Alleviating Pressure on Water Resources: A new approach could be attempted

Abstract

Water and food safety are two major challenges which the world faces today. Traditional water management focuses on the reduction of water use through improvements in water saving technologies. However, quantitative research is needed to evaluate the effects of changing food consumption patterns on water resources. Here we report the water saving effects of changing diet pattern of the major crops and animal products in mainland China. By using the concepts of water footprint (WF) per weight unit and per calorie unit, provided by 13 primary crop and animal products, the WFs of the 13 agricultural products in each province are compared, and their water/energy conversion efficiencies are analyzed. Then, impacts of different scenarios of changing diet pattern on water consumption were explored. Results show that there are obvious differences between the WF per weight and calorie unit provided by crop and animal products due to the nutritional properties of the agricultural products. Promoting water savings from the food consumption side could give a positive feedback on water consumption. Scenario analysis of adjustments to the diet pattern proves that it is potentially feasible to reach the objective of alleviating stress on water resources while guaranteeing nutritional value of the residents.

Optimal Allocation Method of Irrigation Water from River and Lake by Considering the Field Water Cycle Process

“…Generally, the limited water resources will not be able to meet the increasing irrigation water requirements. Thus, any measures to improve water use efficiency are useful to food production [1,2]. Furthermore, improving irrigation scheduling is one of the most effective ways of increasing irrigation efficiency to cope with the shortage of water resources [3].…”

“…Water 2017, 9, 911 3 of 17 1.12 Mha, and is mostly (570,000 ha) cultivated land. The region is a typical arid and semi-arid area, with annual precipitation of 160 mm and evaporation of 2240 mm [27].…”

Programmable Interface Asymmetric Integration of Carbon Nanotubes and Gold Nanoparticles toward Flexible, Configurable, and Surface‐Enhanced Raman Scattering Active All‐In‐One Solar‐Driven Evaporators

“…The continuous shortage and pollution of clean water have severely restricted the development of modern society and quality of life, which have led to growing demands of sewage detection and treatment . Although water purification techniques have played significant roles in handling water contamination, the effective detection of the varieties of contaminants enables better estimation of the effects on human health and environment, which also provides a considerable basis for further purification technologies …”

Preserving Urmia Lake in a changing world : reconciling anthropogenic and climate drivers by hydrological modelling and policy assessment

“…The measures can be taken from other international cases. They can be, but are not limited to, reduction in evaporation from soil, development of more water-efficient dietary patterns, reductions in meat consumption, importing agricultural goods (or 'virtual water') into water-stressed regions (Karimi et al, 2013b, Sun et al, 2015.…”

“…However, all strategies require strong commitment by the involved stakeholders and each also has related complexities, in particular the strategies focusing on reducing water demands. A number of additional water-stress measures are also possible, such as decreasing evaporation from wet soils, development of more water-efficient dietary patterns, an expansion of importing agricultural goods (or 'virtual water') and inter-basin transfer (Sun et al, 2015, Karimi et al, 2013b, Wada et al, 2011, although some of these strategies may be unsustainable and have some negative socio-environmental consequences. These unsustainable strategies should only be applied temporarily when more sustainable approaches are under development .…”