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Ecological Economics of Water: Water Systems, Water Footprints,
and the Real Price of Water
CANUSSEE, Vancouver, October 3, 2015Teaching Ecological Economics II
Anne-Marie CodurGlobal Development and Environment Institute,
Tufts University
The composition of the planet’s water
0 1000 1700 2500 6000 15000 70000
Data not available
Cubic meters per person per year
Water scarce Water stressed
Global Freshwater Availability
Region Average water availability (cubic meters/person)
Middle East and North Africa 500
Sub-Saharan Africa 1,000
Caribbean 2,466
Asia/Pacific 2,970
Europe 4,741
Latin America 7,200
North America (including Mexico) 13,401
Water Availability per region (2012)
Water scarcity and conflicts
The uses of water, global average
Calculating water footprint: Step 1: decomposing water in 3 types
Calculating water footprint: Step 2: adding all the water (green, blue, grey) necessary throughout the process of production of each good = virtual water
Product Virtual-water content (liters)
1 sheet of paper (80 g/m2) 101 tomato (70 g) 131 slice of bread (30 g) 401 orange (100 g) 501 apple (100 g) 701 glass of beer (250 ml) 751 glass of wine (125 ml) 1201 egg (40 g) 1351 glass of orange juice (200 ml) 1701 bag of potato crisps (200 g) 1851 glass of milk (200 ml) 2001 hamburger (150 g) 2,4001 cotton T-shirt 2,7001 pair of shoes (bovine leather) 8,000
Type of fuel
Amount of water needed in the extraction/production of 2 Million BTUs of energy
Natural Gas (conventional) 5 gallons
Unconventional natural gas (shale) 33 gallons
Oil (conventional) 32 gallons
Oil tar sands (mining) 616 gallons
Biofuel type 1 (irrigated corn) 35,616 gallons
Biofuel type 2 (irrigated soy) 100,591 gallons
Virtual water used in six types of fuels, for a round trip New York City- Washington D.C.
Calculate your own water footprint: direct water use + virtual water of all goods and services
http://www.gracelinks.org/1408/water-footprint-calculator
The average person living in the US consumes about 2220 gallons of water a day - That’s 8,500 liters or 25 bathtubs each day
Diet makes a huge difference:Meat eater = 30 bathtubs Vegetarian = 15 bathtubs Vegan = 12 bathtubs
National Water Footprint for selected countries, in cubic meters per person per year
Transfers of virtual water through tradeVirtual-water balance per country
(billion cubic meters)
Trade of virtual water : cotton
Addressing water shortagesIncreasing water supply? Not the Solution! •Dams (dramatic ecological and social consequences); •Pumping aquifers (20% aquifers are already being mined beyond their rate of recharge); •Desalination: energy-intensive and costly. In California: $1800-$2800 per AFGroundwater: $375-$1100 per AFSurface water: $400-$800 per AF
•WATER CONSERVATIONMicro-irrigation – reuse and recycle wastewaterCost of conservation (San Diego’s county): $150-$1000 per AF
How to promote water efficiency?
Governmental regulation
“Today we are standing on dry grass where there should be five feet of snow. This historic drought demands unprecedented action.”
- California Governor, Jerry Brown, April 1, 2015
Demand
Supply (MC)
Marginal Social Cost (MSC)
Price
Quantity of WaterQSQEQ*
PE
PS
P* A B C
Regulation by the market: internalizing negative externalities
Subsidies to irrigation lead to a consumption of Quantity Qs of waterQe would be the market equilibrium without subsidiesQ* would be the ecologically optimal quantity withdrawn
Pric
e pe
r U
nit
Quantity of Water Used
Uniform Rate Structure
Pric
e pe
r U
nit
Quantity of Water Used
Increasing Block Rate Structure
Pric
e pe
r U
nit
Quantity of Water Used
Decreasing Block Rate Structure
Pricing Structures
A few American Cities applying the increasing bloc rate structure
Markets of water-rights for big users (irrigators, industries, cities):
“cap-and-trade” systems for water conservation?
• Water markets are in place in several countries, including Australia, Chile, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
• In the US, Municipalities were the most common purchaser of water (mostly from irrigators), but transfers between irrigators were also common. About 17 percent of the water purchased was for environmental purposes, including purchases by municipalities and environmental organizations. Some analysts see great potential for water markets to improve the environment
Water Management and Governance: what institutional frameworks for Water conservation?
• State control? Public services in developing countries have often proven inefficient and corrupt
• Privatization? Promoted by World Bank and IMF – but without appropriate regulation, water companies can charge excessive rates and fail to address the needs of the poorest
The “Water War” in Cochabamba, Bolivia, 2000
The acequias of New Mexico are communal irrigation canals, a way to share water for agriculture in a dry land.
“Communities have relied on institutions resembling neither the state nor the market to govern some resource systems with reasonable degrees of success over long periods of time ” - Elinor Ostrom, in “Governing the Commons” (1990)
Re-creating collective systems of management of the commons?
Movement for the re-municipalization of water
THANK YOU!