water footprinting presentation for iema wales
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Water footprints in context
Aaron Burton
May 2011
IEMA Wales
Outline
Water Resources Strategy for Wales – current and future pressures
Water footprinting concept
Scoping study – water footprint of key food items
Water footprinting in context
Pressures on Water Resources in Wales
Water Resources Strategy for Wales
www.environment-agency.gov.uk/wrs
10 to 15 per cent increase
5 to 10 per cent increase
5 per cent increase to 5 per cent decrease
5 to 10 per cent decrease
10 to 20 per cent decrease
20 to 30 per cent decrease
30 to 50 per cent decrease
50 to 80 per cent decrease
January February March April May June
July Aug September October November December
Percentage change in mean monthly flow between now and the 2050s using the
medium-high UKCIP02 scenario
Water
footprint
concept
[Hoekstra & Chapagain, 2008]
[Hoekstra & Chapagain, 2008]
[Hoekstra & Chapagain, 2008]
UK Water Footprint
Agricultural footprint – food and fibre
http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/UnitedKingdom
The water footprint of a product
Green water footprint
► volume of rainwater evaporated or incorporated into product.
Blue water footprint
► volume of surface or groundwater evaporated,
incorporated into product or returned to other catchment or the sea.
Grey water footprint
► volume of polluted water.
The water footprint:
making a link between consumption in one place and
impacts on water systems elsewhere
Shrinking Aral Sea
Scoping study – key
food items
Objectives
1. Present existing water footprinting methodologies and agree the best available model for use in Wales.
2. Assess the global and local water footprint for Wales, by looking at specific food items.
3. Consider the specific impacts on water resources of growing these imported products in Wales.
The water footprint of a product
Green water footprint
► volume of rainwater evaporated or incorporated into product.
Blue water footprint
► volume of surface or groundwater evaporated,
incorporated into product or returned to other catchment or the sea.
Grey water footprint
► volume of polluted water.
Potatoes (Wales and Israel)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Green Blue Total Green Blue Total
Volumetric WF Stress-weighted WF
Wate
r F
oo
tpri
nt
(m3/t
)
Potato (Wales)
Potato (Israel)
Tomatoes (Wales and Spain)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Green Blue Total Green Blue Total
Volumetric WF Stress-weighted WF
Wate
r F
oo
tpri
nt
(m3/t
)
Tomato (Wales)
Tomato (Spain - average)
Lamb (Wales and New Zealand)
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
Green Blue Total Green Blue Total
Volumetric WF Stress-weighted WF
Wate
r F
oo
tpri
nt
(m3/t
)
Lamb (Wales)
Lamb (New Zealand)
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Food Strategy for Wales
Food industry key water user
Impacts of growing more food in Wales vs imports
Opportunities for marketing Welsh produce
Adding context –
water efficiency and
supply chains
Water risks for business
• Physical risk
• Reputational risk
• Regulatory risk
• Financial risk
Water opportunity for business
• frontrunner advantage
• corporate image
• Corporate social responsibility
• Part of water governance wihtin existing environmental
management
Water footprint:
why businesses are interested
Water footprint of a business
[Hoekstra et al., 2009]
Water footprint
• measures freshwater appropriation
• spatial and temporal dimension
• actual, locally specific values
• always referring to full supply-chain
• focus on reducing own water footprint
(water use units are not
interchangeable)
Carbon footprint
• measures emission GH-gasses
• no spatial / temporal dimension
• global average values
• supply-chain included only in ‘scope 3
carbon accounting’
• many efforts focused on offsetting
(carbon emission units are
interchangeable)
Water footprint and carbon footprint are complementary tools.
Water footprint – Carbon footprint
Water and energy nexus
0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 4,500
Thousand tonnes of oil equivalent
Commercial Offices
Communication and Transport
Education
Government
Health
Hotel and Catering
Other
Retail
Sport and Leisure
Warehouses
Catering
Computing
Cooling & Ventilation
Hot Water
Heating
Lighting
Other
DECC (2009) Energy Consumption in the UK
LCA
• measures overall environmental impact
• no spatial dimension
• weighing water volumes based on
impacts
[Hoekstra et al., 2009]
Water footprint
• measures freshwater appropriation
• multi-dimensional (type of water use,
location, timing)
• actual water volumes, no weighing
For companies, water footprint assessment and LCA are complementary tools.
• WF assessment is a tool to support formulation of a sustainable water
management strategy in operations and supply chain.
• LCA is a tool to compare the overall environmental impact of different products.
WF is a general indicator of water use; application of WF in inventory phase of LCA
is one particular application.
Water footprint – Life cycle assessment
Further work
Water footprint sustainability assessment (case studies)
Other sectors and industries
Grey water implications (WFD & Europe Blueprint)
EC Blueprint WFD – understand material and virtual flows between catchments
Green water impacts of landuse change
Accounting for droughts/ climate change
Food Strategy for Wales Action Plan
Data issues for Wales
Thanks, Questions?
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