Month: March 2017

UConn hosts water footprint seminar, featuring Dr. Mesfin Mekonnen

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Dr. Mesfin Mekonnen, a world renowned expert in Water footprint assessment from the Water for Food Global Institute, delivered an illuminating guest seminar at the University of Connecticut on March 24, 2017. In his talk he underlined the dependence of national water consumption on local and international water resources.

When water is sourced elsewhere for the production of commodities that are imported and consumed, consumers have a “water footprint” outside their national borders. His presentation highlighted the fact that many countries have significantly externalized their water footprint, without examining whether the water consumption is sustainable in the producing countries. For example, 10% of the water footprint of Chinese consumers is outside China. In the US it’s 20%; in Mexico 43%; and in European countries like Italy, Germany, the UK, and the Netherlands it’s 60-95%. By overlaying the global water footprint maps of selected countries with maps showing unsustainable water use, he quantified the unsustainable water footprint of various countries and the commodities that are primarily responsible. See the clip below for more information on his presentation.

Invited guest speaker at UConn, Dr. Mesfin Mekonnen

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 We are excited to announce that Dr. Mesfin M. Mekonnen from the University of Nebraska will visit UConn to give a talk on the relationship between consumption and water use. All are welcome to attend.
Date: March 24, 2016, 12:10pm
Location: F.L. Castleman, Room 212
Bio:
Mesfin Mekonnen is a post-doctoral researcher at the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska, working on water productivity assessment at different spatial scales. He holds an MSc degree (with distinction) in Environmental Science from UNESCO-IHE and a PhD degree in Water Footprint Assessment from University of Twente, The Netherlands. Mekonnen has extensive research experience on water footprint assessment, global water scarcity assessment and has published large number of articles in high impact journals. He co-developed the Globalization of Water Role Play.
Abstract:
National consumption depends on local water resources as well as on water resources outside the national borders. When water is used elsewhere for the production of commodities that are imported and consumed, consumers have a ´water footprint´ outside their national borders. Many countries have significantly externalized their water footprint (WF), without looking at whether the imported products are related to unsustainable water use in the producing countries. For example, 10% of the WF of Chinese consumers is outside China; in the US this is 20%; in Mexico 43%; and in the European countries like Italy, Germany, the UK, and the Netherlands even 60-95%. The presentation will give an overview of the global WF of production and consumption at high spatial resolution. We will further see the global WF maps for selected countries, showing for each country where in the world water resources are being consumed and polluted in relation to consumption of the country under consideration. By overlaying the global WF maps of selected countries with the global map showing the unsustainable water use, we quantified and mapped the unsustainable WF of countries, the commodities that are responsible for the unsustainable parts of a country’s WF and where these footprints are located.