IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/waterr/v24y2010i5p941-958.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Incorporating the Water Footprint and Virtual Water into Policy: Reflections from the Mancha Occidental Region, Spain

Author

Listed:
  • Maite Aldaya
  • Pedro Martínez-Santos
  • M. Llamas

Abstract

Water resource management is often a controversial issue in semiarid regions. Most water resources experts admit that water conflicts are not caused by the physical water scarcity but they are mainly due to inadequate water management. The virtual water concept (the volume of water used in the production of a commodity, good or service) together with the water footprint (indicator of water consumption that looks at both direct and indirect water use of a consumer or producer), links a large range of sectors and issues, thus providing a potentially appropriate framework to support more optimal water management practices by informing production and trade decisions. This paper provides an analysis of these two concepts within the context of the Mancha Occidental region, Spain, exploring the hydrological and economic aspects of agricultural production. In doing so, this work not only distinguishes between green and blue water but also between surface and groundwater. We conclude by discussing the practical implications of the results, as well as their potential limitations from the policy standpoint. Copyright The Author(s) 2010

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:waterr:v:24:y:2010:i:5:p:941-958
    DOI: 10.1007/s11269-009-9480-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11269-009-9480-8
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11269-009-9480-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. M. Kumar & O. Singh, 2005. "Virtual Water in Global Food and Water Policy Making: Is There a Need for Rethinking?," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 19(6), pages 759-789, December.
    2. Chapagain, A.K. & Hoekstra, A.Y. & Savenije, H.H.G. & Gautam, R., 2006. "The water footprint of cotton consumption: An assessment of the impact of worldwide consumption of cotton products on the water resources in the cotton producing countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 186-203, November.
    3. Radwan Al-Weshah, 2000. "Optimal Use of Irrigation Water in the Jordan Valley: A Case Study," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 14(5), pages 327-338, October.
    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. José Sánchez & Juan Reca & Juan Martínez, 2015. "Water Productivity in a Mediterranean Semi-Arid Greenhouse District," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(14), pages 5395-5411, November.
    2. P. Oel & A. Hoekstra, 2012. "Towards Quantification of the Water Footprint of Paper: A First Estimate of its Consumptive Component," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 26(3), pages 733-749, February.
    3. Güngör Karakaş, 2024. "Investigation of sustainable water consumption behavior within the framework of value belief norm," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(11), pages 28465-28483, November.
    4. Ignacio Cazcarro & Rosa Duarte & Miguel Martín-Retortillo & Vicente Pinilla & Ana Serrano, 2015. "How Sustainable is the Increase in the Water Footprint of the Spanish Agricultural Sector? A Provincial Analysis between 1955 and 2005–2010," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-26, April.
    5. Taleb Abu-Sharar & Emad Al-Karablieh & Munther Haddadin, 2012. "Role of Virtual Water in Optimizing Water Resources Management in Jordan," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 26(14), pages 3977-3993, November.
    6. 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.
    7. Castellanos, M.T. & Cartagena, M.C. & Requejo, M.I. & Arce, A. & Cabello, M.J. & Ribas, F. & Tarquis, A.M., 2016. "Agronomic concepts in water footprint assessment: A case of study in a fertirrigated melon crop under semiarid conditions," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 81-90.
    8. Tomaz, Alexandra & Palma, José Ferro & Ramos, Tiago & Costa, Maria Natividade & Rosa, Elizabete & Santos, Marta & Boteta, Luís & Dôres, José & Patanita, Manuel, 2021. "Yield, technological quality and water footprints of wheat under Mediterranean climate conditions: A field experiment to evaluate the effects of irrigation and nitrogen fertilization strategies," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    9. Karandish, Fatemeh & Šimůnek, Jiří, 2018. "An application of the water footprint assessment to optimize production of crops irrigated with saline water: A scenario assessment with HYDRUS," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 67-82.
    10. A. Hassan & M. Y. Saari & T. H. Tengku Ismail, 2017. "Virtual water trade in industrial products: evidence from Malaysia," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 877-894, June.
    11. Wang, Y.B. & Liu, D. & Cao, X.C. & Yang, Z.Y. & Song, J.F. & Chen, D.Y. & Sun, S.K., 2017. "Agricultural water rights trading and virtual water export compensation coupling model: A case study of an irrigation district in China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 180(PA), pages 99-106.
    12. Pilar Montesinos & Emilio Camacho & Blanca Campos & Juan Rodríguez-Díaz, 2011. "Analysis of Virtual Irrigation Water. Application to Water Resources Management in a Mediterranean River Basin," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 25(6), pages 1635-1651, April.
    13. 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.
    14. Marta Antonelli & Luca Fernando Ruini, 2015. "Business Engagement with Sustainable Water Resource Management through Water Footprint Accounting: The Case of the Barilla Company," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-17, May.
    15. Maria J. Beltrán & Esther Velázquez, 2015. "The Political Ecology of Virtual Water in Southern Spain," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(5), pages 1020-1036, September.
    16. 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.
    17. Shimelis Setegn & V. Chowdary & B. Mal & Fikadu Yohannes & Yasuyuki Kono, 2011. "Water Balance Study and Irrigation Strategies for Sustainable Management of a Tropical Ethiopian Lake: A Case Study of Lake Alemaya," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 25(9), pages 2081-2107, July.
    18. Zafar Hussain & Zongmin Wang & Jiaxue Wang & Haibo Yang & Muhammad Arfan & Daniyal Hassan & Wusen Wang & Muhammad Imran Azam & Muhammad Faisal, 2022. "A comparative Appraisal of Classical and Holistic Water Scarcity Indicators," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 36(3), pages 931-950, February.
    19. Pardo, J.J. & Martínez-Romero, A. & Léllis, B.C. & Tarjuelo, J.M. & Domínguez, A., 2020. "Effect of the optimized regulated deficit irrigation methodology on water use in barley under semiarid conditions," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    20. Hamidreza Manshadi & Mohammad Niksokhan & Mojtaba Ardestani, 2015. "A Quantity-Quality Model for Inter-basin Water Transfer System Using Game Theoretic and Virtual Water Approaches," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(13), pages 4573-4588, October.
    21. 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.

    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. Neumann, Kathleen & Stehfest, Elke & Verburg, Peter H. & Siebert, Stefan & Müller, Christoph & Veldkamp, Tom, 2011. "Exploring global irrigation patterns: A multilevel modelling approach," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 104(9), pages 703-713.
    3. Dennis Wichelns, 2010. "Virtual Water: A Helpful Perspective, but not a Sufficient Policy Criterion," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 24(10), pages 2203-2219, August.
    4. Esther Velázquez & Cristina Madrid & María Beltrán, 2011. "Rethinking the Concepts of Virtual Water and Water Footprint in Relation to the Production–Consumption Binomial and the Water–Energy Nexus," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 25(2), pages 743-761, January.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    9. Wiedmann, Thomas, 2009. "A first empirical comparison of energy Footprints embodied in trade -- MRIO versus PLUM," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 1975-1990, May.
    10. Gawel, Erik & Bernsen, Kristina, 2011. "What is wrong with virtual water trading?," UFZ Discussion Papers 1/2011, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Division of Social Sciences (ÖKUS).
    11. 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.
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    14. Sangam Shrestha & Vishnu Pandey & Chawalit Chanamai & Debapi Ghosh, 2013. "Green, Blue and Grey Water Footprints of Primary Crops Production in Nepal," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 27(15), pages 5223-5243, December.
    15. Hoekstra, Arjen, 2010. "The relation between international trade and freshwater scarcity," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2010-05, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    16. Xiaoling Su & Jianfang Li & Vijay Singh, 2014. "Optimal Allocation of Agricultural Water Resources Based on Virtual Water Subdivision in Shiyang River Basin," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 28(8), pages 2243-2257, June.
    17. Wu, X.F. & Chen, G.Q., 2018. "Coal use embodied in globalized world economy: From source to sink through supply chain," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 978-993.
    18. Dongchun Ma & Chaofan Xian & Jing Zhang & Ruochen Zhang & Zhiyun Ouyang, 2015. "The Evaluation of Water Footprints and Sustainable Water Utilization in Beijing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(10), pages 1-16, September.
    19. Mohammad Suhail, 2024. "Assessment of water footprint under wheat cultivation in Purvanchal Uttar Pradesh, Northern India," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(10), pages 24957-24969, October.
    20. Babel, M.S. & Shrestha, B. & Perret, S.R., 2011. "Hydrological impact of biofuel production: A case study of the Khlong Phlo Watershed in Thailand," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 101(1), pages 8-26.

    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:spr:waterr:v:24:y:2010:i:5:p:941-958. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.