The Composition of the Planet’s Water

The Hydrologic Cycle

Global Freshwater Availability

Cubic meters per person per year

Water scarce Water stressed

Data not available

0 1000 1700 2500 6000 15000 70000
Physical Water Scarcity vs. Economic
Water Scarcity
 Water Availability per region (2012)

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

Green, Blue, and Gray Water
 Global Water Use

19%

Agricultural
11% Municipal
Industrial
70%
Water Consumption Per Capita
 Virtual Water:
All the water (green, blue, grey) used throughout the
process of production of each good

Product Virtual-water
content (liters)
1 sheet of paper (80 g/m2) 10
1 tomato (70 g) 13
1 slice of bread (30 g) 40
1 orange (100 g) 50
1 apple (100 g) 70
1 glass of beer (250 ml) 75
1 glass of wine (125 ml) 120
1 egg (40 g) 135
1 glass of orange juice (200 ml) 170
1 bag of potato crisps (200 g) 185
1 glass of milk (200 ml) 200
1 hamburger (150 g) 2,400
1 cotton T-shirt 2,700
1 pair of shoes (bovine leather) 8,000
Virtual water used in six types of fuels, for a
round trip New York City- Washington D.C.

Amount of water needed in the

Type of fuel 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
 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 44
bathtubs each day. Diet makes a big difference: a vegetarian’ water footprint can be less than
50% of a meat eater’s footprint.
National Water Footprint for selected countries,
in cubic meters per person per year (1997-2001)
3000

2500

2000

1500
Agricultural goods
Industrial goods
1000 Domestic water consumption

500

0
Water-Energy Nexus
Trade in Virtual Water : Cotton
Transfers of virtual water through trade
Virtual-water balance per country
(billion cubic meters)
 Water Scarcity and Conflicts: Syria

1,5 million people internally displaced March 2011: Anti-Assad

because of the 2006-2011 drought Revolution erupts
 Two people, one land, one aquifer:
Water and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
 Addressing Water Shortages
Increasing water supply?
•Dams (dramatic ecological and social consequences).
•Pumping aquifers (20% aquifers are already being mined beyond their rate of
recharge, including the Upper Ganges Valley in India and Pakistan, the Nile Delta
Region in Egypt, and the Central Valley in California).
•Desalination: energy-intensive and costly.
Dealination in California: $1800-$2800 per AF
Groundwater: $375-$1100 per AF
Surface water: $400-$800 per AF

•Water Conservation
Micro-irrigation – reuse and recycle wastewater
Cost of conservation (San Diego county): $150-$1000 per AF

•How to promote water efficiency?

 Regulation by the market?
The market price of water and
the problem of subsidies for large irrigators

Price

Marginal Social Cost (MSC)

Supply (MC)
P*
A B C
PE

PS

Demand

Q* QE QS Quantity of Water

Subsidies to irrigation lead to a consumption of Quantity Qs of water

Qe would be the market equilibrium without subsidies
Q* would be the ecologically optimal quantity withdrawn
Average Monthly Water Bills in U.S. Cities
 Pricing Structures

Price per Unit

Uniform Rate Structure

Quantity of Water Used

Increasing Block Rate Structure

Price per Unit

Quantity of Water Used

Decreasing Block Rate Structure

Price per Unit

Quantity of Water Used

 Increasing Bloc Rate Structure in U.S. Cities

Cities with the greatest differences in water rates

Santa Fe, N.M.

Austin, Tex.

Charlotte, N.C.
City

San Diego 50 gallons per person per day 100 150

San Francisco

Atlanta

$0 $50 $100 $150 $200 $250

Average monthly water bill
 Marginal Value of Water in Various Uses
(per acre-foot)

Water Use Average Value per AF Median Value per AF

Navigation $146 $10
Recreation/Wildlife Habitat $48 $5
Hydropower $25 $21
Thermoelectric Power $34 $29
Irrigation $75 $40
Industrial $282 $132
Domestic $194 $97
 Markets of Water Rights for Major Users
(irrigators, industries, cities)

• Water markets are in place in several countries,

including Australia, Chile, South Africa, the United
Kingdom, and the United States.

• In the US, Municipalities are the most common

purchaser of water (mostly from irrigators), but transfers
between irrigators are also common. About 17 percent
of the water purchased is for environmental purposes,
including purchases by municipalities and environmental
organizations. => 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

 Re-creating Collective Systems for Management of
the Commons?

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)
Local Movements for Re-Municipalization of Water

• 2002: Felton water system was sold to

California American Water Co. (Cal-Am), a
subsidiary of RWE Aktiengesellschaft - the
third largest water company in the world.
RWE filed for a 74% rate increase.
• In 2003, residents form a coalition to buy
back their water resources to Cal-Am – at
ballot, 75% voters voted YES – A six-year
legal battle ensued.
• In 2008 Felton citizens won back their
water, inspiring dozens of other towns to
do the same.

180 cities and communities in 35 countries, including Buenos Aires, Johannesburg, Paris,
Accra, Berlin, La Paz, Maputo and Kuala Lumpur, have all “re-municipalized” their water
systems in the past 10 years.