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

WRAP Report

http://www.wrapcymru.org.uk/wwf_wales.html

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?