Agro-industrial water conservation by water footprint and Sustainable Development Goals

Globally, water demand is rising sharply and 11.11% of people, almost 1 billion do not have access to uncontaminated water (Sela, 2023) and agriculture used 70% of freshwater (Alberti et al. 2022; Crovella et al., 2022). Moreover, global agricultural water consumption equivalent of 2,700 billion cubic meters can surpass 3,200 billion cubic meters in a few years due to the population growth (He et al., 2021) that which will reach 9.7 billion people in 2050. At European level, freshwater resources are depleted: Europeans use billions of cubic meters of water every year for agriculture, manufacturing, drinking, heating, refrigeration, electricity production, tourism, and other service activities. Likewise, constant population growth, urbanization, pollution, and the effects of climate change, such as the persistent droughts that affecting Italy, are putting a strain on Europe’s freshwater resource and its quality (EEA, 2023). According to the United Nations (UN) World Water Development Report, it has been tested a water stress condition considering the annual water resources less than 1700 m3 per inhabitant. Among the EU Member States in Poland, Czech Republic, Cyprus, and Malta persist in this circumstance (Eurostat, 2023). Particularly, Italy is hit by an extreme drought, causing negative impacts on the productivity and competitiveness of the entire agri-food chain. For this reason, it is crucial the adoption of extraordinary measures to reduce water stress. In 2022, the long drought has drastically reduced the water resources available in Southern Europe, particularly in Italy. The rainfall reduction, also due to climate change, is jeopardizing the water supply for domestic, agricultural, and energy production uses. This dangerous circumstance of drought and, consequently, the related water emergency are putting 300,000 Italian agricultural firms in serious difficulty (European Parliament, 2023). Currently, the water crisis that is affecting Italy mainly distresses agriculture, because the current withdrawal satisfies mainly urban and domestic demands (Benedini & Rossi, 2021). In addition, climate change and pollution increased the pressure on water resources and infrastructures, already stressed by urban activities and economic development (ISTAT, 2022). For this reason, it is essential to strengthen the resilience of the water system, bringing processes towards greater efficiency, mainly in vulnerable areas by water and affected by drought. In this regard, the UN published the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the global guidance for addressing actions towards an urgent global challenge, particularly to reduce natural resources consumption, respect ethnic groups, eliminating unequal distributionof food and to provide improving solutions for all (He et al., 2022). Therefore, due to the growing need of natural resources supply, and in particular water resources, more restrictive standards for water quality access and use have been envisaged. Particularly, these standards allow the pursuit of SDG 6 “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all” (UN, 2015). Among the impact calculation indicators, water footprint (WF) theorized by the scholar Arjen Hoekstra in 2002 represents a widely used tool to analyze the consumption of water and the consequent local impacts caused during agricultural and industrial production (Hoekstra & Hung, 2002). Particularly, the WF represents an effective guidance tool for achieving, in particular, the SDG 6 (Berger et al., 2021). Methodologically, this current replicable study aims to raise awareness of the use of the WF indicator to analyze the potential of water and orient the decision-making process towards improving the management of the resources themselves in the light of SDG 6 operating according to an innovative process of evaluation. Therefore, in order to address this purpose, the authors adopted a dual methodological approach, initially conducting an analysis of the scientific literature, and simultaneously an overview of the associated statistical data. After the introductory section and the methodological pathway description, this chapter reviews what current research revealed about the state of the art of water resource in Section 18.3. After the debate about the WF indicator in Section 18.4, the scholars focused on the interaction between water conservation and reuse for a circular and resilience context in Section 18.5 and on the level of achievement of the SDG 6 related to water consumption in Section 18.6. This chapter concludes underlying which actions (natural, economic/finance, political/programming, industrial, approach, or research) can be undertaken by stakeholders and practitioners to minimize water consumption, reduce WF and water stress, and for increasing water reuse strategies. Finally, the authors developed a roadmap that synthetizes the necessary actions towards sustainability in water management.