The water footprint is an indicator of water consumption and pollution that can be calculated for companies, consumers and sectors, in a site, catchment or country. A water footprint assessment provides a comprehensive assessment of the water consumption in terms of soil moisture (green water footprint), abstracted water (blue water footprint) and polluted water (grey water footprint) during a period of time. It also addresses the environmental, social and economic sustainability of the water consumption. The assessment provides the foundation for response strategies to improve the sustainability of water use.
The issue:
Often the consumption of water is solely assessed from the point of view of surface water abstraction. This is a very incomplete picture of the reality of water consumption and pollution. As a result, strategies to become more productive, efficient and sustainable in water use are not effective in addressing key water issues at hand.
How we work:
We help customers and stakeholders to get an integrated picture of the water use of the activities that they are undertaking and provide a measure of the sustainability of their water use. The water footprint information provides direction for strategic interventions to use water more productively and become more water sustainable. We develop software tools such as the Geographic Agricultural Water Footprint Calculator (GAWFC)..
Example projects:
- Water Footprint Assessment of 316 watersheds in Colombia
- Water Footprint Assessment of Porce river basin, Colombia
- Water Footprint of banana production by small-scale producers in Ecuador and Peru
- Water Footprint Assessment for the Tenmile watershed, Montana, USA
- Water footprint of Equestrian centre Oliva Nova, Spain
- Water Footprint Assessment for the entire banana sector in Dominican Republic