns, crop yield, and climate change impact. The system is developed to be applied at the country level. A case study from Egypt was analyzed applying the developed system. Where, water footprint of wheat production (green, blue, and grey water), consumption (internal, import and export), and its virtual water balance for years 2010 to 2050 were analyzed under proposed planned scenarios. These proposed planned scenarios were varying in wheat trade pattern strategies and impact of climate change on wheat water consumption and its yield.     

Analytical Support for Integrated Water Resources Management: A New Method for Addressing Spatial and Temporal Variability

This paper discusses the development of an analytical support system for implementation of the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) process. The system integrates four analytical tools: (i) geographic information system; (ii) system dynamics simulation; (iii) agent-based model; and (iv) hydrologic simulation. The choice of tools is driven by their ability to (a) respond to the main requirements of the IWRM and (b) explicitly describe system behaviour as function of time and location in space. The system dynamics simulation captures temporal dynamics in an integrated feedback model that includes sectors representing physical and socioeconomic system components. Management policies established in the participatory decision making environment are easily investigated through the simulation of system behaviour. Agent-based model is used to analyze spatial dynamics of complex physical-social-economic-biologic system. The IWRM support system is tested using data from the Upper Thames River Watershed, Ontario, Canada, in collaboration with the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority.     

银川市2008年水资源生态足迹研究与分析

通过建立水资源生态足迹模型和水资源生态承载力模型,利用生态足迹的理论与方法计算了银川市2008年水资源生态足迹和水资源生态承载力,结果表明银川市2008年人均生态足迹为1．450hm^2／人,人均水资源生态承载力为0．318hm^2／人．人均水资源生态足迹是水资源生态承载力的4．57倍,水资源生态赤字达到1．132hm^2/人。农业水资源生态足迹占比例最大,农业用水比重过高,地区用水存在着结构性矛盾。同时,银川市水资源生态承载力主要来自黄河水,与地下水与当地地表水资源较贫乏一致。最后为银川市水资源可持续利用,降低人均生态足迹,提高水资源生态承载力提出了相关建议。     

灌区粮食生产水足迹的影响因素研究

以人民胜利渠灌区为研究区,基于1961—2013年的长系列数据,采用彭曼公式和CROPWAT软件,计算出历年灌区冬小麦的蓝水、绿水足迹,并根据计算结果进行蓝水、绿水足迹及其影响因子的时间序列分析。采用结构方程模型方法,对蓝水、绿水足迹与气候和农业投入因子的作用关系进行路径分析。结果表明:1961—2013年灌区冬小麦的蓝水、绿水足迹均呈显著下降趋势,作物需水量(ETc)无显著变化,冬小麦产量显著增加是其蓝水、绿水足迹下降的主要原因;影响冬小麦ETc的主要气象因素是平均风速、平均气温、相对湿度和日照时数;在不考虑农业投入的影响时,灌区冬小麦生长季平均风速是对蓝水、绿水足迹影响最大的气候因子,日照时数和有效降水的影响次之;在农业投入和气象因子的共同作用下,冬小麦蓝水、绿水足迹的主要影响因素为农用化肥使用折纯量、农业机械总动力和有效降水。     

水利职工喜迎奥运倒计时一周年

2007年8月8日上午,在距2008年奥运会开幕还有一年之际,水利部在京干部职工欢聚一堂,在部机关大院举行迎奥运倒计时牌揭牌仪式,水利部副部长鄂竟平、周英出席。     

北京引拒工程对下游地区影响

采用1956～1997年径流量资料系列,对拒马河流域的地表水资源作了评价,并在此基础上对北京引拒工程的可引水量进行了计算。依据拒马河流域水资源及开发利用现状和供需水预测,论证了北京引拒工程实施,将造成下游地区水资源供需矛盾加剧、白洋淀于淀几率增加及水质恶化等一系列严重问题。现就北京引拒工程对下游地区影响问题作了较为全面的分析。     

Water Footprint Outcomes and Policy Relevance Change with Scale Considered: Evidence from California

Methods and datasets necessary for evaluating water footprints (WFs) have advanced in recent years, yet integration of WF information into policy has lagged. One reason for this, we propose, is that most studies have focused on national units of analysis, overlooking scales that may be more relevant to existing water management institutions. We illustrate this by building on a recent WF assessment of California, the third largest and most populous state in the United States. While California contains diverse hydrologic regions, it also has an overarching set of water institutions that address statewide water management, including ensuring sustainable supply and demand for the state’s population and economy. The WF sheds new light on sustainable use and, in California, is being considered with a suite of sustainability indicators for long-term state water planning. Key to this integration has been grounding the method in local data and highlighting the unique characteristics of California’s WF, presented here. Compared to the U.S., California’s WF was found to be roughly equivalent in per-capita volume (6 m³d^?1) and constituent products, however two policy-relevant differences stand out: (1) California’s WF is far more externalized than the U.S.’s, and (2) California depends more on “blue water” (surface and groundwater) than on “green water” (rainwater and soil moisture). These aspects of California’s WF suggest a set of vulnerabilities and policy options that do not emerge in national-level assessments. Such findings demonstrate that WF assessments may find more policy relevance when scaled to analytical units where water-related decision making occurs.     

Incorporating the Water Footprint and Virtual Water into Policy: Reflections from the Mancha Occidental Region, Spain

Water resource management is often a controversial issue in semiarid regions. Most water resources experts admit that water conflicts are not caused by the physical water scarcity but they are mainly due to inadequate water management. The virtual water concept (the volume of water used in the production of a commodity, good or service) together with the water footprint (indicator of water consumption that looks at both direct and indirect water use of a consumer or producer), links a large range of sectors and issues, thus providing a potentially appropriate framework to support more optimal water management practices by informing production and trade decisions. This paper provides an analysis of these two concepts within the context of the Mancha Occidental region, Spain, exploring the hydrological and economic aspects of agricultural production. In doing so, this work not only distinguishes between green and blue water but also between surface and groundwater. We conclude by discussing the practical implications of the results, as well as their potential limitations from the policy standpoint.     

《水资源与水工程学报》2004～2008年载文分析与评价

依据中国期刊全文数据库[1],对《水资源与水工程学报》2004~2008年发表的论文进行了综合分析,包括期刊刊容特征、出版时滞、作者系统及地区分布、基金论文、学科分布、网上下载量等。结果表明,《水资源与水工程学报》刊容量逐年增大,基金论文数量不断提高,作者系统以及地区分布中,高校占发文量的85%以上,论文主题主要报道水利工程基础科学、农业科学、建筑科学、环境科学、地球科学、力学等学科的论文,具有鲜明的学科特色,从一个侧面反映了我国水科学研究的一些规律。为客观评价本刊的总体学术地位,了解我国水利及相关行业的学科发展水平和未来发展趋势提供参考依据,也为今后的编辑工作及广大水利科技工作者提供参考。     

Water Footprint Assessment: Evolvement of a New Research Field

This paper reviews the evolvement of water footprint assessment (WFA) as a new research field over the past fifteen years. The research is rooted in four basic thoughts: (1) there is a global dimension to water management because water-intensive commodities are internationally traded, so we must study virtual water trade and the effects of countries externalizing their water footprint; (2) freshwater renewal rates are limited, so we must study the development of consumption, production and trade patterns in relation to these limitations; (3) supply-chain thinking, previously uncommon in water management, can help to address sustainable water use from the perspective of companies and final consumers; and (4) a comprehensive approach requires the consideration of green in addition to blue water consumption, the traditional focus in water management, and the analysis of water pollution in the same analytical framework as well. The quick emergence of the new field and wide uptake of the water footprint concept in society has generated substantial discussion about what the concept in narrow sense and the research field in broader sense can offer and what not. The paper reflects on the main issues of debate.     

湘江流域1960~2008年降水气温变化趋势分析

为了进一步研究全球气候变化下湘江流域的水文响应,采用Mann-Kendall法（M-K法）对湘江流域1960~2008年降水气温的时空变化趋势进行分析。结果表明,1960~2008年湘江流域的日平均气温普遍呈现显著上升趋势,日极小气温值的显著上升,其中以郴州为代表的东南部气温变化趋势尤为显著;除长沙站外,其余站点降水变化没有显著的上升或下降趋势。从年内分布来看,气温在4、5、6月份呈显著上升趋势,而降水则在1、2月份大部分站点呈现显著上升趋势。     

近50 a滹沱河平原冬小麦灌溉需水时空特征研究

应用彭曼公式、反距离权重插值(IDW)及相关分析等方法,研究了气候变化对滹沱河平原冬小麦灌溉需水量时空变化的影响,主要得出以下几点结论:(1)近50a来滹沱河平原冬小麦灌溉需水量以18.5 mm/10 a的速率呈显著下降趋势(P0.01);(2)在空间特征上,冬小麦需水量以藁城、赵县和宁晋一线为界,分界线以东需水量在500~530 mm,分界线以西在530~600 mm;(3)降水量是冬小麦需水量变化的主控因素,降水量每增大100 mm,需水量将减少124 mm,日照时数和近地风速显著下降是造成该区需水量下降的主要原因。     

Participatory Optimization Scenario for Water Resources Management: A Case from Jordan

Participatory optimization scenario process was developed for water resources management of the Zarqa River Basin in Jordan. The basin was selected to represent a case study of semi-arid area in the Mediterranean because of its entire range of prototypical water management problems. The nature of the institutional framework, the severity of the water related problems and concentration of population in the basin have required the need for stakeholders’ involvement in the optimization process. The paper demonstrates a Water Resources Model (WRM) consisting of integrated cascade of modules, embedded in a framework of a participatory approach in water resources optimization. The system includes baseline scenario, identification of constrains and instruments, the optimization scenario and analysis of results. In a participatory approach, stakeholders identified the optimization criteria (constraints) and the management interventions (instruments). Constraints were set to securing high supply/demand ratio of 0.98 and improving reliability of supply to 75 %, while specific eight instruments were suggested and manipulated by the model to achieve the above criteria. The results of the WRM optimization scenario showed that the specified constraints were met so that the supply/demand ratio increased from 0.90 to 0.996 and the reliability of supply improved from 58 % to 84 %. The benefit/cost ratio, water shortfall, and the economic efficiency had responded effectively. The model proved its efficiency in using the full featured basin characteristics towards baseline and optimization scenarios with the support of stakeholders in simulating the basin behavior over time using the model parameters.     

基于水足迹的宁夏平原农作物生产用水分析

引入水足迹的概念和计算方法,对宁夏平原农作物生产用水状况进行分析,结合农业发展规划,对种植结构调整后的农业用水量和用水效率进行了分析.结果表明:2004年宁夏平原农作物生产用水总量为26.28亿m3,被作物有效吸收利用的引黄灌溉水量为22.37亿m3,占农作物生产用水总量的85.14%;由降水形成的土壤"绿水"利用效率为14.86%,"绿水"利用量远小于灌溉"蓝水"利用量;种植结构调整可减少区域农作物生产用水总量,使"蓝水"利用效率提高、"绿水"利用效率下降,还可促进区域粮食水分生产率的提高.     

A High Resolution Assessment of Water Footprint of Wheat to Understand Yield and Water Use Heterogeneity

Efficient water use remains a major challenge globally. Semi-arid regions of the eastern plains of the state of Uttar Pradesh are no different. With stagnating yields and increased input achieving homogeneity in crop yield remains the only way to increase production. Water being the main drive, its judicious use is to be encouraged. Heterogeneity in water usage resulting in yield heterogeneity has to be quantified. It explains the extent of problem. This research conducted at Samrakalwana village at Allahabad reveals that a 36.12 % heterogeneity in water usage results in wheat yield heterogeneity of 44.04 %. Based upon this, management practices can be recommended to the farmers to minimize yield gap. Water footprints for wheat were obtained. The obtained water footprints for wheat were found to vary between 9844 to 2951 l/Kg. The water productivity ranged from 3.88 to 1.01 Tonnes/m³. This huge variation also explains the large heterogeneity is present in utilizing existing water as a resource at the Samrakalwana village.