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Water Scarcity Footprints by Considering the Differences in Water Sources

Author

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  • Shinjiro Yano

    (Institute for Water Science, Suntory Global Innovation Center Limited, 8-1-1 Seikadai, Seika-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto 619-0284, Japan)

  • Naota Hanasaki

    (Center for Global Environmental Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan)

  • Norihiro Itsubo

    (Faculty of Environmental Studies, Tokyo City University, 3-3-1 Ushikubo-nishi, Tsuzuki-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 224-8551, Japan)

  • Taikan Oki

    (Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Meguro-ku, Komaba, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan)

Abstract

Water resources have uneven distributions over time, space, and source; thus, potential impacts related to water use should be evaluated by determining the differences in water resources rather than by simply summing water use. We propose a model for weighting renewable water resources and present a case study assessing water scarcity footprints as indicators of the potential impacts of water use based on a life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). We assumed that the potential impact of a unit amount of water used is proportional to the land area or time required to obtain a unit of water from each water source. The water unavailability factor ( fwua ) was defined using a global hydrological modeling system with a global resolution of 0.5 × 0.5 degrees. This model can address the differences in water sources using an adjustable reference volume and temporal and spatial resolutions based on the flexible demands of users. The global virtual water flows were characterized using the fwua for each water source. Although nonrenewable and nonlocal blue water constituted only 3.8% of the total flow of the water footprint inventory, this increased to 29.7% of the total flow of the water scarcity footprint. We can estimate the potential impacts of water use that can be instinctively understood using fwua .

Suggested Citation

  • Shinjiro Yano & Naota Hanasaki & Norihiro Itsubo & Taikan Oki, 2015. "Water Scarcity Footprints by Considering the Differences in Water Sources," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(8), pages 1-20, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2015:i:8:p:9753-9772:d:53062
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Tom Gleeson & Yoshihide Wada & Marc F. P. Bierkens & Ludovicus P. H. van Beek, 2012. "Water balance of global aquifers revealed by groundwater footprint," Nature, Nature, vol. 488(7410), pages 197-200, August.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Liao, Xiawei & Zhao, Xu & Liu, Wenfeng & Li, Ruoshui & Wang, Xiaoxi & Wang, Wenpeng & Tillotson, Martin R., 2020. "Comparing water footprint and water scarcity footprint of energy demand in China’s six megacities," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
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    5. Hilal Ahmad Sheikh & M. Sultan Bhat & Akhtar Alam & Shafkat Ahsan & Bilquis Shah, 2024. "Evaluating the drivers of groundwater spring discharge in Sindh basin of Kashmir Himalaya," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(10), pages 25645-25667, October.
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