The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water Melvin Woodhouse – melvinwoodhouse@yahoo.co.uk

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water – What is Virtual Water ? Water requirement equivalent of main food products PRODUCT UNIT EQUIVALENT WATER (m3 per unit) cattle head 4,000 sheep and goats 500 fresh beef kg 15 fresh poultry 6 cereals 1.5 citrus fruits 1 palm oil 2 pulses, roots and rubber Source: FAO, 1997. Published in the UN World Water Development Report. Definitions The water embedded in commodities About 15% of the water used in the world is for export, in virtual form 50% of the water to produce vegetables and 80% of water in fruit eaten in UK is a virtual import Virtual Water Trade / Virtual Water Footprint

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water – UK and Food

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water – Virtual Water Footprint - Morocco

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water - Boundaries

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water Top 10 virtual exporting countries (1995-1999) COUNTRY NET EXPORT VOLUME (109 m3) USA 758.3 Canada 272.5 Thailand 233.3 Argentina 226.3 India 161.1 Australia 145.6 Viet Nam 90.2 France 88.4 Guatemala 71.7 Brazil 45.0 Top 10 virtual importing countries (1995-1999) COUNTRY NET IMPORT VOLUME (109 m3) Sri Lanka 428.5 Japan 297.4 Netherlands 147.7 Korea Rep. 112.6 China 101.9 Indonesia 101.7 Spain 82.5 Egypt 80.2 Germany 67.9 Italy 64.3

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water Global virtual water trade between nations: top 10 crop products (1995-1999) PRODUCT % OF THE VIRTUAL WATER TRADE wheat 30.20 soybean 17.07 rice 15.36 maize 8.85 raw sugar 7.20 Source: A.Y. Hoekstra; P.Q. Hung. Virtual water trade - A quantification of virtual water flows between nations in relation to international crop trade.

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water – The Hydrological Cycle

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water – Hortons 1931 Hydrocycle Robert Horton 1931 US Natural Resources Board 1934

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water- Puntland Somalia

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water - Puntland

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water - Puntland

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water – Drought Resistant Economy ? Zimbabwe

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water - Mauritius

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water - Mauritius

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water - Mauritius Sector Use of nations water Contribution to GDP Water Productivity   % US$/m³ * US$/m³ ** Commercial, Industrial, Tourism 20 45 153 236 Agriculture small planters 8 3 5 Agriculture large planters & sugar estates 40 4 0.5 0.38 Hydro power 32 National Average 27.41 * Estimates by different authors

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water - Mauritius

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water – Sugar in Mauritius Currently sugar as an export “food” generates 2% of the GDP but uses 30% of the nations water Mauritius uses over 20% of its GDP to import “energy” – petroleum products and coal Tonnes

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water – Sugar in Mauritius

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water –Asparagus in Peru

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water Virtual Water is moving from being an “academic / intellectual project” to being of interest to commerce It is not yet part of the Hydrological Cycle concept Virtual water is a hugely significant component of the hydrological cycle in water stressed countries……but engineers are not aware of it…..it is not the subject of law or policy. International Water Law: focus on “blue” water – rivers and lakes…and a western law adversarial approach. Win - lose outcomes The sum total of benefits when acting cooperatively in the use of water far outweigh the total of benefit by acting alone….Positive sum outcomes can be realised The basket of benefits available to water users is significantly increased if we include virtual water.

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water Should a Community / Region / Nation actively manage its virtual water footprint? Should a State have the power to enable or prevent virtual water movement using Law? And so…..What will happen if we engineer a “Water Fortress” approach…..who will trade with who….what will they trade? Harmon Doctrine…..Absolute territorial sovereignty ?

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water Thank you !

The Increasing Relevance of Virtual Water – some references Allan, JA 2003, Virtual water eliminates water wars? A case study from the Middle East. In: Virtual Water Trade: Proceedings of the International Expert Meeting on Virtual Water Trade (Hoekstra, A.Y., Ed.), pp. 137-145. Value of Water Research Report Series No. 12, November 2003, IHE Delft, the Netherlands.   Allan, JA 1998, Virtual water: A strategic resource. Global solutions to regional deficits. Groundwater, 36 (4), 545-546. Linton, Jamie 2008 'Is the Hydrologic Cycle Sustainable? A Historical-Geographical Critique of a Modern Concept', Annals of the Association of American Geographers,98:3,630 — 649 Chapagain, AK & Hoekstra, AY 2004a, Water Footprints of Nations. Volume 1: Main Report. UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Value of Water Research Report Series No. 16, Delft, the Netherlands. Chapagain, AK & Hoekstra, AY 2008, The global component of freshwater demand and supply: An assessment of virtual water flows between nations as a result of trade in agricultural and industrial products. Water International, 33 (1), 19-32. DEFRA UK Food Security Assessment: Detailed analysis (August 2009; updated January 2010)