Water Accounting Framework Research Articles

Mine Water Use in Kazakhstan: Data Issues, Risks, and Regulations

Kazakhstan experiences medium-high water stress, intensified by the rapid expansion of mining operations. Due to the scarcity of public data on water use in Kazakhstan’s mining, we use a case study to make inferences about industry-level water use. Specifically, we apply the ICMM water accounting framework and assess water use at one of Kazakhstan’s new copper mines. We find that this mine has managed to achieve a high level of water reuse and minimal impact on water quality. Yet, the company has a relatively high share of water entrained in waste and a high rate of increase in freshwater withdrawals. Our estimates suggest that the operation of this mine has resulted in a 1.5% increase in withdrawals of Kazakhstan’s extractive industries. Considering that during the last decade, the number of mining companies increased by 50%, we can conclude that the cumulative water impacts of mining in Kazakhstan have been substantial. The forthcoming uptake of critical minerals production may further strain Kazakhstan’s water resources. Thus, the rapidly increasing mine water use and rising risks due to climate change and the sharing of water with neighboring countries call for urgent strengthening of Kazakhstan’s water governance and institutions.

Modifying physical supply and use tables (PSUTs) in the system of environmental-economic accounting (SEEA) for off-farm irrigation water management

A reliable water accounting framework is crucial for understanding the contribution of water resources in meeting agricultural demands and selecting appropriate operating systems for off-farm water systems, including hydraulic conveyance and distribution structures. This ensures fair, adequate, and dependable irrigation water distribution, especially under water scarcity operational scenarios. This study presents a novel and effective method for modifying PSU tables in the SEEA water accounting framework that is specifically designed for small-scale agricultural water management study areas. The proposed approach entails a comprehensive analysis of the surface water distribution within the water holders using a hydraulic simulation model and a spatial analysis of the groundwater extraction for meeting on-farm water demands. This approach was implemented on Iran's Central Plateau and revealed notable variations in water rights and distribution effectiveness among stakeholders so that, surface water contributed 27–40% less than the legal water rights, leading to aquifer overexploitation. The evaluation indicated that changing crop patterns and upgrading to pressurized irrigation systems led to 4–7.5% overexploitation of groundwater and 3.5–6% water conservation on farm scales. Besides, the spatial assessment verified a considerable overlap of 59% between the farms with modern irrigation systems and those with cultivated area expansion, resulting in sustained overexploitation pressure on the aquifer. The present study has two significant practical implications. Firstly, it specifies the contribution of surface- and groundwater resources in fulfilling the water demands of individual water-holders. Secondly, it provides reliable information to decision-makers about the incentives for modernization, rehabilitation, and renovation projects in an irrigation district.

Assessing Climate-Driven Salinity Intrusion through Water Accounting: A Case Study in Ben Tre Province for More Sustainable Water Management Plans

This scientific paper delves into sustainable water management strategies for Ben Tre Province of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD) in light of water-infrastructure plans that have been impacted by climate change-induced salinity intrusion. Specifically, we aim to mitigate the effects of salinity intrusion for the province while promoting long-term environmental sustainability. In doing so, a water accounting framework was applied, mostly based on the MIKE11 hydrodynamic modeling and water balance calculations, to determine current and future water stress issues based on two main scenarios of extreme drought year 2016 (baseline) and the future year 2030 under climate change for a medium-low emission scenario (RCP4.5). The study found that salinity intrusion significantly causes severe water stress in the future year 2030 compared to the baseline year 2016, while the existing water management methods are relatively inadequate to control salinity intrusion, leading to over 57% of the area affected by medium to critical water stress levels, although it will go along with planned water infrastructures. Additionally, a system of triple rice cropping converted two rice cropping and upland cropping with 40% water demand cutoff was found to be the most suitable measure for 2030. Particularly, water-saving and water demand reduction should be incorporated into infrastructural planning for sustainable water management. Our study provides valuable insights for policymakers and stakeholders, not only for the province and the VMD, but also other regions facing similar challenges.

Water Accounting Framework in India: Performance Implications and Contextual Factors

Water Accounting Framework in India: Performance Implications and Contextual Factors

How far are groundwater resource assessments in India reliable?

AbstractThe article critically reviews the methodology adopted by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) for the assessment of groundwater resources in India. The authors developed a water balance equation that simulates the changes in annual and seasonal groundwater storages of an agricultural region, using a water accounting framework; they solved the developed equation using the data of annual and seasonal water level fluctuations for a wet year for Ludhiana district of Punjab to estimate different components of the water balance. The estimated values are used to test the robustness of the CGWB methodology for monsoon recharge. The annual groundwater storage change obtained from solving the water balance equation was compared with the observed change in annual groundwater storage and was found to closely tally. As per the water balance equation, the CGWB estimates of rainfall recharge conform to the annual water level fluctuations recorded by the agency and therefore are not reliable. Hence, we could infer that our methodology is superior to that of CGWB for estimating monsoon recharge. The validated equation was also used to estimate the recharge from rainfall during a dry year. Using these outputs in a simple groundwater balance equation, irrigation return flows were estimated for the wet and dry years. The equation was then extended to the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, a hard rock area, for estimating the surface water import during a wet year, the key unknown in the region's water balance. Hence, our methodology can be employed to estimate rainfall recharge for dry years using annual changes in groundwater storage and estimated consumptive uses of water, when the “WLF approach,” used by CGWB, fails, owing to the presence of an additional variable, that is, monsoon draft. For wet years, it can be used to arrive at the consumptive use of water for various purposes.

Assessing the impacts of large‐scale substitution of pressurized irrigation on basin hydrology through a water accounting framework

AbstractAs the main challenge to water resource management, the impacts of irrigation method improvement need to be addressed in regional hydrological processes. This study investigates the hydrological impacts of developing pressurized irrigation systems at the basin scale using the WEAP–WA (water evaluation and planning system–water accounting) coupling approach. Regarding the development of pressurized irrigation systems since 2006, two separate periods can be mentioned for surface irrigation (1998–2006) and for pressurized irrigation development (2006–2013) in the intermediate basin of Ahar‐Chai in Iran. All major water resource elements of the region were found and constructed in WEAP as predefined object‐oriented elements. The simplified soil moisture method was adopted to model the rainfall‐runoff process in irrigated areas. This model was calibrated and validated using PEST (parameter estimation tool) with acceptable statistical criteria. To understand water balance components, the water accounting framework (WAF) was employed, and the results indicated that modernizing the irrigation system increased water depletion and usage. The results indicate an increase of 26% in actual evapotranspiration in pressurized irrigation compared with surface irrigation (50% of the irrigated area). Actual evapotranspiration and nonbeneficial evapotranspiration per unit area also followed the same trend. However, pressurized systems have higher crop productivity and denser crop patterns. In contrast, the basin runoff during pressurized irrigation was 42% less than that during surface irrigation, which is due to fewer return flows caused by pressurized irrigation. Therefore, the basin surface runoff can be influenced by the type of irrigation. The results obtained by this study suggest an adverse effect of altering the surface irrigation methods in pressurized systems.

Spatial scale effect of irrigation efficiency paradox based on water accounting framework in Heihe River Basin, Northwest China

Improving irrigation efficiency (IE) to alleviate water shortage has been deemed viable. However, the so-called irrigation efficiency paradox (IEP) can complicate this process, where agricultural water consumption remains high despite the enhanced irrigation efficiency, particularly in arid regions. This study developed a judgment method of IEP based on a water accounting framework and the IEP definition to detect the IEP occurring across spatial scales in the middle Heihe River Basin, the second-largest inland river basin in Northwest China. Furthermore, the scale effects of the IEP were analyzed. The results showed that evaluated by evapotranspiration (ET) and transpiration (T), the scale effect occurred because IEP does not necessarily occur at the field scale but at the irrigation district scale and basin scale. Evaluated by Inflows (I) and surface water diversion and groundwater extraction (Isg), the scale effect occurred because IEP may occur at the field and the irrigation district scales but not at the basin scale. Further, the IEP was also influenced by time scales and regional agricultural characteristics. The results can be referenced for water-saving measures, avoiding the potential IEP for actual water savings in arid regions worldwide.

Integrated Assessment of Ferizi Watershed Based on Water Accounting Framework Using SWAT Model

Integrated Assessment of Ferizi Watershed Based on Water Accounting Framework Using SWAT Model

Did water-saving irrigation protect water resources over the past 40 years? A global analysis based on water accounting framework

Water-saving technologies have long been seen as an effective method to reduce irrigation water use and alleviate regional water shortage. However, growing reports of more severe water shortage and increasing application of water-saving technologies across the world have necessitated reassessment of agricultural water-saving. This study develops a simple method based on satellite-based ET partitions to estimate water withdrawal, water consumption and return flow from the 1980s to 2010s, and quantifies water-savings across globe and four hot-spot irrigated areas at both field and regional scales based on water accounting framework. The results show that global irrigation water flows keep increasing from the 1980s to 2010s, with over 50% increase from the expansion in irrigated lands. While water-saving technologies are found mainly applied in originally old irrigated lands, traditional flooding irrigation is still dominant in newly-developed irrigated lands. Non-beneficial water consumption (soil evaporation) is effectively reduced by water-saving technologies, but return flow has increased at the same time. At field scale, water-saving technologies fail to save water because the accumulated increased return flow is more than the accumulated decreased non-beneficial water consumption. At regional scale, however, water is saved because the return flow percolated to fresh aquifers is seen as beneficial rather than loss. At the same time, the accumulated increase of beneficial water consumption (crop transpiration) exceeds regional water savings, which explains the paradox between wide application of water-saving technologies and more severe regional water shortage. This study provides key new evidence for the paradox of irrigation efficiency and helps reconsidering water-saving technologies and their impacts on regional water resources.

Mapping groundwater abstractions from irrigated agriculture: big data, inverse modeling, and a satellite–model fusion approach

Abstract. The agricultural sector in Saudi Arabia has witnessed rapid growth in both production and area under cultivation over the last few decades. This has prompted some concern over the state and future availability of fossil groundwater resources, which have been used to drive this expansion. Large-scale studies using satellite gravimetric data show a declining trend over this region. However, water management agencies require much more detailed information on both the spatial distribution of agricultural fields and their varying levels of water exploitation through time than coarse gravimetric data can provide. Relying on self-reporting from farm operators or sporadic data collection campaigns to obtain needed information are not feasible options, nor do they allow for retrospective assessments. In this work, a water accounting framework that combines satellite data, meteorological output from weather prediction models, and a modified land surface hydrology model was developed to provide information on both irrigated crop water use and groundwater abstraction rates. Results from the local scale, comprising several thousand individual center-pivot fields, were then used to quantify the regional-scale response. To do this, a semi-automated approach for the delineation of center-pivot fields using a multi-temporal statistical analysis of Landsat 8 data was developed. Next, actual crop evaporation rates were estimated using a two-source energy balance (TSEB) model driven by leaf area index, land surface temperature, and albedo, all of which were derived from Landsat 8. The Community Atmosphere Biosphere Land Exchange (CABLE) model was then adapted to use satellite-based vegetation and related surface variables and forced with a 3 km reanalysis dataset from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Groundwater abstraction rates were then inferred by estimating the irrigation supplied to each individual center pivot, which was determined via an optimization approach that considered CABLE-based estimates of evaporation and TSEB-based satellite estimates. The framework was applied over two study regions in Saudi Arabia: a small-scale experimental facility of around 40 center pivots in Al Kharj that was used for an initial evaluation and a much larger agricultural region in Al Jawf province comprising more than 5000 individual fields across an area exceeding 2500 km2. Total groundwater abstraction for the year 2015 in Al Jawf was estimated at approximately 5.5 billion cubic meters, far exceeding any recharge to the groundwater system and further highlighting the need for a comprehensive water management strategy. Overall, this novel data–model fusion approach facilitates the compilation of national-scale groundwater abstractions while also detailing field-scale information that allows both farmers and water management agencies to make informed water accounting decisions across multiple spatial and temporal scales.

Water Footprints and Virtual Water Flows Embodied in the Power Supply Chain

Water use within power supply chains has been frequently investigated. A unified framework to quantify the water use of power supply chains deserves more development. This article provides an overview of the water footprint and virtual water incorporated into power supply chains. A water-use mapping model of the power supply chain is proposed in order to map the analysed research works according to the considered aspects. The distribution of water footprint per power generation technology per region is illustrated, in which Asia is characterised by the largest variation of the water footprint in hydro-, solar, and wind power. A broader consensus on the system boundary for the water footprint evaluation is needed. The review also concludes that the water footprint of power estimated by a top-down approach is usually higher and more accurate. A consistent virtual water accounting framework for power supply chains is still lacking. Water scarcity risks could increase through domestic and global power trade. This review provides policymakers with insights on integrating water and energy resources in order to achieve sustainable development for power supply chains. For future work, it is essential to identify the responsibilities of both the supply and demand sides to alleviate the water stress.

Basin-wide water accounting based on modified SWAT model and WA+ framework for better policy making

Evaluation of water resources systems and implementation of appropriate management strategies requires accurate and well classified information describing supply, demand, and consumption. The WA+ water accounting framework is a relevant tool in this regard. Earlier applications of the WA+ framework draw heavily from remote sensing (RS) data; however, applying RS data limits the application of the framework to past and current situations. Such analyses are needed for future assessments due to new management and climate scenarios. Therefore, the objective of this research is to link WA+ with the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model to enhance it and to evaluate water management strategies through an integrated framework. The resulting system, SWAT-FARS (customized version of SWAT model for Fars region) is capable of supporting macro and micro water planning through a systematic presentation of the past trends, current and future status in water supply and demand. To explore this methodology, the system was applied to the Tashk-Bakhtegan basin (Iran). The trends in supply and consumption within the basin and some of the water saving policies that are mandated by the country’s 6th development plan were evaluated. Application of SWAT-FARS to the Task-Bakhtegan basin showeddecreasein “Manageable water” of about 23% and a simultaneous increase of “Incremental irrigation” of about 53%; this lack of accessible water and imbalance of manageable water and water usage has almost omitted the basin’s “Outflows”. To alleviate pressures on the basin’s water resources, a suggested elimination of rice cultivation and improving pressurized irrigation showed the first policy could reduce water consumption by 0.08 BCM/yr and the second one can even increase water consumption by 0.25 BCM/yr over current conditions. The methodology used to develop SWAT-FARS is strongly recommended for other regions suffering water scarcity.

A Simplified Water Accounting Procedure to Assess Climate Change Impact on Water Resources for Agriculture across Different European River Basins

European agriculture and water policies require accurate information on climate change impacts on available water resources. Water accounting, that is a standardized documentation of data on water resources, is a useful tool to provide this information. Pan-European data on climate impacts do not recognize local anthropogenic interventions in the water cycle. Most European river basins have a specific toolset that is understood and used by local experts and stakeholders. However, these local tools are not versatile. Thus, there is a need for a common approach that can be understood by multi-fold users to quantify impact indicators based on local data and that can be used to synthesize information at the European level. Then, policies can be designed with the confidence that underlying data are backed-up by local context and expert knowledge. This work presents a simplified water accounting framework that allows for a standardized examination of climate impacts on water resource availability and use across multiple basins. The framework is applied to five different river basins across Europe. Several indicators are extracted that explicitly describe green water fluxes versus blue water fluxes and impacts on agriculture. The examples show that a simplified water accounting framework can be used to synthesize basin-level information on climate change impacts which can support policymaking on climate adaptation, water resources and agriculture.

Water–land nexus in food trade based on ecological network analysis

Massive amounts of water and land embodied in crops are transferred via food trade. This study established a network-based framework for the water–land nexus in food trade to investigate the spatial linkages of water, land, and food. Based on the gravity model and linear programming optimization, the food trade model was first built to simulate crop trade. Then water consumption and land use for various crops in different regions were inventoried to establish the food-related virtual water network and food-related virtual land network. Grey water related to water quality, blue and green water related to water quantity, were incorporated into the food-related virtual water accounting framework to identify the role of food trade in the spatial reallocation of water. Similarly, the food-related virtual land network was built based on the land use for different crops and the food trade model. Finally, a case study was conducted using ecological network analysis to analyze the properties and connections within the food-related virtual water/land networks of China. The results showed that the green and grey water consumption associated with food production, the effects of which have previously been neglected, account for a huge proportion of the total water consumption, especially in water-scarce provinces. The controllers/dependents in the networks that have strong control relationships with other provinces were identified. The proposed network-based framework for the water–land nexus may help boost synergies associated with spatial reallocation of water and land via food trade and explore pathways for sustainable management of water, land, and food resources.

Application of the water footprinting method and water accounting framework to a base metal refining process

The key to a sustainable future lies in understanding and utilising resources more efficiently. This holds especially for industries that seek to minimise water usage through better management of resources. Most mineral processing plants have high water requirements, yet often function in an environment where water is becoming increasingly scarce. Further, an increase in population will result in an even greater demand for water, potentially beyond the limits of supply. This would lead to even greater competition for the resource. In South Africa, Gauteng and the North West Provinces are likely to be the first to experience a shortage of potable water. A base metals refinery in Rustenburg sought to understand and minimise its potable water usage, as well as report its usage using global tools and frameworks. The two tools used in this study were the Minerals Council of Australia’s ‘Water Accounting Framework for the Minerals Industry’ (WAF) and the Water Footprinting method (WF). The potable water and stormwater systems were surveyed to assess and determine methods to improve water accountability. Using information from the survey, monthly and yearly water balances were presented in the form of a water balance sheet. Using data from the water balance, an input-output and operational model were drawn up in accordance with the WAF. The WAF models assisted in reporting data in a universally consistent manner. Blue, green and grey WFs were calculated for the refinery and recommendations were made to achieve savings in water consumption. Keywords : water, base metals, water footprint, water accounting framework

Assessment of Water Use in Pan-Eurasian and African Continents by ETMonitor with Multi-Source Satellite Data

The Pan-Eurasian and African Continents are characterized by large ranges of climates varying from humid, semi-humid, semi-arid and arid regions, and great challenges exist in water allocation for different sectors that related to water resource and food security, which depends strongly on the water use information. Quantitative information on water use is also important to understand the effectiveness of water allocation and further to prevent from water stress resulted by drought in water-scarce regions. Explosive development of satellite remote sensing observations provide great chance to provide useful spatiotemporal information for quantifying the water use at regional to global scales. In this paper, a process-based model ETMonitor was used in combination with biophysical and hydrological parameters retrieved from earth observations to estimate the actual evapotranspiration, i.e. the agricultural and ecological water use. The total water use is also partitioned into beneficial part, e.g. plant transpiration, and non-beneficial part, e.g. soil evaporation and canopy rainfall interception, according to the water accounting framework. The estimated water use show good agreements with the ground observation, indicating the ability of ETMonitor for global and continental scale water use estimation. The spatial and temporal patterns of the water use in the Pan-Eurasian and African Continents were further analysed, while large spatial variation of water use was convinced. Current study also highlights the great capability of satellite observations in studying the regional water resource and continental water cycle.

A dynamic water accounting framework based on marginal resource opportunity cost

Abstract. Many river basins throughout the world are increasingly under pressure as water demands keep rising due to population growth, industrialization, urbanization and rising living standards. In the past, the typical answer to meet those demands focused on the supply side and involved the construction of hydraulic infrastructures to capture more water from surface water bodies and from aquifers. As river basins have become more and more developed, downstream water users and ecosystems have become increasingly dependent on the management actions taken by upstream users. The increased interconnectedness between water users, aquatic ecosystems and the built environment is further compounded by climate change and its impact on the water cycle. Those pressures mean that it has become increasingly important to measure and account for changes in water fluxes and their corresponding economic value as they progress throughout the river system. Such basin water accounting should provide policy makers with important information regarding the relative contribution of each water user, infrastructure and management decision to the overall economic value of the river basin. This paper presents a dynamic water accounting approach whereby the entire river basin is considered as a value chain with multiple services including production and storage. Water users and reservoir operators are considered as economic agents who can exchange water with their hydraulic neighbors at a price corresponding to the marginal value of water. Effective water accounting is made possible by keeping track of all water fluxes and their corresponding hypothetical transactions using the results of a hydro-economic model. The proposed approach is illustrated with the Eastern Nile River basin in Africa.

The robustness of mine water accounting over a range of operating contexts and commodities

Abstract Communicating the mining industry's water use is fundamental to maintaining its social license to operate but the majority of corporate reporting schemes list indicators. The Minerals Council of Australia's Water Accounting Framework was designed to assist the minerals industry obtain consistency in its accounting method and in the definitions of terms used in water reporting. The significance of this paper is that it shows that the framework has been designed to be sufficiently robust to describe any mining/mineral related operation. The Water Accounting Framework was applied across four operations over three countries producing four commodities. The advantages of the framework were then evident through the presentation of the reports. The contextual statement of the framework was able to explain contrasting reuse efficiencies. The Input–Output statements showed that evaporation was a significant loss for most of the operations in the study which highlights a weakness of reporting schemes that focus on discharge volumes. The framework method promotes data reconciliation which proved the presence of flows that two operations in the study had neglected to provide. Whilst there are many advantages of the framework, the major points are that the reporting statements of the framework, when presented together, can better enable the public to understand water interactions at a site-level and allows for valid comparisons between sites, regardless of locale and commodity. With mining being a global industry, these advantages are best realised if there was international adoption of the framework.

Local-scale systems input-output analysis of embodied water for the Beijing economy in 2007

Using the most detailed and recent statistics available for Beijing, a local-scale embodiment analysis on water use was conducted, employing a systems input-output analysis that integrates economic systems with natural resources data. Systems analysis for water research at the local scale is a crucial part of a systems oriented water accounting framework. To our knowledge, however, related works have not been thoroughly conducted. In this paper, a set of embodied water intensity inventory data is presented, which is applicable to both intermediate input and final demand. Also, detailed analyses of Beijing’s embodied water use accounting are presented. The embodied water intensity of the Water Production and Supply Industry Sector turns out to be the highest among the 42 sectors. For water embodied in final demand, the total amount is 3.48 km3, of which the water embodied in urban household consumption makes up nearly a half proportion. As a net virtual water importer, Beijing’s water embodied in commodity trade totals 5.84×108 m3. As a result, in addition to improvements in technology and water use efficiency, adjustments in industrial structure and trade policies are also of significant importance to water conservation efforts.

Mine site-level water reporting in the Macquarie and Lachlan catchments: a study of voluntary and mandatory disclosures and their value for community decision-making

Abstract This study explores the extent and quality of localised mining water-related disclosures from the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW). The data set provides an atypical opportunity to study voluntary and mandatory environmental reporting, as mining companies often produce their own voluntary sustainability reports, yet some mandatory reporting is also required due to NSW development consent conditions. In order to assess the extensiveness of mandatory reporting, development consent reporting requirements are compared to a selection of voluntary water reporting indicators. Most indicators were taken from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Water Accounting Framework for the Minerals Industry (WAFMI), but the authors also included additional indicators derived from community water-related discussions. It is found that most of the information required by the indicators is also required by the consent conditions. In particular, information relevant to four GRI indicators is reported within either annual reviews or environmental management plans. Consent conditions are discretionary, however, and older consent conditions may not require such reports to be made publicly available through the internet. Additionally, a content analysis is conducted of available mandatory and voluntary reports from four mining operations. The voluntary reports were found to provide site-level information that was either as good as that found within the annual reviews, or of lesser quality, but in no instance better. Further, no voluntary report stated definitively whether operations impacted on water sources. Nor was there any reporting on water storage capacity or the quality of water after recycling or reuse. Finally, Dryzek's ‘discursive democracy’ theoretical framework on the quality of a deliberation system is used to analyse the extent to which NSW legal and administrative processes are designed to facilitate deliberation by catchment residents. Theoretically, the system is well designed, as important information is made publicly available and community consultation is a mandatory part of the process. However, the system is not without flaws and could be improved by providing better access to information.