Dr Ell ie Biggs
WATER SECURITY FOR
A THIRSTY PLANET
@ g e o g s o u t h a m p t o n
Case studies: Nepal and Western Australia
OVERVIEW
Footprint SecurityWATER
WATER IN A CHANGING WORLD
Water in the Anthropocene h t t p : / / v im eo .c om / 66087863
Freshwater availability by country
www.worldmapper.org
Water is a global resource
Total volume of freshwater used to produce goods or services
The ‘water footprint’ is defined for an individual, community, business or even a country
How can we calculate this?
Need to know how much freshwater is used to produce each product or service…
Virtual Water“the volume of freshwater used to produce the product,
measured at the place where the product was actually produced”
WATER FOOTPRINT
WATER FOOTPRINT
1 kg beef = 15,000L water
1 cup of tea = 35L water
93% green water
e.g. crops to feed cow
3% blue water
e.g. drinking water
4% grey water
e.g. water to clean processing
plant
How much water is
required to produce
a cup of tea?
1kg of beef?
WATER FOOTPRINT
http://virtualwater.eu/
Contribution of dif ferent product categories to the global
water footprint of consumption (m³ per year per capita)
WATER FOOTPRINT
Mekonnen and Hoekstra (2011) Value of Water Research Report Series No. 50, UNESCO-IHE
Agricultural water footprint
WATER FOOTPRINT
Mekonnen and Hoekstra (2011) Value of Water Research Report Series No. 50, UNESCO-IHE
WATER FOOTPRINT - YOU
http ://www.water footpr in t .org/? page=ca l/
WaterFootpr in tCalculator
Food consumpt ion
Cereal products (wheat , r ice , maize ,
etc . )
Meat products
Dair y products
Eggs
How do you prefer to take your food ?
How is your sugar and sweets
consumpt ion?
Vegetables
Frui ts
Starchy roots (potatoes , cassava)
How many cups of cof fee do you take per
day?
How many cups of tea do you take per
day?
Indoor s Domest ic wate r use
How many showers do you take each day?
What is the average length of each shower?
Do your showers have standard or low - f low
showerheads?
How many baths do you have each week?
How many t imes per day do you brush your
teeth , shave or wash your hand?
Do you leave the tap running when brush ing
your teeth and shav ing?
How many loads of laundr y do you do in an
average week?
Do you have a dual f lush to i let?
I f you wash your d ishes by hand how many
t imes are d ishes washed each day?
How long does the water run dur ing each
wash?
I f you have a d ish washer, how many t imes is
i t used each week?
Household =
150L/day
Person =
4645L/day
62% from imports
UK consumption of
food and clothing
has impact on
rivers and aquifers
globally
WATER FOOTPRINT - UK
http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/UnitedKingdom
Water footprint of humanity has exceeded sustainable levels in places
Resource depletion (water quantity)
Resource contamination (water quality)
Water scarcity affects over 2.7 billion people for at least one month each year
Global spatial disparities in access to clean and safe freshwater
Water Security“the reliable availability of an acceptable quantity and quality
of water for health, livelihoods and production, coupled with an acceptable level of water-related risks”
WATER FOOTPRINT
Threat to water security from land cover change, population
growth, lifestyle change etc.
Climate change is modifying supply, demand and quality
WATER SECURITY
Vorosmarty et al. (2010)
WATER SECURITY AND THE NEXUS
http://www.water-energy-food.org/en/news/view__255/understanding-the-nexus.html
CASE STUDY 1: NEPAL
NEPAL
Nepal
Average water footprint = 1201m³ per year per capita
Part of footprint falling outside of the country = 10%
Global average water footprint (for comparison) = 1385m³ per
year per capita
NEPAL
Mekonnen and Hoekstra (2011) Value of Water Research Report Series No. 50, UNESCO-IHE
Completely lies
within the Ganges
basin
High level of poverty
Increasing
temperature trends
NEPAL
Transboundary
water
resources
management
needs
increased
cooperation
NEPAL
Tibetan Plateau
Greater
Himalayas
MountainsMid Hills
Terai
Community
National
Transboundary
International
WATER
GOVERNANCE
CHINA
INDIA
Image adapted
from Ives and
Messerli (1989)
NEPAL
STREAMFLOW
GROUNDWATER
MELTWATER
PRECIPITATION
NEPAL
North-South
Precipitation
Gradient
~200-750 mm
~1500-2000 mm
NEPAL - WATER QUANTITY
River Flows
Precipitation
Groundwater
Glacial Melt
NEPAL – WATER QUALITY
Water quality is an issue in
certain regions
Arsenic contamination of
groundwater in lowland areas
Urban pollution
Rural pollution
Poor hygiene and sanitation
Waterborne diseases
Water Quality
Water-induced natural
hazards are a major threat
to vulnerability of
populations
Flash flooding during
monsoon season
Erosion of river banks from
flooding = loss of land = loss
of livelihoods
Landslides from weathering
Glacial lake outburst floods
(GLOF) due to warming
climate
NEPAL – WATER HAZARDS
Water-Related Hazards
Statistically analysing
changes in precipitation over
time
h t t p s : / / w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m / w a t c h ? v = A E l O u v C 8 o h E
Less extreme events
Less variation
Little change in totals
Investigating community
perceptions of climate
change
Trying to develop a holistic
framework for water security
for policy -makers to use
WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING?
Extremes
Variation
Duncan et al. (2013) Applied Geography 43
WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING?
CASE STUDY 2: WESTERN AUSTRALIA
CASE STUDY 2: WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Western
Australia
Average water footprint = 2315m³ per year per capita
Part of footprint falling outside of the country = 11.8%
Global average water footprint (for comparison) = 1385m³ per
year per capita
AUSTRALIA
Mekonnen and Hoekstra (2011) Value of Water Research Report Series No. 50, UNESCO-IHE
AUSTRALIA
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/damian-carrington-blog/2013/jan/08/australia-bush-fires-heatwave-temperature-scale#
Decrease in annual total
precipitation on wet days (daily
precipitation ≥ 1 mm)
Declining trends in precipitation
have been observed since the
mid-1970s
South-west Western Australia
has become 25% drier
Greatest warming has occurred
in Queensland and south
Western Australia
Increase in percentage of days
with maximum temperature >
90th percentile
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
WESTERN AUSTRALIA: WATER SUPPLY
Scheme Reservoir Surface
Precipitation and Groundwater Desalination
WESTERN AUSTRALIA: WATER DEMAND
Livestock Industry
Agriculture Population
Developing a spatial index
to assess water
vulnerability
Wheatbelt region of
Western Australia
Looks at water supply vs
demand
Uses GIS
Mapping to enable strategic
distribution of resources
and more informative
planning
WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING?
2001
2011
Boruff et al. (in
preparation)
Increasing temperatures
Rain-fed agriculture dominates = high reliance on
precipitation
Reliance on water for livelihoods
Issues surrounding good water governance
Water quality problems
Water insecurity“the unreliable availability of an unacceptable quantity and
quality of water for health, livelihoods and production, coupled
with an unacceptable level of water-related risks”
WHAT DO NEPAL & WESTERN AUSTRALIA
HAVE IN COMMON?
Increasing sustainable practice ‘meeting the needs of the present, without compromising the abil ity of future generations to meet their own needs’
Enabling more effective cooperation between communities, corporations and policy -makers
Reducing our water footprint e.g ‘ low -water’ products; save water; better management of water systems
Reduce water pressure through smart water trading
Ensuring that environmental knowledge is accessible to all
Technological solutions will play an important role
Nexus solutions
Live within our ‘planetary boundaries ’ - freshwater is a finite resource!
THE WAY FORWARD?
EXTRA RESOURCES
Fo l low u s o n Tw i t te r @ g eo g so u t h a m p ton
www.teaclimate.com http://www.stockholmresilience.org
Planetary
Boundaries
Geopolit ics
of Water
Vir tual
Water
App
Globalisation of Water
Sustainabil i ty in
the Nexus
Tea and Cl imate Change
http://virtualwater.eu/
@GEOGSOUTHAMPTON
@GEOGSOUTHAMPTON