Water Footprint and Virtual Water Trade in Spain doc

[...]... reduce their internal water or ecological footprint by increasing the external water footprint in exporting countries For instance, the estimated water footprint of an average 14 2 Literature Review Briton shows that two-thirds of this footprint originates outside Britain (Chapagain and Orr 2008b) This study will look in detail at Spanish internal and external footprints and their pattern and evolution... assessments of the footprints of livestock, industry, energy and urban water use Virtual -water trade is evaluated both within the EU and with third countries Finally, the policy implications of this analysis are assessed A better knowledge of the water footprint and virtual -water trade in Spain and in other arid and semi-arid countries can be very useful for developing a comprehensive instrumental framework... products (Hoekstra and Hung 2002) A critical issue related to the understanding of globalisation is whether international trade can save water globally In principle, it does 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 A Garrido et al., Water Footprint and Virtual Water Trade in Spain: Policy Implications,... agricultural trade distortions in the global welfare effects of virtual -water trade Verma et al (2008) argue that virtual -water trade may be exacerbating water scarcity in water- stressed regions in India In explaining virtual -water flows, these authors identify key explanatory factors other than water scarcity, including per capita gross cropped area (an indicator of land concentration and population... Spain s water footprint and offers a virtual -water analysis that differentiates green and blue (surface and groundwater) components, both from a hydrological and economic perspective It looks at the potential of these concepts in helping achieve an efficient allocation of water resources First of all, it defines the concepts of virtual water, the colours of water, virtual -water trade and the water footprint. .. importers (and exporters, in the case of Spain and France) of farm products The USA, Canada and Spain stand among the countries with the largest internal per capita footprints In the present study, we particularly highlight the relevance of virtual -water “exports” and “imports” for the economic life of many countries, including Spain Our work also aims to frame water footprint evaluations in a policy-relevant... to think of virtual water not only as the physical amount of resource embedded in the consumed and traded goods, but also as an economic good with opportunity cost that varies over time and according to quality and location Not all virtual water that is traded – for example, in wheat, oil, meat or automobiles – is equally valuable A Garrido et al., Water Footprint and Virtual Water Trade in Spain: Policy... economic dimension must be included in the kind of “motion pictures” featuring the water footprint and virtual -water trade that we are aiming to produce in this study This criterion is entirely consistent with the approach of the WFD and the most recent trends in Spanish water policy With these points in mind, this study aims to contribute to the WF and VW literature in the following areas (see Fig. 1.1... Hoekstra and Chapagain (2008) the individual or community (Hoekstra and Chapagain 2008) The total water footprint in a country includes two components First, there is the internal water footprint, which is the volume of water taken from domestic water resources to produce the goods and services consumed by the inhabitants of the country (Hoekstra and Hung 2005) Second, there is the external water footprint, ... volume of water used in other countries to produce goods and services imported and consumed by the inhabitants of that country (ibid.) In Fig. 2.1, we plot the internal and external water footprints both in absolute and relative terms (based on Hoekstra and Chapagain 2008) Note the sizable external per capita footprints of the Netherlands, Japan, the UK, Spain and France, which are large importers (and exporters, . m 3 /  kg Water footprint: Virtual water trade: Policy implications: Water footprint in Spain Blue water Green water Trade Water Policy Sustainability Time. Summary and Conclusions 125 8.1 Virtual Water and Water Footprint of Spain 126 8.2 Water Allocation in Light of Virtual Water 128 8.3 Re-Thinking Water Scarcity