Study on Ecological Water Footprint in Agricultural Section of Iran

Demand and supply of water in Iran is unbalanced. This situation has caused a great challenge in water resources management. In order to overcome this problem, the role of international trade of virtual water has been ignored. Virtual water trade is one of the key solutions for water scarcity. Each country should adapt virtual water trade based upon its socio-cultural, economical, and climatic condition of the country. However, before any action is implemented, there is a need to evaluate ecological water footprint (EWF) of the country. EWF is the amount of water which is needed for the population and consumptive use and remediation of all pollution related to this consumption. In this study EWF of Iran has been calculated for the year 2007. The results showed that EWF in Iran is 104 billion cubic meter (bcm) of water in agricultural section. In 2007, Iran has imported 12 bcm of water due to virtual water trade. In this computation, irrigation efficiency has not been included. Considering the amount of 60% for irrigation efficiency virtual water trade in the above mentioned year was 20 bcm. Without this trade, the country had to spend 112 bcm of water for producing all required food in the country which was out of reach.