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Water Footprint Assessment Research
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Water Footprint Assessment Research

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water Use and Scarcity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 July 2022) | Viewed by 41007

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Pieter van Oel

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Water Resources Management Group, Wageningen University, 6708 Wageningen, The Netherlands
Interests: sociohydrology; water resource management; water footprint assessment; water accounting
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Ashok K. Chapagain

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural Economics, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa
Interests: water resources management; water accounting; water footprint assessment research
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We invite you to submit papers showing progress in Water Footprint Assessment (WFA) research, the interdisciplinary field studying water resources management in relation to food and energy consumption, supply chains, and production and trade patterns. We are particularly open to papers that use the water footprint and virtual water transfer concepts to address questions on water-use efficiency, water dependencies, water risk and security, environmentally sustainable water use, and fair sharing of water. WFA research could inform water governance by providing information in addition to other sources. This could help us in evaluating alternative water management strategies for dealing with water stress, for instance by increasing drought preparedness.

We welcome papers that apply WFA in integrated water resources management or river basin studies, and papers that go beyond the water footprint by considering different types of environmental footprints more comprehensively. This Special Issue will include innovative case studies focusing on specific geographic regions, products, sectors or businesses. We look for progress in, for example, the spatial resolution of assessment, the advancement in models employed, the capturing of uncertainties, the assessment of water footprint reduction strategies, and the translation of analytical results into policy implications.

Dr. Pieter van Oel
Prof. Dr. Ashok K. Chapagain
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Water footprint
  • Water productivity
  • Virtual water
  • Water security
  • Sustainable and equitable water allocation
  • Water-food-energy nexus

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 1758 KiB  
Article
Water Footprint of Rangeland Beef Production in New Mexico
by Mohammed N. Sawalhah, Hatim M. E. Geli, Jerry L. Holechek, Andres F. Cibils, Sheri Spiegal and Craig Gifford
Water 2021, 13(14), 1950; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13141950 - 15 Jul 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 5874
Abstract
New Mexico (NM) has been identified as the state in the US that will be most adversely impacted by climate change and associated water stress. Roughly 92% of NM is rangeland, most of which is grazed by beef cattle. We calculated the blue [...] Read more.
New Mexico (NM) has been identified as the state in the US that will be most adversely impacted by climate change and associated water stress. Roughly 92% of NM is rangeland, most of which is grazed by beef cattle. We calculated the blue (surface and ground) and green (precipitation) water footprints (WF) of NM beef cattle industry (cow-calf, backgrounding, and feedlot). This analysis indicated that the weighted average WF of NM beef cattle was 28,203 L/kgmeat. The majority of the WF was accounted for green water (82%; 23,063 L/kgmeat) used by rangeland forages. Blue water accounted for only 18% (5140 L/kgmeat) of the total beef WF estimate. The relative contribution of green vs. blue water varied significantly among the different phases of beef production. In cow-calf, green water accounted for 99.5% of the WF whereas blue water, accounted for 100% of beef WF during backgrounding and feedlot. Based on our estimate, NM cow-calf operations is about a third or a quarter of the blue water (m3/year) used to produce corn or wheat, and only 5% or less of the water used to produce cotton or hay. In NM, irrigation accounts for about 84% of freshwater use followed by public/domestic use of 10%. Mining, thermo-electric, livestock production, aquaculture, and industrial uses collectively account for the other 6%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Footprint Assessment Research)
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15 pages, 2988 KiB  
Article
Understanding the Spatial-Temporal Changes of Oasis Farmland in the Tarim River Basin from the Perspective of Agricultural Water Footprint
by Aihua Long, Jiawen Yu, Xiaoya Deng, Xinlin He, Haifeng Gao, Ji Zhang, Cai Ren and Jie Du
Water 2021, 13(5), 696; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13050696 - 4 Mar 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3262
Abstract
The Tarim River Basin in China has predominantly assumed the task of commodity cotton and other high water-intensive crop production in recent years. The spatial matching status of agricultural water and land resources is a prerequisite for local economic development. This paper provides [...] Read more.
The Tarim River Basin in China has predominantly assumed the task of commodity cotton and other high water-intensive crop production in recent years. The spatial matching status of agricultural water and land resources is a prerequisite for local economic development. This paper provides an insight into the spatiotemporal variation trends of agricultural production water footprint and oasis farmland in the Tarim River Basin. The degree of spatial mismatching between oasis farmland and crop production water footprints studied in this paper found how the crop water footprint affected the change in oasis farmland area by sensitivity analysis. Time series data covering the period of 1990–2015 were used for the study. The results showed that the annual variation of crop production water footprint and oasis farmland area have experienced upward trends in Tarim River Basin. The blue water makes the largest contribution to the components of the crop production water footprint in each district (all exceeded 77%). The crop production water footprint and oasis farmland area tend to aggregate towards the eastern region. The level of spatial mismatch between the blue water footprint and farmland area fluctuated during the study period, but it was gradually remedied after 2000, while the spatial mismatch between green water footprint and farmland area gradually worsened. The number of districts with mid and high sensitivity to changes in blue water footprint continuously increased during 1990–2005, which revealed that the change in blue water footprint has an increasing influence on oasis farmland. The results can provide operable recommendations for efficient use of water resources, maintaining oasis suitable farmland scale and agricultural sustainable development in the Tarim River Basin. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Footprint Assessment Research)
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14 pages, 798 KiB  
Article
The Water Footprint of Primary Cow–Calf Production: A Revised Bottom-Up Approach Applied on Different Breeds of Beef Cattle
by Frikkie Alberts Maré, Henry Jordaan and Mesfin Mergia Mekonnen
Water 2020, 12(9), 2325; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12092325 - 19 Aug 2020
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 6285
Abstract
Beef has been identified as the farm animal product with the largest total water footprint in previous research, although various concerns have been raised regarding the top-down analyses approach followed in these studies. The objective of this study was to estimate the water [...] Read more.
Beef has been identified as the farm animal product with the largest total water footprint in previous research, although various concerns have been raised regarding the top-down analyses approach followed in these studies. The objective of this study was to estimate the water footprint of weaned calves and culled cows from seven different beef breeds by applying a revised water footprint analyses approach. A bottom-up approach was followed to provide a true representation of the production system, and the water footprint of the production system, with the estimated water footprint for the system being allocated to weaned calves and culled cows according to the value factor of each. The results show that there are prominent differences between the seven breeds in terms of their respective water footprints per kilogram weaned calf, even though the total water footprint per herd for each breed revealed little variation between the breeds. There is a 45% difference between the breed with the lowest and the breed with the highest water footprint per kg calf. This knowledge can be applied by both water users (primary producers) and policy formulators to assist in the optimal use of fresh water for beef production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Footprint Assessment Research)
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21 pages, 3197 KiB  
Article
Water Resources Management Strategies for Irrigated Agriculture in the Indus Basin of Pakistan
by Muhammad Muzammil, Azlan Zahid and Lutz Breuer
Water 2020, 12(5), 1429; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12051429 - 17 May 2020
Cited by 44 | Viewed by 17818
Abstract
Agriculture of Pakistan relies on the Indus basin, which is facing severe water scarcity conditions. Poor irrigation practices and lack of policy reforms are major threats for water and food security of the country. In this research, alternative water-saving strategies are evaluated through [...] Read more.
Agriculture of Pakistan relies on the Indus basin, which is facing severe water scarcity conditions. Poor irrigation practices and lack of policy reforms are major threats for water and food security of the country. In this research, alternative water-saving strategies are evaluated through a high spatio-temporal water footprint (WF) assessment (1997–2016) for the Punjab and Sindh provinces, which cover an irrigated area of 17 million hectares in the Indus basin of Pakistan. The SPARE:WATER model is used as a spatial decision support tool to calculate the WF and establish alternative management plans for more sustainable water use. The average water consumption (WFarea) is estimated to 182 km3 yr−1, composed of 75% blue water (irrigation water from surface water and groundwater sources), 17% green water (precipitation) and 8% grey water (water used to remove soil salinity or dilute saline irrigation water). Sugarcane, cotton, and rice are highly water-intensive crops, which consume 57% of the annual water use. However, WFarea can be reduced by up to 35% through optimized cropping patterns of the existing crops with the current irrigation settings and even by up to 50% through the combined implementation of optimal cropping patterns and improved irrigation technologies, i.e., sprinkler and drip irrigation. We recommend that the economic impact of these water-saving strategies should be investigated in future studies to inform stakeholders and policymakers to achieve a more sustainable water policy for Pakistan. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Footprint Assessment Research)
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Review

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20 pages, 4314 KiB  
Review
Past, Present, and Future of Virtual Water and Water Footprint
by Weijing Ma, Christian Opp and Dewei Yang
Water 2020, 12(11), 3068; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12113068 - 2 Nov 2020
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 6149
Abstract
Virtual water and water footprint have received increasing attention. However, no published research has conducted a quantitative and objective review of this field from the perspective of bibliometrics. Therefore, based on the Web of Science Core Collection, this study employs CiteSpace to quantitatively [...] Read more.
Virtual water and water footprint have received increasing attention. However, no published research has conducted a quantitative and objective review of this field from the perspective of bibliometrics. Therefore, based on the Web of Science Core Collection, this study employs CiteSpace to quantitatively analyze and visualize information about countries, institutions, and authors that have conducted virtual water and water footprint research over the past two decades. As of July 2020, there were 1592 publications on virtual water and water footprint, showing an increasing trend overall. The annual average number of publications was only 7.4 in 1998–2008, while it was 126.5 in 2009–2019. Among them, up to 618 publications in the field of environmental science, accounting for 46%. China was the most productive country with a total of 344 articles, but the Netherlands had the strongest influence with a betweenness centrality of 0.33, indicating its leading position. It is essential to strengthen cooperation between developed (water-rich) and developing (water-poor) countries and to incorporate virtual water into social water cycle research. This study is expected to provide a new perspective for investigating the research frontiers and hot spots of virtual water and water footprint research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Footprint Assessment Research)
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