Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Incorporating Virtual Water into Water Management: A British Columbia Example

  • Published:
Water Resources Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Virtual water is the water required to produce food or a commodity, and includes rainwater in addition to irrigation and the water required to grow feed in livestock systems. Measuring virtual water is a useful concept in assessing water management as it permits the comparison of crops and livestock from the perspective of embedded water. To evaluate trade-offs in water allocation in countries like Canada with large regional variability in climate, virtual water should be calculated on a watershed scale. Two watersheds in Canada were selected representing wet and dry regions, and virtual water requirements for crop and livestock products were evaluated. For both the Lower Fraser Valley and the Okanagan basins, the results indicate that the most water demanding agricultural activities are livestock and fodder production. In the Lower Fraser basin, berry crops require 32 Mm3 of virtual water per year and have a potential value of $95 million. In contrast, the major fruit crops in the Okanagan require 63 Mm3 of virtual water per year and have a potential value of $68 million. Blueberries and grapes which have moderately high virtual water contents have been expanding in the Lower Fraser and Okanagan basins respectively. Water to grow feed dominates overall animal virtual water requirements. Livestock requires nearly 4.5 times more virtual water per year than crops in the Lower Fraser, poultry and dairy having the largest virtual water requirements. In the dry Okanagan basin the total virtual water requirements for crops and livestock are similar. To accommodate future growth, decisions on water management will need to be made, particularly in dry basins such as the Okanagan. Virtual water calculations provide information that can assist decision makers in the strategic choices of reallocation and conservation water use.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alcamo J, Henrichs T, Rosch T (2000) World water in 2025: global modeling and scenario analysis for the World Commission on Water for the 21st Century. Kassel World Water Series, Report No. 2

  • Allan JA (1997) Virtual water: a long term solution for water short Middle Eastern economies? SOAS occasional paper series. University of London. http://www.soas.ac.uk/waterissues/occasionalpapers/OCC03.pdf. Cited 14 Jul 2007

  • Allan JA (1998) Virtual water: a strategic resource, global solutions to regional deficits. Ground Water 36(4):545–546. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6584.1998.tb02825.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allan JA (1999) A convenient solution. UNESCO Courier Feb:29–31

  • Amarasinghe UA, Giordano M, Liao Y, Shu Z (2005) Water supply, water demand and agricultural water scarcity in China: a basin approach. CPSP report #11, IWMI and ICID

  • Berndes G (2002) Bioenergy and water – the implications of large-scale bioenergy production for water use and supply. Glob Environ Change 12:253–271

    Google Scholar 

  • British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture and Lands (BCMAL) (2004) Annual B.C. Horticultural Statistics. Victoria: Statistics and Economics Unit, Policy and Economics Branch. http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/stats/2004HortStats.pdf. Cited 17 Jul 2007

  • British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture and Lands (BCMAL) (2006) BC Livestock water handbook. Resource Management Branch, British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture and Lands

  • British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture Food and Fisheries (BCMAFF) (2002) Annual B.C. Horticultural Statistics. Victoria: Statistics and Economics Unit, Policy and Economics Branch. http://www.al.gov.bc.ca/stats/2002HortStats.pdf. Cited 17 Jul 2007

  • Brown LR (2006) Plan B 2.0: rescuing a planet under stress and a civilization in trouble. Earth Policy Institute, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapagain AK, Hoekstra AY (2003) Virtual water flows between nations in relation to trade in livestock and livestock products. Value of water research report series no. 13. UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Delft

  • Chapagain AK, Hoekstra AY (2004) Water footprints of nations volume 1 and 2. Value of water research report series no. 16. UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Delft

  • Chapagain AK, Hoekstra AY, Savenije HHG (2005) Saving water through global trade. Value of water research report series no. 17. UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Delft

  • Cohen S, Kulkarni T (eds) (2001) Water management and climate change in the Okanagan Basin. Environment Canada and University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

    Google Scholar 

  • Dale L, Fisher A, Hanemann N, Schlenker W, Fujita K, Millstein D (2005) Economic impacts of climate change on agricultural water use in California. University of California Berkeley, for California Energy Commission, PIER Energy-Related Environmental Research

  • Environment Canada (2007) Canadian climate normals 1971–2000. http://climate.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/climate_normals/index_e.html. Cited 14 Jul 2007

  • Falkenmark M, Lannerstad M (2005) Consumptive water use to feed humanity—curing a blind spot. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 9:15–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Falkenmark M, Rockstrom J (2004) Balancing water for humans & nature: the new approach in ecohydrology. Earthscan, London, p 247

  • FAO (2002) Deficit irrigation practices. Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. Water Report #22

  • Gleick P (2003) Water use. Annu Rev Environ Resour 28:275–314. doi:10.1146/annurev.energy.28.040202.122849

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamlet A, Mote PW, Clark MP, Lettenmaier DP (2005) Effects of temperature and precipitation variability on snowpack trends in the Western United States. J Clim 18(21):4545–4561. doi:10.1175/JCLI3538.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Havener RD, Dowswell CR, Borlaug NE (2005) Changing times and directions. In: Lal R, Uphoff N, Steward BA, Hansen BO (eds) Climate change and global food security. Taylor and Francis, Boca Raton, pp 39–69

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoekstra AY, Chapagain AK (2007) Water footprints of nations: water use by people as a function of their consumption pattern. Water Resour Manage 21:35–48. doi:10.1007/s11269-006-9039-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hsiao TC, Steduto P, Fereres E (2007) A systematic and quantitative approach to improve water use efficiency in agriculture. Irrig Sci 25:209–231

    Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (2001) Climate change 2001: working group 1 technical summary. International panel on climate change, third assessment report. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenerette DG, Larsen L (2006) A global perspective on changing sustainable urban water supplies. Global Planet Change 50:202–211. doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2006.01.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar MD, Singh OP (2005) Virtual water in global food and water policy making: is there a need for rethinking? Water Resour Manage 19:759–789. doi:10.1007/s11269-005-3278-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leeson S, Summers JD (2001) Nutrition of the chicken, 4th edn. Nottingham University Press, Nottingham, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Lemmen DS, Warren FJ (eds) (2004) Climate change impacts and adaptation: a Canadian perspective. NRCAN, Ottawa

    Google Scholar 

  • Lundquist J (2005) Water management in megacities. Ambio 34(3):267–268. doi:10.1639/0044-7447(2005)034[0267:WMIM]2.0.CO;2

    Google Scholar 

  • Neilsen D, Koch W, Smith W, Frank G (2004) Crop water demand scenarios for the Okanagan Basin, Chapter 8. In: Cohen S, Neilsen D, Welbourn R (eds) Expanding the dialogue on climate change and water management in the Okanagan Basin, British Columbia. Environment Canada, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, UBC, Canada, pp 89–114

  • NRC (1994) Nutrient requirements of poultry, 9th revised edn. National Academic Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Pimentel D, Pimentel M (2003) Sustainability of meat-based and plant-based diets and the environment. Am J Clin Nutr 78(suppl.):660–663

    Google Scholar 

  • Pond WG, Church DC, Pond KR (1995) Basic animal nutrition and feeding. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Postel S (2000) Redesigning irrigated agriculture, Chapter 3. In: State of the World 2000. Worldwatch Institute, pp 39–58

  • Qadir M, Boers ThM, Schubert S, Ghafoor A, Murtaza G (2003) Agricultural water management in water-starved countries: challenges and opportunities. Agric Water Manag 62(3):165–185. doi:10.1016/S0378-3774(03)00146-X

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rijsberman FR (2006) Water scarcity: fact or fiction. Agric Water Manag 80:5–22. doi:10.1016/j.agwat.2005.07.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rockstrom J, Gordon L (2001) Assessment of greenwater flows to sustain major biomes of the world: implications for future eco hydrological landscape management. Phys Chem Earth B 26:843–851

    Google Scholar 

  • Schendel EK, Macdonald JR, Schreier H, Lavkulich LM (2007) Virtual water: a framework for comparative regional resource assessment. J Environ Assess Policy Manag 9(3):341–355. doi:10.1142/S1464333207002858

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shepherd P, Neale T, Cohen S (2004) Water management, Chapter 3. In: Cohen S, Neilsen D, Welbourn R (eds) Expanding the dialogue on climate change and water management in the Okanagan Basin, British Columbia. Environment Canada, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, UBC, Canada, pp 11–24

  • Shiklomanov IA (2000) Appraisal and assessment of world water resources. Water Int 25(1):11–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smakthin V, Revenga C, Doll P (2004) Taking into account environmental water requirements in global-scale water resources assessments. IWMI Comprehensive Research Report 2

  • Smil V (2002) Worldwide transformations of diets, burdens of meat production and opportunities for novel food proteins. Enzyme Microb Technol 30:305–311. doi:10.1016/S0141-0229(01)00504-X

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Statistics Canada (2003) Livestock feed requirements study 1991–2001. Livestock and Animal Products Section, Agriculture Division, Statistics, Canada

  • Taiz L, Zeiger E (2006) Plant physiology. Sinauer, Sunderland

    Google Scholar 

  • United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) (2006) Agrimet Crop water use information. http://www.usbr.gov/pn/agrimet/. Cited 17 Jul 2007

  • van der Gulik T, Nyvall J (2001) Coefficients for use in irrigation scheduling. Water Conservation Factsheet No. 577.100-5. British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Resource Management Branch

  • Wichelns D (2001) The role of “virtual water” in efforts to achieve food security and other national goals, with an example from Egypt. Agric Water Manag 49:131–151. doi:10.1016/S0378-3774(00)00134-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Rm. 156C–2357 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada

    S. Brown, H. Schreier & L. M. Lavkulich

Authors
  1. S. Brown
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. H. Schreier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. L. M. Lavkulich
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. Brown.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Brown, S., Schreier, H. & Lavkulich, L.M. Incorporating Virtual Water into Water Management: A British Columbia Example. Water Resour Manage 23, 2681–2696 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-009-9403-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-009-9403-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation