Four Critical Trends in the Future of Water

Steve Maxwell has examined the future of different types of water use and consumption in his book 'The Future of Water.' Economists have traditionally pointed to labor, capital, and energy as primary criteria in economic decision-making. The total amount of water required over the full life cycle to produce a given product or service is referred to as virtual water content. Water will become a more critical issue and key determinant in almost all personal, economic, and business decisions. The buy-local movement, although it has many attractive aspects, may often be in conflict with the concept of water footprint or indeed, simply the local availability of actual water. At the same time, the concept of virtual water has serious limitations, and may in some cases conflict with other trade or consumer objectives, as was discussed previously. Because food requires so much water, international trade patterns in virtual water are essentially a reflection of trade patterns in agricultural commodities.