20 January 2013: The Global Water Forum (GWF) has released a discussion paper titled “Refining the water footprint concept to account for non-renewable water resources,” authored by Sarah Dickin, McMaster University. The paper calls for refining the calculation of water footprints and virtual water to account for non-renewable water that is environmentally more costly than renewable groundwater resources.

Recognizing that World Water Day 2012 raised awareness of the linkages between water and food security, the paper notes that the environmental implications of a water footprint value vary greatly according to regions, which explains why water footprint inputs are divided into blue water and green water, to differentiate between the surface and groundwater component and the rainfall component respectively. The author further stresses that the sources of blue water for irrigation also differ regionally. She also notes that increasing means of measuring water flows should be used to refine the water footprint concept to highlight the renewable or non-renewable components.

While recognizing the importance of sustainable water use, Dickin underscores the importance of quantifying non-renewable water required for irrigation and manufacturing in order to bring attention to the water stress associated with food production in some regions. She adds that that this distinction could inform calculations of virtual water, namely water ‘transferred’ to other countries through trade in agricultural goods.

GWF was established in 2010 as an initiative of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair in Water Economics and Transboundary Water Governance in order to present knowledge and insight from leading water researchers and practitioners. [Publication: Refining the Water Footprint Concept to Account for Non-Renewable Water Resources]