When it comes to exploiting natural resources, islands have limitations due to the quantity of these resources and the potential for harm to the ecosystem if exploitation is not done in a sustainable manner. This article presents a study of the water footprint of the different drinking water collection facilities and wastewater treatment facilities in the Canary Islands, in order to determine the blue, green, and grey water footprints in each case. The results show high percentages of drinking water losses, which raises the blue water footprint of the Canary Islands archipelago. The grey water footprint was studied in terms of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5). The green water footprint was not considered because it is a dimension of the water footprint mainly calculated for agricultural crops. Of the facilities studied, the wells for extraction of drinking water from the aquifer and the distribution network have the largest blue water footprint for the years under study (2019 and 2020). Only the wastewater treatment plants have a gray water footprint in this study, with values between 79,000 and 108,000 m3 per year. As a general conclusion, the most important factor in reducing the water footprint of the water cycle in the Canary Islands is optimization of the water resource, improving existing infrastructures to minimize losses, and implementing a greater circular economy that reuses water on a regular basis.
In public management, it is common to face conflicting objectives, particularly in relation to land use. Adequate land use management requires a valuation of land that incorporates the value of all its characteristics. That is, in addition to the traditional direct use value, it must incorporate the non-use value (existence and legacy), as well as the indirect use and option values. The analytic hierarchy process is used, firstly, to identify the priority values based on a panel of experts, and secondly, in assessment of use/non-use values, using market valuation techniques as support. As a result, we analyse the trade-offs among all values, and the respondent’s consistency. At first, we observed that the soil with the highest protection had the lowest market value in terms of direct use. However, considering the weights of the panel of experts, we can conclude that the market value only represents 7.6% of the total value. Non-market values represent 92.4% of the total value. The underlying aim is to facilitate decision-making in the field of land management to increase social welfare and the resilience of landscapes.
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