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National Water Footprint: Toward a Comprehensive Approach for the Evaluation of the Sustainability of Water Use in Italy

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  • Emanuele Bonamente

    (Engineering Department, University of Perugia, 06125 Perugia, Italy
    Interuniversity Research Center on Pollution and Environment, University of Perugia, 06125 Perugia, Italy)

  • Sara Rinaldi

    (Interuniversity Research Center on Pollution and Environment, University of Perugia, 06125 Perugia, Italy)

  • Andrea Nicolini

    (Engineering Department, University of Perugia, 06125 Perugia, Italy
    Interuniversity Research Center on Pollution and Environment, University of Perugia, 06125 Perugia, Italy)

  • Franco Cotana

    (Engineering Department, University of Perugia, 06125 Perugia, Italy
    Interuniversity Research Center on Pollution and Environment, University of Perugia, 06125 Perugia, Italy)

Abstract

The aim of this study is to monitor the water use over the national territory and evaluate water flows by economic sectors across regional boundaries. The sustainability level is evaluated in terms of water scarcity (the ratio between water consumption and water availability). Publicly-available geo-referenced maps containing the annual average volume of available and consumed water for different economic activities, pollution loads, and land cover are elaborated with geographic information system (GIS) software. Different administrative and geographic boundaries (regional, river basin, and hydrogeological complex) are used to produce a statistical overview of the sustainability level in water use over the Italian territory. Water footprint indicators are set up for the blue and grey components, while the sustainability of the green component is preliminarily evaluated from land use. The effective impact on the water resource is assessed in terms of water scarcity for all the three components. Water availability data refer to annual average computed between 1990 and 2010. Water consumption and land cover refer to reference year 2006. Results are shown as annual averages and they are used to establish a baseline of the national water use that is expected to be particularly relevant for next-coming analyses, including virtual water flows associated to import/export activities and trending reports for future periods.

Suggested Citation

  • Emanuele Bonamente & Sara Rinaldi & Andrea Nicolini & Franco Cotana, 2017. "National Water Footprint: Toward a Comprehensive Approach for the Evaluation of the Sustainability of Water Use in Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-12, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:8:p:1341-:d:106541
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mesfin M. Mekonnen & Markus Pahlow & Maite M. Aldaya & Erika Zarate & Arjen Y. Hoekstra, 2015. "Sustainability, Efficiency and Equitability of Water Consumption and Pollution in Latin America and the Caribbean," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-27, February.
    2. Sara Rinaldi & Emanuele Bonamente & Flavio Scrucca & Maria Cleofe Merico & Francesco Asdrubali & Franco Cotana, 2016. "Water and Carbon Footprint of Wine: Methodology Review and Application to a Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-17, July.
    3. Emanuele Bonamente & Franco Cotana, 2015. "Carbon and Energy Footprints of Prefabricated Industrial Buildings: A Systematic Life Cycle Assessment Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-17, November.
    4. Emanuele Bonamente & Lara Pelliccia & Maria Cleofe Merico & Sara Rinaldi & Alessandro Petrozzi, 2015. "The Multifunctional Environmental Energy Tower: Carbon Footprint and Land Use Analysis of an Integrated Renewable Energy Plant," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(10), pages 1-21, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Irene Palazzoli & Gianluca Lelli & Serena Ceola, 2024. "Land Cover and Spatial Distribution of Surface Water Loss Hotspots in Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-21, September.
    2. Gino Sturla & Lorenzo Ciulla & Benedetto Rocchi, 2022. "Italy's Volumetric, Scarce and Social-scarce water footprint: a Hydro Economic Input-Output Analysis," Working Papers - Economics wp2022_17.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    3. Carlos Andrés Naranjo-Merino & Oscar Orlando Ortíz-Rodriguez & Raquel A. Villamizar-G, 2017. "Assessing Green and Blue Water Footprints in the Supply Chain of Cocoa Production: A Case Study in the Northeast of Colombia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-9, December.
    4. Subramaniam, Vijaya & Hashim, Zulkifli & Loh, Soh Kheang & Astimar, Abdul Aziz, 2020. "Assessing water footprint for the oil palm supply chain- a cradle to gate study," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 237(C).

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