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Water Footprint Outcomes and Policy Relevance Change with Scale Considered: Evidence from California

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  • Julian Fulton
  • Heather Cooley
  • Peter Gleick

Abstract

Methods and datasets necessary for evaluating water footprints (WFs) have advanced in recent years, yet integration of WF information into policy has lagged. One reason for this, we propose, is that most studies have focused on national units of analysis, overlooking scales that may be more relevant to existing water management institutions. We illustrate this by building on a recent WF assessment of California, the third largest and most populous state in the United States. While California contains diverse hydrologic regions, it also has an overarching set of water institutions that address statewide water management, including ensuring sustainable supply and demand for the state’s population and economy. The WF sheds new light on sustainable use and, in California, is being considered with a suite of sustainability indicators for long-term state water planning. Key to this integration has been grounding the method in local data and highlighting the unique characteristics of California’s WF, presented here. Compared to the U.S., California’s WF was found to be roughly equivalent in per-capita volume (6 m 3 d −1 ) and constituent products, however two policy-relevant differences stand out: (1) California’s WF is far more externalized than the U.S.’s, and (2) California depends more on “blue water” (surface and groundwater) than on “green water” (rainwater and soil moisture). These aspects of California’s WF suggest a set of vulnerabilities and policy options that do not emerge in national-level assessments. Such findings demonstrate that WF assessments may find more policy relevance when scaled to analytical units where water-related decision making occurs. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

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  • Julian Fulton & Heather Cooley & Peter Gleick, 2014. "Water Footprint Outcomes and Policy Relevance Change with Scale Considered: Evidence from California," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 28(11), pages 3637-3649, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:waterr:v:28:y:2014:i:11:p:3637-3649
    DOI: 10.1007/s11269-014-0692-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Guan, Dabo & Hubacek, Klaus, 2007. "Assessment of regional trade and virtual water flows in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 159-170, February.
    2. 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.
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    2. T. Bakken & F. Kjosavik & Å. Killingtveit & K. Alfredsen, 2015. "Are Reservoirs Water Consumers or Water Collectors? Reflections on the Water Footprint Concept Applied on Reservoirs," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(14), pages 4919-4926, November.
    3. Brandon Moore & André Coleman & Mark Wigmosta & Richard Skaggs & Erik Venteris, 2015. "A High Spatiotemporal Assessment of Consumptive Water Use and Water Scarcity in the Conterminous United States," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(14), pages 5185-5200, November.
    4. Daxue Kan & Weichiao Huang, 2020. "An Empirical Study of the Impact of Urbanization on Industry Water Footprint in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-21, March.
    5. Willa Paterson & Richard Rushforth & Benjamin L. Ruddell & Megan Konar & Ikechukwu C. Ahams & Jorge Gironás & Ana Mijic & Alfonso Mejia, 2015. "Water Footprint of Cities: A Review and Suggestions for Future Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(7), pages 1-30, June.

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