Water - Scarcity

Title

Modeling the impact of land use and climate change on neighborhood-scale evaporation and nighttime cooling: A surface energy balance approach

Reference

Landscape and Urban Planning
Volume 103, Issue 2, 30 November 2011, Pages 139-155

Author(s)

Lily A. House-Peters, Heejun Chang 

Study type

Peer Review Journal

Abstract

We investigated the impacts of temperature changes derived from climate change scenarios and land cover change on patterns of external residential water consumption and nighttime cooling in suburban Hillsboro, Oregon. Three downscaled climate warming scenarios and two land cover change scenarios (sprawl and dense) for the 2040s were used as inputs for an urban energy balance model, the Local-Scale Urban Meteorological Parameterization Scheme (LUMPS). Based on the surface energy fluxes simulated by the LUMPS model, we calculate that the combination of the sprawl scenario with the 3 °C temperature rise increases external water consumption by 4061 L per household for August. Alternately, dense development concomitant with temperature increase constrains increases in water consumption, but reduces nighttime cooling rates by more than 0.3 °C. Increasing the fraction of trees would increase efficiency in promoting urban cooling while reducing external water consumption. This study demonstrates that urban land cover and water use are naturally intertwined at the neighborhood scale, suggesting that urban land-use planning and water management should be fully integrated to design cities that can accommodate future population growth and development while minimizing negative impacts of potential climate change.

Policy theme(s)

Climate change and energy >> Climate change adaptation >> Social and health impacts
Land use >> Planning     
Urban environment >> Urban planning >> Healthy cities
Water >> Water consumption >> Water scarcity
Water >> Urban water management

Keywords

Urban energy balance; Water consumption; Climate change; Land cover; Temperature; LUMPS

Entry Source:

Selected for Science for Environment Policy News Alert

View this study at:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169204611002362
There is a fee to view this study in full

Contact the study author at:

lilyhp@email.arizona.edu

Title

Raising effective awareness for domestic water saving: evidence from an environmental educational programme in Greece

Reference

Water Policy Vol 13 No 6 pp 828–844 © IWA Publishing 2011 doi:10.2166/wp.2011.103

Author(s)

Kiriaki M. Keramitsoglou and Konstantinos P. Tsagarakis

Study type

Peer Review Journal

Abstract

This paper looks into awareness of water saving amongst students and their parents, and how it interacts with their intentions to use water saving technology or to adopt water saving practices. To investigate this interaction, surveys were run through educational programmes aimed at eliciting both the intentions of students and the indirect effects of their parents; surveys were taken before and after the education programmes. The results show that parents have a more environmentally friendly approach towards water saving than their children. Furthermore, the educational programmes affected both students and their parents, though not for all actions investigated. Students and their parents seem to be willing to comply with water saving practices that require little effort, such as using an economy toilet flushing button, or fixing a tap when it leaks, but students were not willing to give up wasteful habits related to their body hygiene, such as leaving water running during a shower. The Mann–Whitney U test and Wilcoxon signed rank test were employed to show statistically significant differences before and after the intervention, comparing the stated attitudes of students and their parents. An active participation by parents in school programmes could encourage effective interactions amongst people in the community, facilitating behaviour change towards sustainable use of local natural resources.

Policy theme(s)

Environmental information services >> Environmental communication >> Behavioural change
Environmental information services >> Environmental communication >> Stakeholder/public engagement
Resource efficiency >> Water efficiency
Water >> Water consumption >> Water scarcity

Keywords

Environmental education; Local action; Public attitudes; Water saving

Entry Source:

Shortlisted for Science for Environment Policy News Alert

View this study at:

http://www.iwaponline.com/wp/01306/wp013060828.htm 

There is a fee to view this study in full

Contact the study author at:

 johnkiki@hol.gr

Title

Wind-Aided Intensified eVaporation (WAIV) and Membrane Crystallizer (MCr) integrated brackish water desalination process: Advantages and drawbacks

Reference

Desalination
Volume 273, Issue 1, 1 June 2011, Pages 127-135

Author(s)

F. Macedonio, L. Katzir, N. Geisma, S. Simone, E. Drioli and J. Gilron

Study type

Peer Review Journal

Abstract

Due to the increasing of water shortage problems, the need for inland brackish water RO will continue to increase in future. However, the primary limitations to further application of RO inland are the cost and technical feasibility of concentrate disposal. In this work, Membrane Crystallizer (MCr) and Wind-Aided Intensified eVaporation (WAIV) technologies have been applied in order to mitigate the impact of concentrates on the environment. In particular, the research activity has been carried out on a desalination system in which brackish water was first pre-treated, then desalinated through reverse osmosis (RO) operation. Finally, RO concentrates were further treated in WAIV and MCr units. The effect of the presence of organic contaminants and antiscalants were studied by analysing RO operations working at different recovery factors and with different pre-treatments. In the absence of an antiscalant, RO operates at 75% recovery factor and at a pH low enough to ensure no calcium carbonate precipitation. In the presence of an antiscalant, RO process might work until a recovery factor of 88%. The analysed integrated RO + WAIV + MCr system allowed to reach recovery factors as high as 76.6-88.9% and limit brine discharge to less than 0.75-0.27% of the raw water fed to the system.

Policy theme(s)

Environmental technologies >> Pollution control >> Water treatment
Water >> Water consumption >> Water scarcity

Keywords

Desalination operations, Integrated membrane processes, Membrane Crystallizer, Wind-Aided Intensified eVaporation

Entry Source:

Shortlisted for Science for Environment Policy News Alert

Referred to in EC doc:

N/A

View this study at:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0011916410009094
There is a fee to view this study in full

Contact the study author at:

macedonio@unical.it

Title

Urban and tourist land use patterns and water consumption: Evidence from Mallorca, Balearic Islands

Reference

Land Use Policy
Volume 28, Issue 4, October 2011, Pages 792-804

Author(s)

Angela Hof and Thomas Schmitt

Study type

Peer Review Journal

Abstract

The island of Mallorca is the main Balearic resort and sustainable water management is a key challenge for the economic and ecological sustainability of tourism as the main economic activity. The critical water supply situation on the island is being exacerbated by the extension of the tourist base to so-called 'quality tourism'. Since the mid 1990s, low-density residential tourist land uses associated with second homes and more affluent urban dwellers have spread around existing mass tourist urban centres. Increasing water consumption for outdoor uses (gardens, swimming pools) is a direct consequence of this development. Available water consumption data mask the impact of residential tourism on water consumption levels. The objective of the present paper is to compare per capita water consumption in quality tourist, mass tourist and residential urban areas, and to provide quantitative information on the magnitude of water consumption by gardens and swimming pools as water-related leisure structures. The analysis combines water consumption data with a land use geodatabase at the sub-parcel scale, a detailed population inventory, and an estimate of pool water use. The results show that quality tourism produces higher water consumption levels per capita than mass tourism. Garden irrigation is the single main cause of the high water consumption in quality tourist areas and accounts for more than 70% of these areas' total consumption in summer. But even in mass tourist and residential areas, garden irrigation accounts for up to 30% and 20%, respectively, of total water consumption in summer. Individually owned swimming pools cause an additional average water consumption of 22 litres/person/day. The proliferation of swimming pools and lavish 'Atlantic' gardens may turn out as one of the biggest threats to sustainable water management on the island of Mallorca and in other tourist destinations adapting the quality tourist model.

Policy theme(s)

Sustainable consumption and production >> Sustainable production >>  Sustainable business and industry
Sustainable development and policy assessment >> Sustainable economic development >> Sustainable  urban development
Water >> Water consumption >> Water scarcity

Keywords

Per capita water consumption, Tourism, Mallorca, Second homes, Garden irrigation, Swimming pools

Entry Source:

Selected for Science for Environment Policy News Alert

Referred to in EC doc:

N/A

View this study at:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837711000172
There is a fee to view this study in full

Contact the study author at:

angela.hof@ruhr-uni-bochum.de

Title

Environmental Impacts of Water Use in Global Crop Production: Hotspots and Trade-Offs with Land Use

Reference

Environ. Sci. Technol., 2011, 45 (13), pp 5761–5768
DOI: 10.1021/es1041755

Author(s)

Stephan Pfister, Peter Bayer, Annette Koehler, and Stefanie Hellweg

Study type

Peer Review Journal

Abstract

Global crop production is causing pressure on water and land resources in many places. In addition to local resource management, the related environmental impacts of commodities traded along international supply chains need to be considered and managed accordingly. For this purpose, we calculate the specific water consumption and land use for the production of 160 crops and crop groups, covering most harvested mass on global cropland. We quantify indicators for land and water scarcity with high geospatial resolution. This facilitates spatially explicit crop-specific resource management and regionalized life cycle assessment of processed products. The vast cultivation of irrigated wheat, rice, cotton, maize, and sugar cane, which are major sources of food, bioenergy, and fiber, drives worldwide water scarcity. According to globally averaged production, substituting biofuel for crude oil would have a lower impact on water resources than substituting cotton for polyester. For some crops, water scarcity impacts are inversely related to land resource stress, illustrating that water consumption is often at odds with land use. On global average, maize performs better than rice and wheat in the combined land/water assessment. High spatial variability of water and land use related impacts underlines the importance of appropriate site selection for agricultural activities.

Policy theme(s)

Agriculture >> Agricultural management >> Crop management
Agriculture >> Agricultural management >> Land use change
Land use >> Land use change
Water >> Water consumption >> Water scarcity

Keywords

N/A

Entry Source:

Selected for Science for Environment Policy News Alert

Referred to in EC doc:

N/A

View this study at:

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es1041755
There is a fee to view this study in full

Contact the study author at:

pfister@ifu.baug.ethz.ch

Title

Corporate social responsibility: sustainable water use Critical Perspectives of Sustainable Development Research and Practice - Utrecht 2009

Reference

Journal of Cleaner Production
Volume 19, Issue 8, May 2011, Pages 852-866

Author(s)

Tineke Lambooy

Study type

Peer Review Journal

Abstract

Freshwater scarcity is no longer limited to sub-Saharan developing countries; also in Western society, access to unlimited amounts of freshwater is not assured at all times. It has been argued - and laid down in many national legal systems - that access to freshwater is a basic human right. What if corporate freshwater use threatens to interfere with this human right? The main focus of the article is to explore the role of today’s companies in relation to freshwater. A number of tools have been developed to attend to the necessity to reduce corporate use of freshwater. The article discusses specialised water reporting instruments such as the 2007 Global Water Tool and the ‘water footprint’ calculation method. In addition, attention is paid to a CERES report (2010) revealing that the majority of the 100 world’s leading companies in water-intensive industries still has weak management and disclosures of water-related risks and opportunities. To obtain concrete information about corporate water strategies and practices, an explorative analysis was conducted on 20 Dutch multinational companies. The article highlights various innovative practices. In sum, it is demonstrated that companies are expected to bear responsibility for their impact on water resources, in particular when it influences public access to water in areas with freshwater scarcity and/or weak government. Notwithstanding the critical conclusions of the CERES report, it is interesting to see an evolution in corporate research concerning sustainable water use and the development of greener products and greener ways of production.

Policy theme(s)

Sustainable consumption and production>> Sustainable production>>Sustainable business and industry
Water>>Water consumption>>Water scarcity

Keywords

Corporate water use, Corporate water use measurement, Corporate water use disclosures, Coca-Cola in India, Trafigura, Water scarcity, Water footprint, Corporate social responsibility, CSR

Entry Source:

N/A

Referred to in EC doc:

Selected for Science for Environment Policy News Alert

View this study at:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652610003598
There is a fee to view this study in full

Contact the study author at:

t.lambooy@nyenrode.nl