The Water Footprint And Virtual Water Trade In Gansu Province And Heihe River Basin

Located in the northwest of China, Gansu Province and Heihe River Basin are facing more and more serious water crisis. Virtual water and water footprint is the indicator that is used to measure the water use derived from the consumed products. Introducing the water footprint and virtual water concept will help the policymakers to make more rational policies for water resources management.This paper presents a framework of calculating and evaluating the water footprint and the virtual water trade of three sectors in Gansu Province and Heihe River Basin with a single regional input-output model.The results showed that the virtual water intensity for the primary sector is the highest among the three sectors. The results indicate that reducing the agricultural water use is one of the key measures to the water footprint reduction. Compared to the water footprint in2002, the water footprint has seen a sharp decrease in2007. It can be concluded that the main reason of the water footprint decrease is the successful water saving practice in agriculture. As for a region suffering from water scarcity, externalizing the water footprint is one of the methods to alleviate the region’s pressure for water supply. The proportion of the external water footprint to the total water footprint has been increasing. However, the external water footprint of the primary sector only accounts for10%of the water footprint of the primary sector, which means that the food demand in Gansu Province and Heihe River Basin largely depends on its own production.The paper finally suggests that the policymakers in Gansu Province and Heihe River Basin should keep reinforcing the water saving achievement, adjusting the industrial structure and trade patterns, as well as seeking for the possibility of the virtual water strategy for the arid and semi arid regions.