A simple approach to assess water scarcity integrating water quantity and quality

Water scarcity has become widespread all over the world. Current methods for water scarcity assessment are mainly based on water quantity and seldom consider water quality. Here, we develop a simple approach for assessing water scarcity considering both water quantity and quality. In this approach, a new water scarcity index is used to describe the severity of water scarcity in the form of a water scarcity meter, which may help to communicate water scarcity to a wider audience. To illustrate the approach, we analyzed the historical trend of water scarcity for Beijing city in China during 1995–2009. The results show that Beijing made a huge progress in mitigating water scarcity, and that from 1999 to 2009 the blue and grey water scarcity index decreased by 59% and 62%, respectively. These achievements were made through great efforts of water-saving measures and wastewater treatment. Despite this progress, we demonstrate that Beijing is still characterized by serious water scarcity due to both water quantity and quality. The water scarcity index remained at a high value of 3.5 with a blue and grey water scarcity index of 1.2 and 2.3 in 2009 (exceeding the thresholds of 0.4 and 1, respectively). As a result of unsustainable water use and pollution, groundwater levels continue to decline, and water quality shows a continuously deteriorating trend. To curb this trend, future water policies should further decrease water withdrawal from local sources (in particular groundwater) within Beijing, and should limit the grey water footprint below the total amount of water resources.     

Assessing water scarcity by simultaneously considering environmental flow requirements,water quantity,and water quality

Water scarcity is a widespread problem in many parts of the world. Most previous methods of water scarcity assessment only considered water quantity, and ignored water quality. In addition, the environmental flow requirement (EFR) was commonly not explicitly considered in the assessment. In this study, we developed an approach to assess water scarcity by considering both water quantity and quality, while at the same time explicitly considering EFR. We applied this quantity–quality-EFR (QQE) approach for the Huangqihai River Basin in Inner Mongolia, China. We found that to keep the river ecosystem health at a “good” level (i.e., suitable for swimming, fishing, and aquaculture), 26% of the total blue water resources should be allocated to meet the EFR. When such a “good” level is maintained, the quantity- and quality-based water scarcity indicators were 1.3 and 14.2, respectively; both were above the threshold of 1.0. The QQE water scarcity indicator thus can be expressed as 1.3(26%)|14.2, indicating that the basin was suffering from scarcity problems related to both water quantity and water quality for a given rate of EFR. The current water consumption has resulted in degradation of the basin's river ecosystems, and the EFR cannot be met in 3 months of a year. To reverse this situation, future policies should aim to reduce water use and pollution discharge, meet the EFR for maintaining healthy river ecosystems, and substantially improve pollution treatment.     

The water footprint of Tunisia from an economic perspective

This paper quantifies and analyses the water footprint of Tunisia at national and sub-national level, assessing green, blue and grey water footprints for the period 1996–2005. It also assesses economic water and land productivities related to crop production for irrigated and rain-fed agriculture, and water scarcity. The water footprint of crop production gave the largest contribution (87%) to the total national water footprint. At national level, tomatoes and potatoes were the main crops with relatively high economic water productivity, while olives and barley were the main crops with relatively low productivity. In terms of economic land productivity, oranges had the highest productivity and barley the lowest. South Tunisia had the lowest economic water and land productivities. Economic land productivity was found to explain more of the current production patterns than economic water productivity, which may imply opportunities for water saving. The total blue water footprint of crop production represented 31% of the total renewable blue water resources, which means that Tunisia as a whole experienced significant water scarcity. The blue water footprint on groundwater represented 62% of the total renewable groundwater resources, which means that the country faced severe water scarcity related to groundwater.     

A dynamic assessment of water scarcity risk in the Lower Brahmaputra River Basin: An integrated approach

Many international river basins are likely to experience increasing water scarcity over the coming decades. This water scarcity is not rooted only in the limitation of resources, i.e. the shortage in the availability of freshwater relative to water demand, but also on social factors (e.g. flawed water planning and management approaches, institutional incapability to provide water services, unsustainable economic policies). Therefore, the assessment of water scarcity risks is not limited to the assessment of physical water supply and demand, but it requires also consideration of several socio-economic factors. In this study, we provide a comprehensive dynamic assessment of water scarcity risks for the Lower Brahmaputra river basin, a region where the hydrological impact of climate change is expected to be particularly strong and population pressure is high. The basin area of Brahmaputra River lies among four different countries: China, India, Bangladesh and Bhutan. For water scarcity assessment, we propose a novel integration of different approaches: (i) the assessment of water scarcity risk, considering complex social-ecological system; (ii) the analysis of dynamic behaviour of the system; (iii) exploration of participatory approach in which limited number of stakeholders identify the most relevant issues with reference to water scarcity risks and provide their preferences for the aggregation of risk assessment indicators. Results show that water scarcity risk is expected to slightly increase and to fluctuate remarkably as a function of the hazard signal. Social indicators show trends that can at least partially compensate the increasing trend of the drought index. The results of this study are intended to be used for contributing to planned adaptation of water resources systems, in Lower Brahmaputra River Basin.     

Development and implementation of a spatial unit non-overlapping water stress index for water scarcity evaluation with a moderate spatial resolution

Water scarcity is a serious global problem, and accurate estimations are urgently needed. The Water stress index (WSI) is one of the most commonly used methods for global or large scale water scarcity evaluation, but this method lacks of consideration of water demand and water supply positions non-overlapped spatial distribution, tends to overestimate water stress when applied to a moderate resolution grid (e.g., 1 km). In this study, we used a non-overlapping water supply-and-demand unit approach to improve the calculation scheme and constructed a spatial unit non-overlapping WSI model (Sun-WSI model). We then applied the new model to the Yarlung Tsangpo-Brahmaputra River (TBR) and estimated monthly water stress from 2006 to 2012 with a 1 km spatial resolution. The results showed that the determination coefficient (R²) between the normalized Drought Index (DI) and water stress was mainly in the range of 0.2–0.7, accounting for 77.4% of the study area. The spatial pattern of water stress estimated by the Sun-WSI model was consistent with the DI. Further analysis showed that both overall and grid water stress estimated by the Sun-WSI model were close to the results from existing studies; however the Sun-WSI model had a higher spatial resolution. With a 1 km resolution, the Sun-WSI model performed better than the conventional WSI with respect to both overall results and spatial details. This suggests that the Sun-WSI model is suitable for evaluating regional or moderate-resolution grid water scarcity.     

基于水足迹的山东省农业水土资源匹配特征及短缺压力分析

高强度农业开发引起的农业水土资源生态问题日益增多,探究粮食及蔬菜（粮蔬）生产中水土资源空间配置及短缺压力对农业资源的可持续利用具有重要意义。从水足迹视角出发,分析了山东省3种主要粮食作物（冬小麦、玉米及大豆）和两种不同种植模式蔬菜（设施蔬菜和露地蔬菜）的生产水足迹空间特征;同时将资源数量及资源质量的概念纳入研究框架,分析了农业水土资源数量及质量匹配格局差异,并进一步探究了农业水土资源短缺压力及其影响因素。研究结果表明：（1）2019年,山东省粮食和蔬菜的生产总水足迹为811亿m³,其中粮食生产总水足迹占比78.50%,蔬菜生产总水足迹占比21.50%;粮蔬生产水足迹受地势影响明显,鲁西北及鲁西南平原地区的粮蔬生产水足迹占比较大。（2）考虑资源数量的水土资源匹配系数均值为0.622×10⁴ m³/hm²,考虑资源质量的匹配系数均值为0.416×10⁴ m³/hm²;水土资源数量及质量匹配系数在空间上呈现出一致性,表明山东省农业生产水土资源空间配置水平高的地区同时面临着较大的农业面源污染压力。（3）整体上,土地资源短缺压力略高于水资源短缺压力;基于生产视角的水土资源短缺压力受生产环境因素制约显著,受经济发展因素的影响具有差异性,社会因素对水土资源短缺压力无显著影响。研究可为农业资源可持续管理提供数据基础,为全面理解粮蔬生产所产生的水土资源短缺提供案例参考。     

Are Chironomidae (Diptera) good indicators of water scarcity? Dryland streams as a case study

Water scarcity is becoming one of the greatest challenges that human societies will face during this century. Monitoring water availability is expensive and technically challenging. In this regard, biological communities (e.g. aquatic insects) offer a cost-effective alternative, since they integrate temporal and spatial hydrological variability.Here we explore the potential of Chironomidae (Diptera), which have been usually neglected due to their complex taxonomy, as indicators of both local habitat condition and water scarcity. The study took place in 28 sites across seven dryland streams distributed within a 400 km² section of the Upper San Pedro River basin, southeastern Arizona. The selected streams covered a wide range of hydrological variability, which was continuously measured through the deployment of 15 electrical resistance (ER) sensors. Chironomidae taxa with no drought-resistance strategies were rarely found in streams that experienced frequent drying events (i.e. intermittent and ephemeral streams), suggesting that droughts have the potential to reduce species richness due to local extinctions of drought-intolerant taxa. Intermittent and ephemeral streams registered low canopy cover and a significantly higher abundance of scrapers (which mainly feed on algae) and shredders (feeding on poorly decomposed coarse organic material). This suggests that structural changes associated to drought (e.g. reduced canopy cover and decomposition rates) might lead to changes in the functional composition of the Chironomidae assemblages. We conclude that Chironomidae species can be used as indicators of hydrological variability and the impacts of drought on streams in the absence of flow gauges.     

基于SWAT模型的图们江流域蓝绿水资源供需平衡分析

随着经济快速发展和工农业各类用水量大幅增加,对河流的开发程度随之加强,流域水资源可持续利用受到不利影响。从蓝绿水视角出发,基于SWAT模型量化了图们江流域2015—2020年不同时间尺度下的蓝绿水资源并探讨了研究区水资源供需平衡情况。结果表明：研究时段内流域蓝绿水资源均具有明显的季节特征,年均蓝绿水资源量为117.16亿m³,其中蓝水资源量30.14亿m³,绿水资源量87.02亿m³,绿水占水资源量的74.27%。以年为尺度,蓝水资源供需评估指数>1,可利用蓝水资源量基本不能满足其需求量,降水少的年份蓝水资源供需矛盾突出,而绿水资源可以达到供需平衡,其供需评估指数集中在0.1—0.2之间。在月尺度分析中研究区蓝水供需评估指数出现极端值的频率较高,表明该地区蓝水供需不平衡,尤其是可利用蓝水资源一般在每年的7—8月才较为丰富,而蓝水需求用水集中分布于作物生长期,导致蓝水供应与蓝水需求在时间分配上不均衡,且在实际水资源分配中忽略了生态用水;月尺度绿水供需评估指数集中在0.1—0.4之间,有明显的季节变化特征,整体上绿水资...     

Domestic water versus imported virtual blue water for agricultural production: A comparison based on energy consumption and related greenhouse gas emissions

The supply of water, food, and energy in our global economy is highly interlinked. Virtual blue water embedded into internationally traded food crops has therefore been extensively researched in recent years. This study focuses on the often neglected energy needed to supply this blue irrigation water. It provides a globally applicable and spatially explicit approach to the watershed level for water source specific quantification of energy consumption and related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of irrigation water supply. The approach is applied to Israel's total domestic and imported food crop supply of 105 crops by additionally including import-related transportation energy and emissions. Total energy use and related emissions of domestic crop production were much lower (551 GWh/422 kt CO₂-equivalents [CO₂e]) than those embedded into crop imports (1639 GWh/649 kt CO₂e). Domestic energy and emissions were mainly attributable to the irrigation water supply with artificial water sources (treated domestic wastewater and desalinated water, 84%). Transport accounted for 79% and 66% of virtually imported energy and emissions, respectively. Despite transport, specific GHG emissions (CO₂e per ton of crop) were significantly lower for several crops (e.g., olives, almonds, chickpeas) compared to domestic production. This could be attributed to the high share of energy-intensive artificial water supply in combination with higher irrigation water demands in Israel. In the course of an increasing demand for artificial water supply in arid and semi-arid regions, our findings point to the importance of including “energy for water” into comparative environmental assessment of crop supply to support decision-making related to the water–energy–food nexus.     

水资源短缺的社会适应能力理论及实证--以黑河流域为例

水资源短缺已成为制约干旱-半干旱内陆河流域可持续发展的瓶颈,社会适应能力理论为解决水资源短缺问题提供了新的思路和方法。从人类生态系统角度分解社会适应能力,辨明了社会适应能力结构性成分,并利用网络层次分析(ANP)方法,构建了缓解水资源短缺的社会适应能力定量评价模型。然后以黑河流域中游甘州区为研究区,进行了水资源短缺的社会适应能力定量评价的案例研究。结果表明研究区缓解水资源短缺的社会适应能力综合指数为2.411,处于中等水平,有待进一步提高;在灌区尺度上,缓解水资源短缺的社会适应能力水平与受灌区水资源管理背景和意识的影响。在缓解水资源短缺的社会适应能力系统中,研究区有两个关键资源有所欠缺,同时人口自然增长率和人均综合用水量较低、社会公平和节水意识水平相对较高,但人们安全感和政策稳定性不强并缺乏信任,廉政水平、政府管理能力和社会经济资源水平需要进一步提高。旨在为水资源可持续利用研究提供一种新的分析角度,为决策者采取新的社会、经济、制度等对策提供科学依据支撑。     

Understanding the LCA and ISO water footprint: A response to Hoekstra (2016) “A critique on the water-scarcity weighted water footprint in LCA”

Water footprinting has emerged as an important approach to assess water use related effects from consumption of goods and services. Assessment methods are proposed by two different communities, the Water Footprint Network (WFN) and the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) community. The proposed methods are broadly similar and encompass both the computation of water use and its impacts, but differ in communication of a water footprint result. In this paper, we explain the role and goal of LCA and ISO-compatible water footprinting and resolve the six issues raised by Hoekstra (2016) in “A critique on the water-scarcity weighted water footprint in LCA”. By clarifying the concerns, we identify both the overlapping goals in the WFN and LCA water footprint assessments and discrepancies between them. The main differing perspective between the WFN and LCA-based approach seems to relate to the fact that LCA aims to account for environmental impacts, while the WFN aims to account for water productivity of global fresh water as a limited resource. We conclude that there is potential to use synergies in research for the two approaches and highlight the need for proper declaration of the methods applied.     

Proteome modifications of blue mussel (Mytilus edulis L.) gills as an effect of water pollution

The discharge of chemicals such as oil associated or not with derived products constitutes a real threat for the environment. We report here the differential expression of the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) gill proteins corresponding to two contaminated environmental conditions: crude oil and offshore produced water. In order to evaluate and understand contaminants, effects and adaptive response of these organisms, we identified proteins using MS. The latter can be grouped into three main classes: proteins involved in the cellular structure, in metabolism, and in defence proteins.     

Cascade blue as a donor for resonance energy transfer studies of heme-containing proteins

Cascade Blue acetyl azide is an amine reactive compound with spectral properties ideally suited for fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) studies in which heme prosthetic groups serve as acceptors. To demonstrate utility of the Cascade Blue-heme spectroscopic ruler, cytochrome c was employed as a test case to calibrate distance measurements obtained from FRET analysis. Following modification, stoichiometrically labeled cytochrome c was digested with trypsin and derivatized fragments were analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry to identify Lys25 as the predominant site of covalent modification. FRET analysis on derivatized protein demonstrated nearly complete quenching of Cascade Blue fluorescence, indicating the labeled lysine residue to reside within 30 A of the heme prosthetic group. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) denaturation resulted in an approximately 28% recovery of fluorescence, demonstrating the utility of this donor-acceptor pair for evaluating distance changes of 30-90 A. Modeling the Cascade Blue donor molecule onto Lys25 of a cytochrome c NMR structure confirmed a distance of < or =30 A from the heme acceptor, as determined by FRET analysis. Further modeling of the SDS-denatured state as an extended chain suggested a maximum separation distance of 45 A, also consistent with results derived from FRET analysis.     

A critique on the water-scarcity weighted water footprint in LCA

The water footprint (WF) has been developed within the water resources research community as a volumetric measure of freshwater appropriation. The concept is used to assess water use along supply chains, sustainability of water use within river basins, efficiency of water use, equitability of water allocation and dependency on water in the supply chain. With the purpose of integrating the WF in life cycle assessment of products, LCA scholars have proposed to weight the original volumetric WF by the water scarcity in the catchment where the WF is located, thus obtaining a water-scarcity weighted WF that reflects the potential local environmental impact of water consumption. This paper provides an elaborate critique on this proposal. The main points are: (1) counting litres of water use differently based on the level of local water scarcity obscures the actual debate about water scarcity, which is about allocating water resources to competing uses and depletion at a global scale; (2) the neglect of green water consumption ignores the fact that green water is scarce as well; (3) since water scarcity in a catchment increases with growing overall water consumption in the catchment, multiplication of the consumptive water use of a specific process or activity with water scarcity implies that the resultant weighted WF of a process or activity will be affected by the WFs of other processes or activities, which cannot be the purpose of an environmental performance indicator; (4) the LCA treatment of the WF is inconsistent with how other environmental footprints are defined; and (5) the Water Stress Index, the most cited water scarcity metric in the LCA community, lacks meaningful physical interpretation. It is proposed to incorporate the topic of freshwater scarcity in LCA as a “natural resource depletion” category, considering depletion from a global perspective. Since global freshwater demand is growing while global freshwater availability is limited, it is key to measure the comparative claim of different products on the globe's limited accessible and usable freshwater flows.     

调水工程输水管道建设对地表植被格局的影响——以南水北调河北省易县段为例

随着生态环境不断恶化,水资源紧缺已成为全球性的环境问题,跨流域调水工程是保障区域水资源合理配置,保证区域生态安全、区域经济和社会可持续发展的重要措施之一。但是调水工程会不可避免的对施工建设区的生态系统带来人为干扰,对施工建设的地表植被格局产生影响。以南水北调中线一期工程河北省易县段大型输水管道工程建设区作为研究对象,选取了施工建设前(2000年)、施工建设期(2008年)和施工建设后(2013年)3个不同时间段的遥感影像数据,通过解译施工建设区地表植被类型的变化,采用象元二分法提取植被覆盖度,比较不同时期植被覆盖格局和土地利用格局的动态变化,探讨了输水管道建设对周边生态系统影响的范围和特点。研究表明:施工建设前、中、后期管道沿线土地利用类型有较大变化;随着输水管道的建设,人为干扰逐渐增强,施工作业带成为该区域的主要建设用地,并造成了弃置用地和土地裸露,减少了耕地和草地的面积。同时,输水管道建设施工对研究区内植被覆盖度产生了明显的影响,总体上呈现出先减少后增加的趋势。管道建设期对沿线植被、土壤生态系统影响明显,其范围主要在管道施工作业带中心两侧各100 m;在这个区域以外,影响强度大幅降低。     

Evaluation of water footprint and economic water productivities of dairy products of South Africa

Assessment of water footprint sustainability indicators and economic water productivities is regarded as a cornerstone of the world’s sustainability goal and the reduction of the fresh water scarcity risk. These assessments are gaining much prominence because about four billion people face severe water scarcity, globally. Attaining sustainable and economically efficient water use goals requires a thorough assessment of all the existing sectors that use water. This paper examined the water footprint and economic water productivities of dairy products in South Africa for the periods 1996–2005 and 2006–2013 using the water footprint network assessment methodology. We found the total water footprints of all the selected dairy products in South Africa to be higher than the global averages are. During the period of 1996–2005, South African dairy producers utilized more green water in their dairy production. The production of butter and cheese products, whether grated or not grated, powdered or not powdered, blue-veined and cheese of all kinds had the highest total water footprints among all the dairy products in South Africa. Dairy production under a sole grazing system has high water footprints and low economic water productivities, relative to mixed production systems, for the period 2006–2013. With blue water becoming scarcer in South Africa, it is time for dairy livestock producers to shift their production to a system that is highly productive and has low water footprints. The water footprints of most of the dairy products for period 2006–2013 have reduced by varying amounts, relative to 1996–2005, which shows that water users along the dairy industry chains are managing water cautiously. Our findings have revealed dairy products that have high economic water productivities, and suggest that profit maximising and environmentally sustainable dairy producers and water users should integrate both blue water sustainability and economic water productivity indicators in their production decisions.     

生态输水前后台特玛湖生态环境变化探究分析

自上世纪 60 年代以来, 由于塔里木河上中游水资源的不合理开发利用, 导致河流下游及台特玛湖干涸, 干涸的湖底荒漠化快速发展。生态输水后, 湖泊面积恢复并扩大, 生态环境改善, 荒漠化逆转。根据对研究区域多次实地考察、结合前人研究的成果资料、借助GIS(Geographic Information System)和 RS(Remote Sensing)技术对1990-2018年台特玛湖湖区水域面积变化及其对生态环境的影响进行了分析。结果表明: 生态输水后台特玛湖水域面积明显扩大, 生态环境明显改善。深入分析引起台特玛湖区域生态环境变化的原因并进行敏感性评价, 最终提出科学合理的台特玛湖区域生态环境综合治理方案, 为塔里木河下游环境保护管理决策提供科学依据和技术支撑。     

Components of protocyanin, a blue pigment from the blue flowers of Centaurea cyanus

The components involved in the formation of protocyanin, a stable blue complex pigment from the blue cornflower, Centaurea cyanus, were investigated. Reconstruction experiments using highly purified anthocyanin [centaurocyanin, cyanidin 3-O-(6-O-succinylglucoside)-5-O-glucoside], flavone glycoside [apigenin 7-O-glucuronide-4'-O-(6-O-malonylglucoside)] and metals, Fe and Mg, showed the presence of another factor essential for the formation of protocyanin. The unknown factor was revealed to be Ca. Reconstructed protocyanin using anthocyanin, flavone, Fe, Mg, and Ca was identical with protocyanin from nature in UV-Vis and CD spectra, and was isolated as crystals for the first time. In addition, substitution of the metal components in protocyanin with other metals was also examined.