Dr Ell ie Biggs

WATER SECURITY FOR

A THIRSTY PLANET

@ g e o g s o u t h a m p t o n

Case studies: Nepal and Western Australia

OVERVIEW

Footprint SecurityWATER

WATER IN A CHANGING WORLD

Water in the Anthropocene h t t p : / / v im eo .c om / 66087863

Freshwater availability by country

www.worldmapper.org

Water is a global resource

Total volume of freshwater used to produce goods or services

The ‘water footprint’ is defined for an individual, community, business or even a country

How can we calculate this?

Need to know how much freshwater is used to produce each product or service…

Virtual Water“the volume of freshwater used to produce the product,

measured at the place where the product was actually produced”

WATER FOOTPRINT

WATER FOOTPRINT

1 kg beef = 15,000L water

1 cup of tea = 35L water

93% green water

e.g. crops to feed cow

3% blue water

e.g. drinking water

4% grey water

e.g. water to clean processing

plant

How much water is

required to produce

a cup of tea?

1kg of beef?

WATER FOOTPRINT

http://virtualwater.eu/

Contribution of dif ferent product categories to the global

water footprint of consumption (m³ per year per capita)

WATER FOOTPRINT

Mekonnen and Hoekstra (2011) Value of Water Research Report Series No. 50, UNESCO-IHE

Agricultural water footprint

WATER FOOTPRINT

Mekonnen and Hoekstra (2011) Value of Water Research Report Series No. 50, UNESCO-IHE

WATER FOOTPRINT - YOU

http ://www.water footpr in t .org/? page=ca l/

WaterFootpr in tCalculator

Food consumpt ion

Cereal products (wheat , r ice , maize ,

etc . )

Meat products

Dair y products

Eggs

How do you prefer to take your food ?

How is your sugar and sweets

consumpt ion?

Vegetables

Frui ts

Starchy roots (potatoes , cassava)

How many cups of cof fee do you take per

day?

How many cups of tea do you take per

day?

Indoor s Domest ic wate r use

How many showers do you take each day?

What is the average length of each shower?

Do your showers have standard or low - f low

showerheads?

How many baths do you have each week?

How many t imes per day do you brush your

teeth , shave or wash your hand?

Do you leave the tap running when brush ing

your teeth and shav ing?

How many loads of laundr y do you do in an

average week?

Do you have a dual f lush to i let?

I f you wash your d ishes by hand how many

t imes are d ishes washed each day?

How long does the water run dur ing each

wash?

I f you have a d ish washer, how many t imes is

i t used each week?

Household =

150L/day

Person =

4645L/day

62% from imports

UK consumption of

food and clothing

has impact on

rivers and aquifers

globally

WATER FOOTPRINT - UK

http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/UnitedKingdom

Water footprint of humanity has exceeded sustainable levels in places

Resource depletion (water quantity)

Resource contamination (water quality)

Water scarcity affects over 2.7 billion people for at least one month each year

Global spatial disparities in access to clean and safe freshwater

Water Security“the reliable availability of an acceptable quantity and quality

of water for health, livelihoods and production, coupled with an acceptable level of water-related risks”

WATER FOOTPRINT

Threat to water security from land cover change, population

growth, lifestyle change etc.

Climate change is modifying supply, demand and quality

WATER SECURITY

Vorosmarty et al. (2010)

WATER SECURITY AND THE NEXUS

http://www.water-energy-food.org/en/news/view__255/understanding-the-nexus.html

CASE STUDY 1: NEPAL

NEPAL

Nepal

Average water footprint = 1201m³ per year per capita

Part of footprint falling outside of the country = 10%

Global average water footprint (for comparison) = 1385m³ per

year per capita

NEPAL

Mekonnen and Hoekstra (2011) Value of Water Research Report Series No. 50, UNESCO-IHE

Completely lies

within the Ganges

basin

High level of poverty

Increasing

temperature trends

NEPAL

Transboundary

water

resources

management

needs

increased

cooperation

NEPAL

Tibetan Plateau

Greater

Himalayas

MountainsMid Hills

Terai

Community

National

Transboundary

International

WATER

GOVERNANCE

CHINA

INDIA

Image adapted

from Ives and

Messerli (1989)

NEPAL

STREAMFLOW

GROUNDWATER

MELTWATER

PRECIPITATION

NEPAL

North-South

Precipitation

Gradient

~200-750 mm

~1500-2000 mm

NEPAL - WATER QUANTITY

River Flows

Precipitation

Groundwater

Glacial Melt

NEPAL – WATER QUALITY

Water quality is an issue in

certain regions

Arsenic contamination of

groundwater in lowland areas

Urban pollution

Rural pollution

Poor hygiene and sanitation

Waterborne diseases

Water Quality

Water-induced natural

hazards are a major threat

to vulnerability of

populations

Flash flooding during

monsoon season

Erosion of river banks from

flooding = loss of land = loss

of livelihoods

Landslides from weathering

Glacial lake outburst floods

(GLOF) due to warming

climate

NEPAL – WATER HAZARDS

Water-Related Hazards

Statistically analysing

changes in precipitation over

time

h t t p s : / / w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m / w a t c h ? v = A E l O u v C 8 o h E

Less extreme events

Less variation

Little change in totals

Investigating community

perceptions of climate

change

Trying to develop a holistic

framework for water security

for policy -makers to use

WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING?

Extremes

Variation

Duncan et al. (2013) Applied Geography 43

WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING?

CASE STUDY 2: WESTERN AUSTRALIA

CASE STUDY 2: WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Western

Australia

Average water footprint = 2315m³ per year per capita

Part of footprint falling outside of the country = 11.8%

Global average water footprint (for comparison) = 1385m³ per

year per capita

AUSTRALIA

Mekonnen and Hoekstra (2011) Value of Water Research Report Series No. 50, UNESCO-IHE

AUSTRALIA

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/damian-carrington-blog/2013/jan/08/australia-bush-fires-heatwave-temperature-scale#

Decrease in annual total

precipitation on wet days (daily

precipitation ≥ 1 mm)

Declining trends in precipitation

have been observed since the

mid-1970s

South-west Western Australia

has become 25% drier

Greatest warming has occurred

in Queensland and south

Western Australia

Increase in percentage of days

with maximum temperature >

90th percentile

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

WESTERN AUSTRALIA: WATER SUPPLY

Scheme Reservoir Surface

Precipitation and Groundwater Desalination

WESTERN AUSTRALIA: WATER DEMAND

Livestock Industry

Agriculture Population

Developing a spatial index

to assess water

vulnerability

Wheatbelt region of

Western Australia

Looks at water supply vs

demand

Uses GIS

Mapping to enable strategic

distribution of resources

and more informative

planning

WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING?

2001

2011

Boruff et al. (in

preparation)

Increasing temperatures

Rain-fed agriculture dominates = high reliance on

precipitation

Reliance on water for livelihoods

Issues surrounding good water governance

Water quality problems

Water insecurity“the unreliable availability of an unacceptable quantity and

quality of water for health, livelihoods and production, coupled

with an unacceptable level of water-related risks”

WHAT DO NEPAL & WESTERN AUSTRALIA

HAVE IN COMMON?

Increasing sustainable practice ‘meeting the needs of the present, without compromising the abil ity of future generations to meet their own needs’

Enabling more effective cooperation between communities, corporations and policy -makers

Reducing our water footprint e.g ‘ low -water’ products; save water; better management of water systems

Reduce water pressure through smart water trading

Ensuring that environmental knowledge is accessible to all

Technological solutions will play an important role

Nexus solutions

Live within our ‘planetary boundaries ’ - freshwater is a finite resource!

THE WAY FORWARD?

EXTRA RESOURCES

Fo l low u s o n Tw i t te r @ g eo g so u t h a m p ton

www.teaclimate.com http://www.stockholmresilience.org

Planetary

Boundaries

Geopolit ics

of Water

Vir tual

Water

App

Globalisation of Water

Sustainabil i ty in

the Nexus

Tea and Cl imate Change

http://virtualwater.eu/

@GEOGSOUTHAMPTON

@GEOGSOUTHAMPTON