UK’s ‘virtual water’ reliance leaves international footprint

The UK’s reliance on ‘virtual’ water, in imported food and other supplies, is exacerbating water shortages in other countries, engineering experts have said. They warn the UK’s future development could be threatened if we do not address the escalating global water crisis with urgency.

In a new report [1] the Engineering the future alliance* warns that with population growth, urbanisation, changing diets, pollution of water resources and climate change, global water resources are set to become even more stressed. Two thirds of the UK’s water footprint is now effectively imported in the form of food, energy and other goods, that require water for production and transportation from countries that are themselves under water stress.

Water is one of the most undervalued natural commodities in the world, directly affecting national security through its impact on economic growth, energy security, food supply and healthcare. This domino effect has been described by the Government’s Chief Scientific Advisor Professor John Beddington as a ‘perfect storm’, which could lead to global instability if each of the inter-dependent elements are not addressed.

Chairman of the working group Professor Peter Guthrie says:

“If the water crisis becomes critical it will pose a serious threat to the UK’s future development because of the impact it would have on our access to vital resources. Food prices would sky-rocket and economic growth would suffer.

“To prevent this we must recognise how the UK’s water footprint is impacting on global water scarcity. We should ask whether it is right to import green beans – or even roses – from a water-stressed region like Kenya, for example. The burgeoning demand from developed countries is putting severe pressure on areas that are already short of water. Our virtual water footprint is critical and we need to give it far more attention.

Global Water Security: an engineering perspective says that the UK must take the lead by tackling its own water footprint, managing its own water resources sustainably but also by managing the virtual water embedded in in its imports. Because the UK uses so much water internationally through its imported goods and services, it has a duty to provide providing leadership on the development and implementation of global responses.

Engineering the Future identified several areas where action will aid the global response to water security:

1. Water management solutions should be considered in the context of the entire water system, from “cloud to coast” as well as the implications immediately upstream and downstream. In this systems approach, all types of water must be considered together, and in this context, the flows and uses of water in a catchment area feeding the soil (green water), free water in rivers and reservoirs(blue water) and used or waste water (grey water) all need to be included. This approach can lead to significant efficiencies in managing water system.

2. New and better technologies and practises. Technologies and techniques already exist but they need to be refined, developed and in some cases re-assessed in relation to the energy-food-water nexus and to take into account the impact on the eco-system. Key will be finding ways to improve water efficiency in agriculture, which makes up 70% of current water usage and is vital for food supply. As our diets are changing to include more meat than grains, this is expected to increase significantly. One kilogram of beef requires ten times the amount of water that grain does to produce and transport (see facts at bottom of release).

3. Developing new, sustainable sources of water through technology. Current methods include desalination, water recycling, reuse and harvesting however these do not take the energy-food-water nexus into account. Global Water Intelligence recently reported an extra 9.5 cubic metres of freshwater is being produced per day, mainly due to a marked increase in water desalination. Engineering the Future warns that desalination is currently extremely energy intensive and unless low carbon energy sources can be used it is not a sustainable solution. Further research is required to find sustainable solutions.

4. Governance and regulation. Water security transcends geographical boundaries and requires international regulation to ensure localised responses do not adversely impact elsewhere in the water system. Local responses can be tailored to meet specific requirements within this global framework.

Professor Guthrie concludes: “There is no single silver bullet for water security. Water management must be looked at in a holistic way, from ‘cloud to coast’ including all forms of water – in the soil as well as in rivers and reservoirs. Reducing demand will be important but so will developing engineering solutions to create new, sustainable sources of water and promote efficiency in current practices.

“This is a complex issue that transcends geographical and cultural boundaries and cuts across many other crucial sectors such as energy and food supply. To avoid the perfect storm requires a global response, with global policies and governance – backed up by forward-thinking action at a national level to meet individual countries’ requirements.”

* An alliance including the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE), and the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management

[1] Engineering the Future (2010). Global water security : an engineering perspective. London, UK, Royal Academy of Engineering. 40 p. : 2 fig., boxes. Includes ref. Download full publication [PDF, 1889 KB]

Related web sites: Water Footprint Network ; Wikipedia – Virtual Water

Source:  Royal Academy of Engineering, 19 Apr 2010

Virtual water: food products should carry ‘water footprint’ information, says UK report

Food and drink products [in the UK] should carry a new label to give consumers more information about their “water footprint” – the hidden amount of water used in the manufacturing process – [say] two health and food lobby groups. More transparency is needed about the huge volumes of water used to produce food, which most consumers are unaware of, said the joint report by the Food Ethics Council (FEC) and the health and food group Sustain.

It is calling for the proposed new label to reflect good practice, by taking into account the extent to which some companies and manufacturers are already working to use water in ways that are fair and environmentally sustainable.

Water scarcity is now a fast-growing sustainability problem across the world, the report says, with the amount used to produce an item far greater than the water contained within it. For example, one cup of fresh coffee needs 140 litres of water to produce while the production of one kilogram of beef requires 16,000 litres of water. In order to understand how to reduce our use of water, we need to measure this “embedded” or “virtual” water, the report says.

The report’s co-author Tom MacMillan said: “Public awareness of water scarcity remains low. In the UK, citizens are rarely exposed to the direct effects of severe water shortage and cannot readily see the links between their purchases and water shortage in other countries. Water use is not reflected in the price of the final product.”

MacMillan said the labels would not involve “litres per kilo” stickers, but should reflect the practise of good water stewardship – whether companies are working hard to use water in ways that conserve it, use it efficiently and are environmentally sustainable. The information could be incorporated into a wider sustainability label that covered fair-trade and the carbon labelling scheme pioneered by the Carbon Trust, he said.

[...] The FEC/Sustain report acknowledges the government’s concern about the issue, and notes that: “Defra is concerned by the high level of UK water dependency both for future UK food security and because of the pressure caused by UK imports on the water resources of other countries.”

Source: Rebecca Smithers, Guardian, 20 Jul 2009

Arjen Hoekstra, a professor of water management at University of Twente in the Netherlands, coined the Water Footprint concept in 2002. He was one of initiators of the Water Footprint Network, a coalition of scientists, companies and development agencies, launched in December 2008. The Wall Street Journal published an article in February 2009, about the growing interest of businesses in calculating water footprints, especially those that are vulnerable to future water shortages.

At the World World Forum in Istanbul, March 2009, the launch of the Alliance for Water Stewardship was announced. One of the aims is to launch a new product logo: a label which says the water used to make a product came from a sustainable source. The Alliance aims to “establish water stewardship standards, oversee certification, and administer a branding and marketing system that recognizes and rewards successful water stewards around the world”. Founding partners are: The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, Pacific Institute, Water Stewardship Initiative, Water Witness, and the Water Environment Federation.

The popular myth of ‘water wars’

[In March 2009] the UN warned that climate change could spark conflicts over water. But the idea of future ‘water wars’ is a myth, says Wendy Barnaby. [In her essay "Do nations go to war over water?" published in Nature, Barnaby describes how she had to drop the idea of writing a book on "water wars" after speaking to water experts].

Neither Egypt, Israel nor Jordan produce enough water for their needs. But while they have fought wars with each other, it has not been over water, says Barnaby. Instead, areas in need of water import food as a ‘virtual’ boost to water supplies. Tony Allan, a scientist at Kings College London, says more [virtual] water flows into the Middle East embedded in grain each year than down the Nile to Egyptian farmers.

International agreements also help solve water shortages, says Barnaby. Israeli and Palestinian water professionals cooperate through a Joint Water Committee. Similarly, the Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan helps diffuse tensions over water. Barnaby argues that although water management will need to adapt in the face of climate change, the basic mechanisms of trade, international agreements and economic development that currently ease water shortages will persist.

Source: SciDev.Net, 25 Mar 2009

Reactions to Barnaby’s essay posted in May 2009 in Nature reveal that not everyone is convinced that “water shortages can and will be resolved through international trade and economic development” and warn that “the potential for water conflict is on the increase”. Unfortunately the full text of the comments, unlike Barnaby’s essay, are only available to subscribers or by pay-per-view (to read all 5 comments would cost non-subscribers US$ 90).

To learn more about water conflict management go to the web site of Oregon State University’s Program in Water Conflict Management and Transformation (PWCMT). Project Director Aaron T. Wolf is a world-renowned expert in the field of political conflict and cooperation in transboundary water management.

Wasted Food Is Also Wasted Water

The world’s growing food crisis — which triggered riots and demonstrations in over 30 developing nations early this year — is being aggravated primarily by wastage and overconsumption.

“Obesity is a much bigger problem than undernourishment,” said Professor Jan Lundqvist of the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI).

[...]

Speaking on the sidelines of the Stockholm International Water Conference, Lundqvist told reporters Thursday that “improving water productivity and reducing the quantity of food wasted can enable us to provide a better diet for the poor and enough food for growing populations.”

A study titled “Saving Water” released here argues that while the risk of under-nourishment is reduced with an increasing supply of food — provided access is ensured — the risk of over-eating and wastage is also likely to increase when food becomes more abundant in some societies {see also SIWI press release]

[...]

Meanwhile, a report released by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says that while each person in Britain drinks, hoses, flushes and washes their way through around 150 litres of water a day, they consume about 30 times as much in “virtual water” embedded in food, clothes and other items — the equivalent of about 58 bathtubs full of water every day.

Titled “UK Water Footprint: The impact of the UK’s food and fibre consumption on global water resources”, the study released here points out that Britain is the world’s sixth largest importer of water [see also WWF-UK press release]

Read more: Thalif Deen, IPS, 21 Aug

UN Experts Concerned by Water Footprint

It’s not only our carbon footprint we should worry about, U.N. experts say. They warn about our growing water footprint.

“What we are doing now can’t keep up with the issues we already have,” said Carol A. Howe, an expert working for a UNESCO-led water development project called Switch.

“Something needs to change. It needs to change quickly, and it needs to be fairly dramatic,” she told a symposium for journalists Wednesday, 26 March 2008.

On 18 March 2008, UNESCO-IHE hosted a symposium on virtual water called “Water Trade – a Virtual Reality: geopolitical aspects of water trade and upcoming biofuels”

Read more: AP, 28 Mar 2008