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Water - June 2012
How sustainable are water facilities in Bogotá? Water use and abuse in Bogotá-city, Colombia
Inge Wiekenkamp,
MSc. Student Earth Sciences,
University of Amsterdam
Erasmus Student Freie
Universität Berlin
Summary
Bogotá, the capital city and one of the most important cities of Colombia, is known for its location in the Andean mountain range. Although this city has a relatively large amount of available water sources, Bogotá is coping with water problems due to fast population growth.
The resources used by the population of Bogotá city and its surrounding region “Sabana de Bogotá” are constantly under stress. Therefore, the city, EEAB (Empresa de Acueducto y Alcantarillado de Bogotá) CAR (Corporación de Autónoma Regional de Cundinamarca) and MAVDT (Colombia’s environment, housing and territorial development ministry) have the task to find new solutions to provide enough water for the citizens.
In this article, the natural hydrological cycle of the region “Sabana de Bogotá” is compared with the current hydrological regime. Subsequently, the sustainability of Bogotá’s water facilities will be discussed. Finally, several problemsarisingfrom“waterabuse”(ground water overexploitation, wrong wastewater treatment, floodings) will be explained.
1. Introduction
Water, one of the main sources humans need to survive, is a very important topic in many arid regions of our world as the water shortage is large in these regions. Bogotá (Colombia) located in a subtropical region, has a relatively large amount of fresh water available. Nevertheless, the city is continuously fighting for a sufficient amount of
potable |
water as |
the local |
popula- |
tion is |
dramatically |
increasing |
and the |
demand for water is larger than ever before.
In |
this |
paper |
the |
following |
related questions |
will be |
answered: |
||
1.) Which water resources are available in Bogotá city and its surroundings?
2.) What is the demand for water and why has it grown?
3.) Which (environmental/ economical) problems concerning water are currently found in Bogotá city and the Sabana de Bogotá?
Afterwards, possible solutions for these problems will be discussed.
Background information
2.1 Urban history and an overview of Bogotá
The city of Bogotá (4.6°N and 74.1°W), situated in the Andean Mountain Range of Colombia (figure 1) is currently the largest, fastest growing and most important city of Colombia with an estimated population of 7.5 million inhabitants (see figure 2) (Alcaldía Mayor de
Bogotá D.C., 2011). The large number of inhabitants is the cause of urbanization and demographic growth which have started in the 1950’s. These processes were on its turn caused by the industrialization and a subsequent more stable economy in Colombia (Rueda-García, 2003).
Before industrialization took place in Colombia, the rural population of the region Bogotá was larger than the urban population (6,995,415 vs. 4,459,345; see figure graph 1 and table 1). After the “Operation Colombia” in the 1950’s, which besides industrial development caused agricultural modernization, the traditional rural society decreased and people started moving to urban areas.
This, on the larger time scale, caused the urban population of the Bogotá region to
Figure 1: Location of Bogotá
Source: Shadowxfox (Basemap) and Alexrk2 (Relief)
via Wikimedia Commons
be three times as large as the rural population these days (31,707,820 vs. 9,471,167; see graph 1 and table 1). Bogotá city in specific, as most important nucleus of this region, has even known a constant demographicgrowthsincethelastdecades.
2.2 Climate
According to Köppen, Bogotá, located at a height of ca. 2650 m (Lampis, 2007), is classified as a Cwb climate: a warm temperate climate with dry winters (Lampis, 2007; Peel et al, 2007). In the city, daily temperatures can vary from 8 up to 20 degrees (Skinner, R, 2004; Grieser et al. 2006). In extreme cases, temperatures of -8°C can be reached during the dry season (Lampis, 2007). These large daily fluctuations are, however, not visible in the monthly average tem-
Graph 1: Population changes in urban and rural areas in Bogotá D.C. from 1951 -2000
Source: Rueda-García, 2003; based on: Cuervo and González (1997) Table 9.7p.340; DANE,
Census 1951, 1964, 1973, 1985, 1993 and projections 2000
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The European Geographer, 8th Issue
Table 1: Population changes in urban and rural areas in Bogotá D.C. from 1951-2000
Source: Rueda-García, 2003; based on: Cuervo and González (1997) Table 9.7 p.340; DANE, Census 1951, 1964, 1973, 1985, 1993 and projections 2000
Figure 2: Growth of Bogotá city from 1950 -1990 and the Population growth of Bogotá D.C. compared to other regions
peratures (see graph 3), as extreme cold and warm temperatures are outweighed. During the year, no seasonal fluctuations can be found as the city is located in the Torrid Zone (the tropics) (Gutiérrez & Dracup, 2001; Lampis, 2007).
Variations in rainfall throughout the year are, however, large. Looking at graph 3, two main rain-periods can be recognized: one taking place from March until June and one in October. Irregularities in rainfall and temperature in Bogotá are mainly caused
Sources: Rueda-Garcia, 2003.
by the La Niña en El Niño phenomena (Ortiz, 2011 & Lapis, 2007). These phenomena are common in Colombia and cause periods of extreme drought or rain.
2.3 The “Water Cycle” in and around Bogotá city
Bogotá city is connected to several important parts of the water cycle within the region. One very significant element is the Bogota River on the western side of the city. Eastward of the river, three urban
Graph 2: The Climate of Bogotá City, Source: Erdpunkte, 2010.
tributaries are flowing through the city into Bogota River (figure 3). The rainwater, feeding the groundwater or flowing overland (Horton overland flow/saturated overland flow), finally ends up in Bogota River which transports the water into SouthWestern direction to finally merge with the Magdalena River.
Besides the rivers and the groundwater, wetlands form a very important element of the hydrological system in this region. In earlier days, the extension of wetlands was much larger than these days. Fragmentation due to urbanization caused the amount and the sizes of these wetlands to be reduced up to ± 2 percent of the former extend (Idarraga, 2011). At the moment, 13 wetlands are still found in Bogotá city: Torca, Guaymaral, La Conejara, Córdoba,
Tibanica, Jaboque, La Florida, El Gualí
Techo, El Burro, Tibabuyes o Juan Amarillo, Laguna La Herrera, Neuta, Medidor y
Santa María del Lago (figure 4).
These wetlands have a vital connection to aquifers. They are able to provide water to the aquifer or receive water from the aquifer, which depends on the hydraulic head as well as location, groundwater level and the permeability of the layers in between the aquifer and the wetland (Parties on the convention of Wetlands, 2005).
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Figure 3: Bogota River and tributaries
Source: Rodrigues et al., 2008.
The Andeán páramo ecosystem also plays a key role within the hydrological cycle close to Bogotá city. As the páramo vegetation has a large water surplus, it sustains a stable base flow and is responsible for feeding Bogotá’s river and tributaries (Buytaert et al., 2006). According to Hincapié et al. (2002) the Colombian páramo can store an estimated amount of 1400 mm water per year, which is a large part of the annual rainfall.
Finally, soil type, geology and permeability of the layers are important for infiltration, groundwater recharge and the amount and size of aquifers that can be found in the region. The soil of the Bogotá region mainly consists of lacustrine and fluvial sediments, deposited in the last 6 Ma (Helmens & van der Hammen, 1994) (see figure 5). This causes a rather good groundwater recharge in the region, and as the soil in the region is partly characterized by peat, a lot of water is captured in the páramo, in the peaty soil or in the aquifers.
Within these sediment deposits, several aquifers can be found. Within the quaternary basin is the Guadelupe Aquifer, (thickness 500-750m, transmissivity 5-536 m²/day, storage: 1*10-2 to 9*10-7 L-1) in fractured thick sandstones and clay stones. Pliocene-Quaternary aquifers can be found on top of the Lower Tertiary rocks, which mainly consist of small thin aquifers with a similar storage capacity (2*10-2 to 7*10-7 L-1) and a smaller thickness (0.5m to 5 meter) as the GuadelupeAquifer (Lobo-Guerrero, 1992).
2.4Water supply and privatization
Bogotá has a good location for water supply; the city has access to a large
amount of fresh water sources in the surroundings of the city (water from rivers, groundwater, wetlands and the páramo ecosystem).
The large stress on the water cycle due to domestic use, industrial consumption, agricultural consumption and by the generation of hydropower has increased enormously with the last 50 years. Since the rapid population growth started back in the 1950’s, the capital is using more and more water-resources. In 1933, the water from the rivers San Francisco and San Agustin was not sufficient anymore to supply the citizens and was therefore replaced by water from the river Tunjuelito (Colmenares Faccini, 2010).
In 1959, the water from the Tunjuelito River also did not serve the needs of the population anymore and water from the Bogotá River was added to the water supply. In 1980, after reaching an amount of 5 million inhabitants, water from Chingaza region (see figure 6) was needed to provide enough water for all citizens.
For the transfer of water from the Chigaza region to Bogotá, the Guatiquiá River was used (Colmenares Faccini, 2010).
Water - June 2012
On top of all of this, water has become privatized by law in 1994 (law no. 142). Three different organizations/companies are responsible for all water supplies in Bogotá:
-The EAAB: Empresa de Acueducto y Alcantarillado de Bogotá
-The CAR: Corporación Autónoma Regional de Cundinamarca that is responsible for the protection of environmental resources and in specific focused on water
-The MAVDT: Colombia’s environment, housing and territorial development ministry
As visible in the enumeration above, the government is partly still responsible for water protection. EAAB, however, provides the water to its customers (Colmenares Faccini, 2010).
At the moment, Bogotá is using 25 m³/sec from all mentioned water resources, 1 m³/ sec from the Tunjuelito River, 10.5 m³/sec from Bogotá River and 13.5 m³/sec from Chingaza (Colmenares Faccini, 2010).
3. The effect of water use/abuse in Bogotá on the water cycle
Some effects of urbanization on the hydrological cycle according to
Figure 4: Wetlands and other elements of the hydrological system in Bogotá Source: Moreno et al., 2011.
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The European Geographer, 8th Issue
Figure 5: Sediment depositions in the Bogotá Region, based on: Helmens & van der Hammen, 1994.
Goonetilleke et al. (2005) are: changes in runoff ratios; changes in impermeable areas; an increased runoff peak and volume; a reduced time to peak; a reduction in the retention capacity; a change in water infiltration into the soil.
Most of these changes are also taking place in Bogotá D.C.: more flooding have been taking place in Bogotá due to canalization of the Bogotá River and the destruction of the wetlands (as mentioned in chapter 2).
The most important characterizing water problems in Bogotá are however: aquifer overexploitation, unsustainable water use, flood-control and water contamination.
3.1 Aquifer and river overexploitation
In the Bogotá region (Sabana de Bogotá), there has not been enough surface water to satisfy the water demand of the region for the last 50 years (Lobo-Guerrero, 2003). Lately, more groundwater is being extracted and more and costlier wells are constructed to provide towns, agricultural fields and the industry with a sufficient amount of water.
In the last 40 years, the groundwater seems to be, however, more difficult to reach. EAAB is therefore building newer and deeper wells since 1970 to keep providing a sufficient amount of water for the growing population.
As with the growing amount of wells too much water is extracted from these aquifers, the groundwater is descending in several aquifers within the Guadeloupe formation (quaternary aquifers) and groundwater extraction is becoming more uncontrolled than before (Lobo-Guerrero, 1995).
At the moment, groundwater is extracted from more than 5,000 wells in the
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region Bogotá (Lobo-Guerrero, 2003). This number of groundwater wells causes groundwater extraction to be uncontrolled and changes the renewable groundwater source into a non-renewable source. In many of these aquifers the groundwater has descended 35 m per year in the last years. In some aquifers the groundwater has even descended up to 8 meters per year, which can have many negative consequences (Lobo-Guerrero, 1995).
One earlier mentioned consequence is the difficulty to reach the groundwater in the future. Another complication is overpressure in overexploited groundwater wells. Besides these local problems another consequence of a lower water table is the compaction of soils and subsidence of quaternary sediment layers, which causes problems for infrastructure (houses, paved roads, etc.) (Lobo-Guerrero, 1995). Other important consequences of the lowering of the potentiometric level are the disappearance of mountain front springs, streams and wetland (Lobo-Guerrero, 1995).
The stress on the Bogotá River has become larger during the last years as more water is being extracted from the river. The maximum amount of water that can be extracted in order to maintain a balanced water cycle is said to be 10 m³/year according to Professor Thomas van der Hammen (in: Colmares Faccini, 2010). According to Rafael Colmares Faccini (2010) the actual extraction of water is said to be 4 to 5 times as large as this maximum. This indirectly causes the water table to be lower and the amount of available groundwater to be even smaller.
3.2 Waste water treatment: Bogotá’s urban drainage system
The amount of water used per day by the population of Bogotá is very large.
In 2004, the population of Bogotá consumed 94 liters per day per capita. Most of this water returns unfiltered back into the rivers Tunjuelo, Fucha and Saltire (see figure 3), which is strange for a city in which almost 96% of the wastewater system is already developed. The problem of wastewater returning directly back into the rivers is caused by some of the following complications/ problems:
3.2.1 The combined sewer system
Bogotá city knows a widely developed sewer system with channelized streams and wastewater interceptors. On top of that, the city also constructed a storm drainage system in order to prevent flooding during extreme rainfall events.
According to Rodríguez et al. (2008), this system, however, is not working due to wrong infrastructure: “There are many wrong connections from the waste water system flowing into the storm drainage system”. They, moreover, mention that the percentage of wrong connections from the storm drainage system into the waste water system varies from 23% to 90%.
The consequence of this inappropriate infrastructure is a poor water quality in the storm drainage channels. This poor water quality causes a bacteriological water contamination (mean Total Coliform concentration: 1*108
MPN/100 ml) (Rodríguez et al., 2008).
3.2.2 The lack of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs)
Bogotá city has a daily wastewater flow of an estimated 75 liters per capita (88 liters used, 0.85 return factor - according to
Rodríguez et al., 2008). As a part of this wastewater is contaminated, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are needed to be able to re-use water.
In contrast to the largely developed sewer system, Bogotá only has one WWTP in the Saltire sub catchment. Saltire WWTP is able to treat an estimate of 25% of all wastewater. Even if normally, a percentage of 40% waste water treatment is demanded (Rodríguez et al., 2008), this is not available in Bogotá city. Even if according to Vollertsen and Hvitved-Ja- cobsen (2000) the direct discharge of urban dry weather wastewater is generally not accepted, the pollution of Bogotá River by the direct discharge of urban wastewater is a well-known problem in Bogotá city.
Moreover, the Bogotá River does not have the capacity for self-purification due to the low slope angle, small longitudinal slope, high altitude and medium temperature
Water - June 2012
Figure 6: The location of the Chingaza’s National Park, where water is extracted to supply for Bogotá Source: www.maps.google.com (edited)
(Rodríguez et al., 2008).
3.3 Flooding & Water storage in soils
The rapid urbanization since 1950 did not only cause a fast population growth for the city and a subsequent large demand for water, it also caused complications with water storage and related to that, flood control.
As the Bogotá river has been channelized and wetlands have been destructed, the space for water has become smaller and smaller. And as wrong sewer infrastructure causes a poor water quality, it also affects the amount of water that can be captured by the storm drainage system; as wastewater is also collected in these tubes; there is less space available for flood water (Rodríguez et al., 2008).
With the destruction of wetlands, much of the páramo-vegetation has also been destructed in the past. As páramo soils are comparable with peat soils (high organic carbon content), they are highly porous and have a high hydraulic conductivity.
The páramo therefore provides a large water surplus and feeds rivers with a sustainable base flow (Buyteart et al, 2006). The destruction of páramo vegetation in the last decades altered this storage capacity. While páramo vegetation is disappearing, soils are losing their organic carbon content and overland flow takes place.
All factors mentioned above have altered
the water cycle and cause a more frequent occurrence of flooding in Bogotá city.
4. Future planning
Bogotácityanditssurroundingshavemany problems with water use and abuse, as is shown in section 3. The EEAB, CAR and MAVDT are, however, constantly trying to find solutions for larger water supplies, but also action against flooding is undertaken. The “Rio Bogota’s Environmental Recuperation and Flood Control Project for Colombia”, financed by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Borrower, has been set up in combination with the CAR, EAAB and District government.
One mission of the project is to improve flood control by restoring parts of the original river flood plain and wetlands in Bogotá. The World Bank (2010) describes the project as the following: “This component will reduce flood risk and establishment of multifunctional zones along the Río
Bogota river through the carrying out of flood control and environmental improvement works, including river dredging, embankment construction, restoration of riparian habitats, meanders and wetlands, land acquisition, involuntary displacement of people, landscape design, and establishment of parks, and the provision of consultants’ services for the design, construction and supervision therefor.”
Another part of the plan is to complete the wastewater network and to upgrade Saltires WWTP capacity up to double
(from 4 m³/sec up to 8 m³/sec) (Rodríguez
et al., 2008). Finally, an environmental and hydrological study will be carried out.
5. Discussion & Conclusion
Bogotá city is a good example of a city with unsustainable water management
(“water-abuse”). Some |
of |
the |
most |
|
important |
points |
are: |
river |
|
pollution |
by an insufficient |
treatment |
||
of wastewater, flooding hazard due to urbanization and páramo deforestation and groundwater overexploitation.
Besides groundwater overexploitation all other problems are said to be resolved by the Rio Bogota Environmental
Recuperation |
and |
Flood |
Control |
Project for Colombia. |
|
|
|
The price for resolving this environmental problem is, however, high: the whole project is said to cost 500 Million US Dollar (World Bank, 2010). As water in the past has become extremely expensive for Bogotá citizens (compared to other cities in Colombia) the question remains if this water will also remain affordable for the local population.
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The European Geographer, 8th Issue
References
Alcaldía Mayor de Bogotá D.C., 2011. Viewed,
20 April 2011: http://www.sdp.gov.co/sec- tion-2117.jsp
Buyteart, W. Célleri, R. De Bièvre, B. Cisneros, F. Wyseure, G. Deckers, J. Hofstede,
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Colmenares Faccini, R. (Director Ejectivo Ecofondo), 2010. El agua y Bogotá: un panorama de insostenibilidad, viewed 20 April 2011: http:// www.usofrenteobrero.org/pdf/se³aury/41.pdf
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Goonetilleke, A. Thomas, E. Ginn, S. and Gilbert, D., 2005. Understanding the role of land use in urban stormwater quality management. J. Environ. Manage: 74, 3142.
Grieser, J. Gommes, R. Colfield, S and Bernardi, M. (The Agromet Group, SDRN, FAO of the UN), 2006. Short Classification of Koeppen Classes, Italy, viewed 26 April 2011: http://user. uni-frankfurt.de/~grieser/downloads/Koeppen-
Climatology/KoeppenClasses.pdf
Gutierrez, F. and Dracup, J.A. 2001. An analysis of the feasibility of long-range streamflow forecasting for Colombia using El Nino-South- ern Oscillation indicators. Journal of Hydrology 246(1-4):181-196
Helmens, K.F. and van der Hammen, T., 1994. The Pliocene and quaternary of the high plain of Bogota (Colombia): A history of tectonic uplift, basin development and climatic change. Quaternary International, Vol. 21, pp. 41-61.
Hincapié, J.C.A., Castillo, C.B., Argüello, S.C., Aguilera, D.P.R., Holguín, F.S.,
Triana, J.V., Lopera, A., 2002. Transformación y cambio en el uso del suelo en los páramos de Colombia en las últimas décadas. In: Castaño, C. (Ed.), Páramos y ecosistemas alto andinos de Colombia en condición hotspot y global climatic tensor. IDEAM, Bogotá, pp. 211–333.
Idarraga, G. Protección del estado natural de los humedales de lasabana de Bogotá, viewed
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Lampis, A., 2007. Urbanization y Global Climate Change: Bogotá – Colombia.
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Lobo-Guerrero, A., 1992. Geologiá y Hidrogeologia de Santafé de Bogotá y su Sabana. VII Jornaddas Geotècnicas de la Ingenieria de Colombia-I-Foro Sobre Geotécnica de la Sabana de Bogotá ; (II): 1-12, Sociedad Colombiana de Ingenieros-Sociedad Colombiana de Geotécnica, Bogotá.
Lobo-Guerrero, A., 1995. Descendo de Niveles de Agua Subterránea en la
Sabana de Bogotá. Jornadas geotecnicas de la Ingenieria de Colombia-II-Foro
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Water - June 2012
The role of water objects in the area of the Udmurt Republic
Aino Kirillova,
EGEA Moscow
Historically, people settled down along the rivers, which provided them with a water resource. The rivers are a source of life. Furthermore, they are a source of knowledge about the culture of a community, which dwelled on the sides of a water body and gave names to it. Let us consider a case study of the Udmurt Republic, one of the federal subjects of Russia. The republic is located in the eastern portion of the Eastern European Plain, between the Kama and Vyatka Rivers.
Udmurtia is called the Land of Springs, because there are 8,5 thousand rivers, both big and tiny. The Rivers have diverse water sources of delivery, mostly snow, rain and subterranean water. The valleys of many of the rivers are meandering streams with rapids. The Kama river is the largest in Udmurtia (Figure 1). The name of the river possibly originates from the Udmurt word kam - which means “river, big water”. Such kinds of hydronyms
could be found in many Indo-Iranian and Finno-Ugric languages, so there is no consensus about its origin. From the economic and historical point of view, the significance of the Kama River for the republic is quite important. It has been used for shipping and wood floating; as well as being a source of water supply, hydropower and storage of fish resources [2, 51].
The next largest river is the Vyatka, which is the right tributary of the Kama River. The name, perhaps, goes back to the Finno-Ugric hydronym Uento which means “slow, calm and deep”. The largest tributary of the Vyatka is the Cheptsa (Figure 2). The Udmurt people, who first settled along it, called it Chupchi. Linguists think that the name originated from the Finno-Ugric chup (“Gulf”) and chi - (“river, stream”), literally: “the river which pours into the bay”. The second tributary of the Vyatka is the Kil’mez. Udmurts call it Kalmez. It possibly comes from old Udmurt word cal, which means “little fish”, and the suffix – Meuse, which means “water source”.
The rivers were the only sustainable way of transportation in ancient times and in the Middle Ages, which is why the population settled mainly along the river banks. This predetermined the type of spatial structure of the riverine settlement in the Kama-Vyatka region [1, 2009, p.212]. The predominant location of settlements was along the small rivers. (Figure 3, authorChurakov V.S. 2009). This was more convenient for the construction of mills, which was important for the agricultural economy. Settlements along major rivers were small (about 5% of all settlements); as the coast is mostly marshy, and they were not of fishing significance.
The authors of the study “Historical and Cultural Landscape of the Kama-Vyatka Region” [1, 2009] wrote about certain principles of the historical and cultural landscape formation as the effect of various ethnic communities adjusting to living conditions in different historical periods in the Kama region. Historical sites represent different periods of economic and cultural human activities in definite natural conditions. Natural-cultural sites (e.g.
Figure 1: The Kama River, Source: Photo by Aino Kirillova, 2009
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The European Geographer, 8th Issue
Figure 2: The Cheptsa River, Source: Photo by Aino Kirillova, 2010
Figure 3: Sketch map of location of Udmurt settlements on the area of contemporary Udmurt Republic at the beginning of the XVIII century; circles – villages; triangles - emerging rural settlements
Source: Churakov V.S. 2009 (Удмуртское Прикамье по писцовым описаниям и подворным переписям XVII - начала XVIII веков [Электронный ресурс] / автор-сост. Чураков В. С. — Ижевск:
УИИЯЛ УрО РАН, 2009. Номер гос. регистрации 0320900868)
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springs), water bodies (rivers, lakes) may be referred to as natural sanctuaries.Often they are unique original water objects. For example, the karst lake Lyzi in Udmurtia, is associated with several legends. In ancient times, people often prayed there. They called the water body the sacred lake. Scientists pay attention to the other karst lakes, which were also the place for religious ceremonies.
It is possible to reconstruct the fragments of history due to physical geographical research. The Professor Y. Simonov [4, 2008, p. 314] wrote: “Through analysis of a river basin, you can get the information helping to restore the history of relief development, eco-geomorphologic analysis of the situation and thus predict changes”. It is crucial for landscape management and sustainable development. It is obvious that water bodies can be an instrument of research and a unique source of information about cultural and historical heritage of the region. It has shown how important water objects in Udmurt Republic are in the regional settlement system.
References
[1]Historical and cultural landscape of the Kama-Vyat- ka region: The Collective monograph. Izhevsk, 2009, p.244.
[2]Kirillova L. Kama river in the writing of researchers
// Permistika XI: Dialects and history of the Permian language in the cooperation with other languages: Materials of XI International Symposium.Perm University, Perm, 2006, p.50-55
[3]Kirillova L. Microtoponyms of Kilmez basin. Izhevsk,
2002, p.571
[4]Simonov Y. Selected proceeding. Moscow, 2008, p.384
[5]The Udmurt Republic: Encyclopaedia. Izhevsk, 2000. p.800
[6]Udmurt part of Kama region by descriptions XVII-
XVIII centuries. The electronic edition. Churakov V. Udmurt Institute of History, Language and Literature, 2009
[1]Историко-культурный ландшафт Камско-
Вятского региона: Коллективная монография.
Ижевск, 2009. С.244
[2]Кириллова Л. Е. Река Кама в трудах исследователей // Пермистика XI: Диалекты и
история пермских языков во взаимодействии с
другими языками: Материалы XI Международного
симпозиума (30–31 марта 2006 г., Пермь) / Перм.
гос. пед. ун-т; Отв. ред. Л. Г. Пономарева. Пермь, 2006. С. 50–55.
[3]Кириллова Л. Е. Микротопонимия бассейна
Кильмези. Ижевск, 2002. С. 571.
[4]Cимонов Ю. Г. Избранные труды. Москва, 2008.С.384.
[5]Удмуртская Республика: Энциклопедия. Ижевск: Издательство «Удмуртия», 2000. С.800
[6]Удмуртское Прикамье по писцовым описаниям
и подворным переписям XVII – начало XVIII веков. Электронное издание. Чураков В. С., предисловие, составление, оригинал-макет, Удмуртский институт
истории, языка и литературы УрО РАН, 2009.
Water - June 2012
Virtual water trade
Daria Golub,
EGEA Saint-Petersburg, Russian State Hydrometeorological University
Water should be considered an economic good. The logic is clear: clean fresh water is a scarce good and thus should be treated economically.
In dealing with the available water resources in an economically efficient way, there are three different levels at which decisions can be made and improvements can be achieved. The first level is the user level, where price and technology play a key role.
This is the level where the ‘local water use efficiency’ can be increased by creating awareness among the water users, charging prices based on full marginal cost and by stimulating water-saving technology.
Second, at the catchment or river basin level, a choice has to be made on how to allocate the available water resources to the different sectors of economy (including public health and the environment). At this level we speak of ‘water allocation efficiency’.
Beyond ‘local water use efficiency’ and ‘water allocation efficiency’ there is a level at which one could talk about ‘global water use efficiency’. It is a fact that some regions of the world are water-scarce and other regions are water-abundant. It is
Figure 1: The three different levels in dealing with water Source: Hoekstra, A.Y., 2003
also a fact that in some regions there is a low demand for water and in other regions a high demand. Unfortunately, there is no general positive relation between water demand and availability.
A water-scarce country can aim at importing products that require a lot of water in their production (water-intensive products) and exporting products or services that require less water (water-extensive products). For water-abundant countries an argumentation can be made for export of virtual water. Import of water-intensive products by some nations and export of these products by others includes what is called ‘virtual water trade’ between nations (Hoekstra & Hung, 2003).
Virtual water
Virtual water is a term used for the water ‘embodied’ in a product, not in real sense, but in virtual sense. It refers to the water needed for the production of the product. As an example of virtual water content, one often refers to the virtual water content of grains or livestock products.
It is estimated that for producing 1 kg of grain we need for instance 1000-2000 kg of water, for the production of 1 kg of cheese we need 5000-5500 kg of water, and for 1 kg of beef we need on average
Figure 2: National virtual water trade balances over the period 1995-1999. Red represents net import, green net export. Source: Hoekstra, A.Y., 2003
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The European Geographer, 8th Issue
Figure 3: Assessment of global virtual water trade between nations (period 1995-1999) according to the IHE study Source: Hoekstra, A.Y., 2003
16000 kg of water (Chapagain & Hoekstra, 2003).
The concept of ‘virtual water’ was introduced by Tony Allan in the early nineties. It took nearly a decade to get global recognition of the importance of the concept for achieving regional and global water security.
The first international meeting on the subject was held in December 2002 in Delft, the Netherlands.
World-wide, both politicians and the general public show increasing interest in the pros and cons of the ‘globalization’ of trade. This is understandable, since increasing global trade implies increased interdependence of nations.
There is some tension in the debate, relating to the fact that the game of global competition is played with rules that many see as unfair.
Knowing that economically sound water pricing is poorly developed in many regions of the world means that many products are put on the world market at a price that does not properly include the cost of the water contained in the product. This leads to situations in which some regions in fact subsidise export of scarce water (Hoekstra & Hung, 2003).
Quantifying virtual water trade flows
Hoekstra and Hung, 2003; Chapagain and Hoekstra, 2003 estimate global virtual water trade between nations to be 1040×109 m3/yr in the period 1995-1999. This estimation is based on the virtual water content of the products in the exporting countries.
Virtual water - virtual benefits?
The virtual water hypothesis makes a priori sense and could, if used wisely, help forestall conflict. The virtual water thesis posits a self-restoring mechanism in a world out of equilibrium due to the sharply
unequal global water distribution picture. However, there is a problem with the underlying assumption that this equilibrium will be reached spontaneously, and that it will benefit everyone. It will redistribute stress and insecurity in ways that may heighten rather than dampen social conflict. While a reserve of virtual water sources can alleviate the stresses of adjustment, it also takes the human factor out of the equation (Warne, 2003).
Global water saving related to international virtual water trade
The water productivity – the volume of water required per unit of product – is often higher at the production site than at the consumption site.
This means that the real virtual water content of a product, which depends on the production conditions at the production site, is often lower than the hypothetical virtual water content of the product if the product would have been produced at the consumption site.
According to Renault (2003) for instance, trading 1 kg of maize from France to Egypt saves about 0.52 m3 of water, because the virtual water content of the French maize is about 0.6 m3/kg, whereas the virtual water content of Egyptian maize is about 1.12 m3/kg.
They estimate that the virtual water content of international food trade flows is 683×109 m3/yr from the point of view of the exporting countries. Producing the traded food products in the importing countries would require 1138×109 m3/yr.
The difference makes the global water saving (Hoekstra, 2003).
References
Hoekstra, A.Y. and Hung, P.Q., 2003. Virtual water trade: A quantification of virtual water flows between nations in relation to international crop trade. Virtual water trade: Proceedings of the International Expert Meeting on Virtual
Water Trade, Research Report Series No. 12: pp. 25-30.
Chapagain, A.K. and Hoekstra, A.Y., 2003. ‘Virtual water trade: A quantification of virtual water flows between nations in relation to international trade of livestock and livestock products’. Virtual water trade: Proceedings of the International Expert Meeting on Virtual Water Trade, Research Report Series No. 12: pp. 49-57.
Warner, J., 2003. ‘Virtual water – virtual benefits? Scarcity, distribution, security and conflict reconsidered’. Virtual water trade: Proceedings of the International Expert Meeting on Virtual
Water Trade, Research Report Series No. 12: pp. 125-133.
Renault, D., 2003. “Value of virtual water in food: Principles and virtues”. Virtual water trade: Proceedings of the International Expert
Meeting on Virtual Water Trade, Research Report Series No. 12: pp. 77-81.
Hoekstra, A.Y., 2003. Virtual water: An introduction. Virtual water trade: Proceedings of the
International Expert Meeting on Virtual Water Trade, Research Report Series No. 12: pp. 1317.
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