IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v16y2019i5p703-d209428.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessment of Water Footprints of Consumption and Production in Transboundary River Basins at Country-Basin Mesh-Based Spatial Resolution

Author

Listed:
  • Xia Wu

    (School of Law and Public Administration, China Three Gorges University, Yichang 443002, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Dagmawi Mulugeta Degefu

    (College of Economics and Management, China Three Gorges University, Yichang 443002, China
    Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Liang Yuan

    (College of Economics and Management, China Three Gorges University, Yichang 443002, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Zaiyi Liao

    (Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Weijun He

    (College of Economics and Management, China Three Gorges University, Yichang 443002, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Min An

    (College of Economics and Management, China Three Gorges University, Yichang 443002, China
    School of business, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China)

  • Zhaofang Zhang

    (School of business, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China)

Abstract

Water is unevenly distributed globally. This uneven distribution is the reason behind the differences among geographical areas in terms of their water footprint of consumption and production. This gives the global trade of goods a unique feature. This characteristic of the water footprint might be used to address water scarcity and conflicts because water availability also has the same trend. Transboundary river basins are freshwater resources with a high probability of water scarcity and conflict because the water is claimed by multiple sovereign countries. In order to design sharing mechanisms for transboundary river basins that incorporate virtual water concept, it is key to identify the virtual water balance of country-basin units. A study addressing this research gap is not yet available. This article identified and discussed net virtual water importer and exporter sub-basins of transboundary rivers at a country-basin mesh based spatial resolution. The results of our study show that out of the 565 country-basin units surveyed in this article 391, 369, and 461 are net gray, green, and blue virtual water importers respectively. These sub-basins covers 58.37%, 47.52% and 57.52% of the total area covered by transboundary river basins and includes 0.65, 1.9, and around 2 billion people, respectively. The results depict that not only the water endowment of sub-basins is a determining factor for their water footprint of consumption and production, but also their social, economic, and demographic profiles. Furthermore, the water footprint of consumption and production within most of the country-basin units have a global feature. Hence, sustainable water management schemes within border-crossing basins should take into account not only the local but also the global water footprints of consumption and production. This can offer more options for sharing transboundary river basins water capital, thereby minimizing the probability of water scarcity and water conflicts.

Suggested Citation

  • Xia Wu & Dagmawi Mulugeta Degefu & Liang Yuan & Zaiyi Liao & Weijun He & Min An & Zhaofang Zhang, 2019. "Assessment of Water Footprints of Consumption and Production in Transboundary River Basins at Country-Basin Mesh-Based Spatial Resolution," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-15, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:5:p:703-:d:209428
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/5/703/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/5/703/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dagmawi Mulugeta Degefu & Zaiyi Liao & Weijun He & Liang Yuan & Min An & Zhaofang Zhang & Wu Xia, 2019. "The Impact of Upstream Sub-Basins’ Water Use on Middle Stream and Downstream Sub-Basins’ Water Security at Country-Basin Unit Spatial Scale and Monthly Temporal Resolution," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-12, February.
    2. Hoekstra, Arjen Y. & Chapagain, Ashok K., 2007. "The water footprints of Morocco and the Netherlands: Global water use as a result of domestic consumption of agricultural commodities," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 143-151, October.
    3. Ángel De Miguel & Malaak Kallache & Eloy García-Calvo, 2015. "The Water Footprint of Agriculture in Duero River Basin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-22, May.
    4. A. Hoekstra & A. Chapagain, 2007. "Water footprints of nations: Water use by people as a function of their consumption pattern," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 21(1), pages 35-48, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ziming Yan & Xiaojuan Qiu & Debin Du & Seamus Grimes, 2022. "Transboundary Water Cooperation in the Post-Cold War Era: Spatial Patterns and the Role of Proximity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-19, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. María Jesús Beltrán & Esther Velázquez, 2011. "Del metabolismo social al metabolismo hídrico," Documentos de Trabajo de la Asociación de Economía Ecológica en España 01_2011, Asociación de Economía Ecológica en España.
    2. Okadera, Tomohiro & Geng, Yong & Fujita, Tsuyoshi & Dong, Huijuan & Liu, Zhu & Yoshida, Noboru & Kanazawa, Takaaki, 2015. "Evaluating the water footprint of the energy supply of Liaoning Province, China: A regional input–output analysis approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 148-157.
    3. Yu Zhang & Qing Tian & Huan Hu & Miao Yu, 2019. "Water Footprint of Food Consumption by Chinese Residents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-15, October.
    4. Hoekstra, A.Y., 2009. "Human appropriation of natural capital: A comparison of ecological footprint and water footprint analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 1963-1974, May.
    5. Xiaoxue Zheng & Lijie Qin & Hongshi He, 2020. "Impacts of Climatic and Agricultural Input Factors on the Water Footprint of Crop Production in Jilin Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-19, August.
    6. van Oel, P.R. & Mekonnen, M.M. & Hoekstra, A.Y., 2009. "The external water footprint of the Netherlands: Geographically-explicit quantification and impact assessment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 82-92, November.
    7. Okadera, Tomohiro & Chontanawat, Jaruwan & Gheewala, Shabbir H., 2014. "Water footprint for energy production and supply in Thailand," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 49-56.
    8. Arjen Y. Hoekstra & Ashok K. Chapagain & Guoping Zhang, 2015. "Water Footprints and Sustainable Water Allocation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-6, December.
    9. Cornelis Leeuwen & Jos Frijns & Annemarie Wezel & Frans Ven, 2012. "City Blueprints: 24 Indicators to Assess the Sustainability of the Urban Water Cycle," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 26(8), pages 2177-2197, June.
    10. Lucia Mancini, 2013. "Conventional, Organic and Polycultural Farming Practices: Material Intensity of Italian Crops and Foodstuffs," Resources, MDPI, vol. 2(4), pages 1-23, December.
    11. Tsoutsos, Theocharis & Chatzakis, Michael & Sarantopoulos, Ioannis & Nikologiannis, Athanasios & Pasadakis, Nikos, 2013. "Effect of wastewater irrigation on biodiesel quality and productivity from castor and sunflower oil seeds," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 211-215.
    12. Ehsan Qasemipour & Ali Abbasi & Farhad Tarahomi, 2020. "Water-Saving Scenarios Based on Input–Output Analysis and Virtual Water Concept: A Case in Iran," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, January.
    13. Pedrero, Francisco & Grattan, S.R. & Ben-Gal, Alon & Vivaldi, Gaetano Alessandro, 2020. "Opportunities for expanding the use of wastewaters for irrigation of olives," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    14. Kaltenegger, Oliver & Löschel, Andreas & Pothen, Frank, 2017. "The effect of globalisation on energy footprints: Disentangling the links of global value chains," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(S1), pages 148-168.
    15. Arjen Y. Hoekstra, 2017. "Water Footprint Assessment: Evolvement of a New Research Field," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(10), pages 3061-3081, August.
    16. Hanjra, Munir A. & Qureshi, M. Ejaz, 2010. "Global water crisis and future food security in an era of climate change," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 365-377, October.
    17. Maite Aldaya & Pedro Martínez-Santos & M. Llamas, 2010. "Incorporating the Water Footprint and Virtual Water into Policy: Reflections from the Mancha Occidental Region, Spain," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 24(5), pages 941-958, March.
    18. Emilio José Delgado-Algarra & Isabel María Román Sánchez & Eva Ordóñez Olmedo & Antonio Alejandro Lorca-Marín, 2019. "International MOOC Trends in Citizenship, Participation and Sustainability: Analysis of Technical, Didactic and Content Dimensions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-19, October.
    19. White, Robin R. & Brady, Michael & Capper, Judith L. & Johnson, Kristen A., 2014. "Optimizing diet and pasture management to improve sustainability of U.S. beef production," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 1-12.
    20. S. Brown & H. Schreier & L. Lavkulich, 2009. "Incorporating Virtual Water into Water Management: A British Columbia Example," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 23(13), pages 2681-2696, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:5:p:703-:d:209428. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.