Diversities and sustainability of dietary water footprint and virtual water flows in China

Abstract

Increasing dietary diversity while avoiding additional stress on water resources remains a critical challenge for sustainability. However, the precise understanding of the physical water consumption and virtual water flows associated with diversified diets remains unclear. This study estimated the dietary water footprints (WFs), interprovincial virtual water flows, followed by assessing the unsustainable blue WF and water scarcity footprint (WSF) in China over 2015–2019. Rural and urban food intake, waste, and differences between eating at home and out were considered. The findings reveal that China’s dietary patterns have gradually strayed from recommended guidelines, with an overconsumption of cereals and inadequate intake of dairy products and potatoes. Despite a decrease, both unsustainable blue WF and WSF remained significant, measuring 249.61 Gm3 and 807.77 Gm3 H2O-eq, respectively, in 2019. Notably, water-scarce regions still accounted for a substantial portion of unsustainable virtual blue water exports. The diet related virtual water reallocation can offset the water savings on the crop production side.