IEMA Wales presentation May 2011 http://www.iema.net/event-reports?aid=20023

1. Water footprints in context
Aaron Burton
May 2011
IEMA Wales

2. Outline
Water Resources Strategy
for Wales – current and
future pressures
Water footprinting concept
Scoping study – water
footprint of key food items
Water footprinting in context

4. Pressures on Water Resources in Wales
Water Resources Strategy for Wales
www.environment-agency.gov.uk/wrs

5. January February March April May June
July Aug September October November December
10 to 15 per cent increase
5 to 10 per cent increase
Percentage change in mean monthly flow
5 per cent increase to 5 per cent decrease
between now and the 2050s using the
5 to 10 per cent decrease
medium-high UKCIP02 scenario
10 to 20 per cent decrease
20 to 30 per cent decrease
30 to 50 per cent decrease
50 to 80 per cent decrease

7. Water
footprint
concept

8. [Hoekstra & Chapagain, 2008]

9. [Hoekstra & Chapagain, 2008]

10. [Hoekstra & Chapagain, 2008]

11. UK Water Footprint
Agricultural footprint – food and fibre
http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/UnitedKingdom

12. The water footprint of a product
Green water footprint
► volume of rainwater evaporated or incorporated into product.
Blue water footprint
► volume of surface or groundwater evaporated,
incorporated into product or returned to other catchment or the sea.
Grey water footprint
► volume of polluted water.

13. The water footprint:
making a link between consumption in one place and
impacts on water systems elsewhere
Shrinking Aral Sea

14. Scoping study – key
food items

15. Objectives
1. Present existing water footprinting
methodologies and agree the best available
model for use in Wales.
2. Assess the global and local water footprint for
Wales, by looking at specific food items.
3. Consider the specific impacts on water
resources of growing these imported products
in Wales.

16. The water footprint of a product
Green water footprint
► volume of rainwater evaporated or incorporated into product.
Blue water footprint
► volume of surface or groundwater evaporated,
incorporated into product or returned to other catchment or the sea.
Grey water footprint
► volume of polluted water.

18. Potatoes (Wales and Israel)
80
70
60
Water Footprint (m3/t)
50
Potato (Wales)
40
Potato (Israel)
30
20
10
0
Green Blue Total Green Blue Total
Volumetric WF Stress-weighted WF

19. Tomatoes (Wales and Spain)
70
60
Water Footprint (m3/t)
50
40
Tomato (Wales)
Tomato (Spain - average)
30
20
10
0
Green Blue Total Green Blue Total
Volumetric WF Stress-weighted WF

20. Lamb (Wales and New Zealand)
12,000
10,000
Water Footprint (m3/t)
8,000
Lamb (Wales)
6,000
Lamb (New Zealand)
4,000
2,000
0
Green Blue Total Green Blue Total
Volumetric WF Stress-weighted WF

21. Potatoes
Tomatoes

22. Food Strategy for Wales
Food industry key water
user
Impacts of growing
more food in Wales vs
imports
Opportunities for
marketing Welsh
produce

23. Adding context –
water efficiency and
supply chains

24. Water footprint:
why businesses are interested
Water risks for business
• Physical risk
• Reputational risk
• Regulatory risk
• Financial risk
Water opportunity for business
• frontrunner advantage
• corporate image
• Corporate social responsibility
• Part of water governance wihtin existing environmental
management

25. Water footprint of a business

27. Water footprint – Carbon footprint
Water footprint Carbon footprint
• measures freshwater appropriation • measures emission GH-gasses
• spatial and temporal dimension • no spatial / temporal dimension
• actual, locally specific values • global average values
• always referring to full supply-chain • supply-chain included only in ‘scope 3
• focus on reducing own water footprint carbon accounting’
(water use units are not • many efforts focused on offsetting
interchangeable) (carbon emission units are
interchangeable)
Water footprint and carbon footprint are complementary tools.
[Hoekstra et al., 2009]

28. Water and energy nexus
Warehouses
Sport and Leisure
Retail
Other
Catering
Hotel and Catering Computing
Cooling & Ventilation
Health Hot Water
Heating
Government
Lighting
Education Other
Communication and Transport
Commercial Offices
0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 4,500
Thousand tonnes of oil equivalent
DECC (2009) Energy Consumption in the UK

29. Water footprint – Life cycle assessment
Water footprint LCA
• measures freshwater appropriation • measures overall environmental impact
• multi-dimensional (type of water use, • no spatial dimension
location, timing)
• actual water volumes, no weighing • weighing water volumes based on
impacts
For companies, water footprint assessment and LCA are complementary tools.
• WF assessment is a tool to support formulation of a sustainable water
management strategy in operations and supply chain.
• LCA is a tool to compare the overall environmental impact of different products.
WF is a general indicator of water use; application of WF in inventory phase of LCA
is one particular application.
[Hoekstra et al., 2009]

30. WRAP Report
http://www.wrapcymru.org.uk/wwf_wales.html

31. Further work
Water footprint sustainability assessment (case
studies)
Other sectors and industries
Grey water implications (WFD & Europe Blueprint)
EC Blueprint WFD – understand material and virtual
flows between catchments
Green water impacts of landuse change
Accounting for droughts/ climate change
Food Strategy for Wales Action Plan
Data issues for Wales

32. Thanks, Questions?