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Water Footprint

Case ExamplesStuart Orr

Guy Pegram

Chris Williams

Freshwater Team

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30 May, 2011 - 3

Breede Overberg CMS

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30 May, 2011 - 4

Water Balance

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30 May, 2011 - 5

Rainfall and water use

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30 May, 2011 - 6

GDP by sector• US$1bn agriculture and tourism economy• 515 000 people: 70% urban• 1% population & 3% GDP growth• High inequality

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Water footprint & the CMS?

What are the key questions to ask?

• Understanding water in the economy

• How it serves economic and social imperatives

• Indicating opportunities for water efficiency

• Technical and economic efficiency

• Remember link to water resources and ecosystems

• Water resources management

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The Breede Overberg water footprintPrimary agricultural WF• Blue and green water• Irrigated and rainfed

Manufacturing (agro-processing) WF• Blue (urban and bulk) water

Residential WF

• Blue (urban & rural)

Tourism WF• Blue supply• Ecosystem (blue & green?)

Energy WF

• Blue (hydropower evaporation)?

Alien vegetation WF• Green water (loss of 10% to 20%)?

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Temporal water footprint

Natural? 

85% 85%  

70%  70% 90%  

Ratio of allocation:blue water 

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Water footprint analysis of agriculture

Total volume water

Volume water per ton

Value per unit water

Direct jobs per unit water

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• Water managers control blue water

• green water requires cooperation

• Users pay for blue water

• affects farm profitability

• Blue water footprint provides a different

economic perspective• value and emplyoment

• Blue water has a different strategic

interpretation than green water

• impact on the resource

Blue water footprint

Value per unit blue water

Direct jobs per unit blue water

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Beneficiation and water export

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Irrigation blue water (80% WF):

• high-value export foreign exchange considerations

• sophisticated infrastructure & institutional arrangements• economic & operational efficiency

• drive / opportunities for beneficiation

Rainfed green water (98% WF):

• domestic food security

• impacts on wetland ecosystems• challenges of climate change

• shift to tourism / other economy

Urban (transfer) blue water (>50% WF):• transfer & urban water (100% lost)

• future growth (summer seasonality)

• higher value than agriculture

Water resources implication of the WF

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Implications for the CMS

• Climate & biophysical suitability

• maximise benefit per drop• important in “closed catchment”

• focus on high & low value

• Water allocation & efficiency

• influence govt & organised ag

• Water allocation reform• balancing redress and economic growth

• Water quality and grey water

• omitted due to method issues

• dilution is practiced (relatively small)

• urban pathogen challenge

• To inform water policy & strategy, WF

must connect to the water resource

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Water Footprint - Hydropower

• 11 hydropower dams are proposed on the mainstemof the Lower Mekong River

• Significant reductions in protein production frommigratory fish are likely, jeopardising food security

• The requirements for alternative protein supply weremodelled

• Increases of 11% in water consumption, 3.4% in local

farmland, and substantial food imports are estimatedfor the four lower Mekong nations