Water Use Efficiency (WUE) as ...
Published by Meryl McKerrow, eWater Ltd. - Training and Documentation Officer
Water Use Efficiency (WUE) as opposed to sustainability tends to be the standard for expressing what you're talking about, at least in my context. Are you looking at modelling or an evaluation of existing material? CSIRO (AUS) have done some work on benchmarking although not sure how it would translate to a non-Australian context. http://www.csiro.au/Organisation-Structure/Flagships/Sustainable-Agriculture-Flagship/WUE.aspx. If you're looking at crop modelling in an integrated water quantity context, the platform we use in our work (Mekong, Brahmaputra, Murray Darling Basin among others) may be of use to you http://ewater.com.au/products/ewater-source/.
2 Comments
Meryl, I am pursuing an alternative design of r.o. membrane desalination. One thing I am concerned about is the depletion of ground water. One reason for this is that water attracts water and it can be shown in the past that when ground water has been depleted, the land itself can become arid. Whether it's in Australia, the Middle East or the U.S., a solution to lowering the cost of desalination could allow for water over time to be pumped back into the ground. I am going to be doing some math which would help to explain why I think using 40 to 80 bars of pressure to desalinize water is not necessary. Then if costs can be lowered sufficiently, a proper land/water management can be achieved. As for sustainability, when a net water balance is able to be maintained, the future population growth (if it happens) would not be a burden to a system that is already stressed.
Published by James Lindgaard
thank you Meryl, most of the work i have viewed too are from Australia and Indonesia, haven't come across much research in that context in Africa. But my thought is sustainable water use should encompass both efficiency and conservation except if its too broad.
Published by gloria okafor