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Virtual Water and Its Share in Per-capita Water Availability (Case Study of Ethiopia)

Published in Hydrology (Volume 9, Issue 2)
Received: 22 February 2021     Accepted: 21 April 2021     Published: 8 May 2021
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Abstract

Today, the security, stability and environmental sustainability of developing nations are threatened by the growing global water crisis. This crisis is partly due to water governance. Improving water infrastructure must be a priority, as water conservation and efficiency are key components of sustainable water management. The idea of virtual water import/export as a method to ease the pressure on the available domestic water resources is a concern for sustainable water management. This concept of virtual water further extends the scope of water resources management beyond the boundary of natural watershed. Since the water use of a given watershed can be influenced by water use outside of the watershed through virtual water transfers, it is not sufficient to confine the water resources management to the basin or catchment scale. The role of virtual water in bridging the gap between supply and demand of water is underestimated. Although invisible, the importance of ‘virtual water' can be an effective means for water-scarce countries to preserve their domestic water resources. This paper examines the virtual water concepts in relation to per capita water availability taking 2000 to 2015 years as the period of analysis. The results of the study showed that the total exported and imported virtual water in the period of analysis in Ethiopia is 113 billion m3 and 10.9 billion m3 respectively. These values showed that Ethiopia is a net virtual water exporter. The maximum and minimum per-capita water availability during the analysis period was 2590 m3/cap/year and 1740 m3/cap/year respectively. These results indicated no water stress in the period of analysis.

Published in Hydrology (Volume 9, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.hyd.20210902.11
Page(s) 21-35
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Global Water Crisis, Virtual Water, Environmental Sustainability, Export and Imported Commodities

References
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[2] P. Billi (ed.), Landscapes and Landforms of Ethiopia, World Geomorphological Landscapes, DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-8026-1_3, © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015.
[3] Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy of the Government of Ethiopia (MoWIE) (2014) http://countrymeters.info/en/Ethiopia. Accessed on February 18, 2019.
[4] UN (2008). Major river basin of Ethiopia. https://www.ethiovisit.com/major-rivers-of-ethiopia/34/.
[5] Belete Berhanu, Yilma Seleshi, Assefa, M. Melesse (2014). Surface Water and Groundwater Resources of Ethiopia: Potentials and Challenges of Water Resources Development. Springer International Publishing. Switzerland. Doi https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3319-02720-36. Accessed on July 10, 2019.
[6] Reta Hailu, Degefa Tolossa & Getnet Alemu (2018) Water institutions in the Awash basin of Ethiopia: the discrepancies between rhetoric and realities, International Journal of River Basin Management, 16: 1, 107-121, DOI: 10.1080/15715124.2017.1387126.
[7] Abate Zewdie (1995). Water Resources Development in Ethiopia: An Evaluation of Present Experience and Future Planning Concepts. Ithaca Press, Reading, UK.
[8] FAO (2016). (http://www.faostat.org/ag/agl/aglw/aquastat/countries/ethiopia/index.stm). Accessed on March 14, 2019.
[9] Loucks D. P., van Beek E. (2017) Water Resources Planning and Management: An Overview. In: Water Resource Systems Planning and Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44234-1_1.
[10] A. K. Chapagain A. Y. Hoekstra (2004). Water footprints of nations Volume 1: Value of Water Research Report Series No. 16. UNESCO-IHE Delft: The Netherlands.
[11] Hoekstra, A. Y. and Chapagain, A. K. (2008) Globalization of water: Sharing the planet’s freshwater resources, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, UK, ISBN 978 1 4051 6335 4.
[12] Hoekstra, A. Y. & Chapagain, A. K. (2008). Globalization of Water, Sharing the Planet’s Freshwater Resources. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford.
[13] Arjen Y. Hoekstra, Ashok K. Chapagain, Maite M. Aldaya and Mesfin M. Mekonnen (2011). The Water Footprint Assessment Manual. Setting the Global Standard. Earthscan Washington, DC.
[14] Hoekstra A. Y. (2003). Virtual water trade Proceedings of the International Expert Meeting on Virtual Water Trade: Value of Water Research Report Series No. 12, IHE Delft DA Delft: The Netherlands.
[15] Mireia Romaguera, Arjen Y. Hoekstra, Zhongbo Su, Maarten S. Krol and Mhd. Suhyb Salama. Potential of Using Remote Sensing Techniques for Global Assessment of Water Footprint of Crops. Remote Sens. 2010, 2, 1177-1196; doi: 10.3390/rs2041177.
[16] Konapala, G., Mishra, A. K., Wada, Y. et al. Climate change will affect global water availability through compounding changes in seasonal precipitation and evaporation. Nat Commun 11, 3044 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16757-w.
[17] Central Statistics Agency CSA (1994). Statistical Report Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia. Statistical bulletin. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. URI http:/www.csa.gov.et.
[18] Yitbarek Andualem Mekonnen (2018): Population Forecasting for Design of Water Supply System in Injibara Town, Amhara Region, Ethiopia: Debre Tabor University, Derbe Tabor, Ethiopia.
[19] Falkenmark, M. (1989). The massive water scarcity now threatening Africa. Why isn’t it being addressed? Ambo, 18; 112-118.
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  • APA Style

    Dereje Adeba, Gedefa Lelisa. (2021). Virtual Water and Its Share in Per-capita Water Availability (Case Study of Ethiopia). Hydrology, 9(2), 21-35. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hyd.20210902.11

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    ACS Style

    Dereje Adeba; Gedefa Lelisa. Virtual Water and Its Share in Per-capita Water Availability (Case Study of Ethiopia). Hydrology. 2021, 9(2), 21-35. doi: 10.11648/j.hyd.20210902.11

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    AMA Style

    Dereje Adeba, Gedefa Lelisa. Virtual Water and Its Share in Per-capita Water Availability (Case Study of Ethiopia). Hydrology. 2021;9(2):21-35. doi: 10.11648/j.hyd.20210902.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.hyd.20210902.11,
      author = {Dereje Adeba and Gedefa Lelisa},
      title = {Virtual Water and Its Share in Per-capita Water Availability (Case Study of Ethiopia)},
      journal = {Hydrology},
      volume = {9},
      number = {2},
      pages = {21-35},
      doi = {10.11648/j.hyd.20210902.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hyd.20210902.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hyd.20210902.11},
      abstract = {Today, the security, stability and environmental sustainability of developing nations are threatened by the growing global water crisis. This crisis is partly due to water governance. Improving water infrastructure must be a priority, as water conservation and efficiency are key components of sustainable water management. The idea of virtual water import/export as a method to ease the pressure on the available domestic water resources is a concern for sustainable water management. This concept of virtual water further extends the scope of water resources management beyond the boundary of natural watershed. Since the water use of a given watershed can be influenced by water use outside of the watershed through virtual water transfers, it is not sufficient to confine the water resources management to the basin or catchment scale. The role of virtual water in bridging the gap between supply and demand of water is underestimated. Although invisible, the importance of ‘virtual water' can be an effective means for water-scarce countries to preserve their domestic water resources. This paper examines the virtual water concepts in relation to per capita water availability taking 2000 to 2015 years as the period of analysis. The results of the study showed that the total exported and imported virtual water in the period of analysis in Ethiopia is 113 billion m3 and 10.9 billion m3 respectively. These values showed that Ethiopia is a net virtual water exporter. The maximum and minimum per-capita water availability during the analysis period was 2590 m3/cap/year and 1740 m3/cap/year respectively. These results indicated no water stress in the period of analysis.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Virtual Water and Its Share in Per-capita Water Availability (Case Study of Ethiopia)
    AU  - Dereje Adeba
    AU  - Gedefa Lelisa
    Y1  - 2021/05/08
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hyd.20210902.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.hyd.20210902.11
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    JO  - Hydrology
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
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    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hyd.20210902.11
    AB  - Today, the security, stability and environmental sustainability of developing nations are threatened by the growing global water crisis. This crisis is partly due to water governance. Improving water infrastructure must be a priority, as water conservation and efficiency are key components of sustainable water management. The idea of virtual water import/export as a method to ease the pressure on the available domestic water resources is a concern for sustainable water management. This concept of virtual water further extends the scope of water resources management beyond the boundary of natural watershed. Since the water use of a given watershed can be influenced by water use outside of the watershed through virtual water transfers, it is not sufficient to confine the water resources management to the basin or catchment scale. The role of virtual water in bridging the gap between supply and demand of water is underestimated. Although invisible, the importance of ‘virtual water' can be an effective means for water-scarce countries to preserve their domestic water resources. This paper examines the virtual water concepts in relation to per capita water availability taking 2000 to 2015 years as the period of analysis. The results of the study showed that the total exported and imported virtual water in the period of analysis in Ethiopia is 113 billion m3 and 10.9 billion m3 respectively. These values showed that Ethiopia is a net virtual water exporter. The maximum and minimum per-capita water availability during the analysis period was 2590 m3/cap/year and 1740 m3/cap/year respectively. These results indicated no water stress in the period of analysis.
    VL  - 9
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, Wollega University, Nekemte, Ethiopia

  • Department of Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, Wollega University, Nekemte, Ethiopia

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