Incorporating the water footprint and virtual water into policy: reflections from the Mancha Occidental Region, Spain

Water resource management is often a controversial issue in semiarid regions. Most water resources experts admit that water conflicts are not caused by the physical water scarcity but they are mainly due to inadequate water management. The virtual water concept (the volume of water used in the production of a commodity, good or service) together with the water footprint (indicator of water consumption that looks at both direct and indirect water use of a consumer or producer), links a large range of sectors and issues, thus providing a potentially appropriate framework to support more optimal water management practices by informing production and trade decisions. This paper provides an analysis of these two concepts within the context of the Mancha Occidental region, Spain, exploring the hydrological and economic aspects of agricultural production. In doing so, this work not only distinguishes between green and blue water but also between surface and groundwater. We conclude by discussing the practical implications of the results, as well as their potential limitations from the policy standpoint

Declaración y financiación de obras hidráulicas de interés general, mercado del agua, aguas subterráneas, planificación hidrológica

En mayo de 1997 el Ministerio de Medio Ambiente difundió un borrador de Reforma de la Ley de Aguas española de 1985. Esta actuación se enmarcó dentro de la política de transparencia informativa y búsqueda de consenso social en los temas conflictivos de la política del agua en España. El autor propone que esa propuesta de Reforma sea retirada pues, aunque trata algunos temas interesantes como la reutilización de agua, la desalación de aguas de mar y el mercado del agua, no aborda los temas realmente relevantes para resolver los problemas hidrológicos españoles. El principal problema es el de la "cultura de la subvención " que lleva a que, en la mayor parte de los casos, el coste de las obras necesarias para aprovechar los recursos hídricos no sea pagado por sus directos beneficiarios, sino por el conjunto de los españoles a través de los Presupuestos Generales del Estado. Esta situación tradicional en España y en otros muchos países va en contra de las recomendaciones de la OCDE y de la próxima Directiva-Marco sobre el Agua que, probablemente, será aprobada en breve. Ni la Reforma propuesta ni la actuación del Ministerio de Medio Ambiente en este campo parecen suponer un cambio adecuado hacia los nuevos paradigmas de la política del agua sino, más bien, un retroceso. Muy relacionado con lo anteriormente expuesto está el tradicional descuido de las aguas subterráneas por la Administración Hidráulica española, que es analizado con cierto detalle en el artículo. El autor denuncia una "conspiración de silencio " en no querer ni siquiera estudiar el tema, pues ello indicaría que algunos "hidromitos ", como el que toda la agricultura española de regadío no puede pagar el coste del agua de regadío, no responden a la realidad. Al mismo tiempo, esta negligencia de la Administración Hidráulica está conduciendo a procesos prácticamente irreversibles de contaminación de acuíferos, que son mucho más graves que los de la supuesta "sobreexplotación de acuíferos ", sistemáticamente exagerada desde los medios oficiales. Finalmente, se analiza el fracaso del tipo de planificación hidrológica establecida en la Ley de Aguas de 1985 que es considerada una utópica ilusión tecnocrática de tipo marxistaorwelliano. En la propuesta Reforma de la Ley de Aguas no se propone cambiar esa planificación. Concluye el autor que para modernizar la política del agua son necesarios cambios muy profundos: en España no existe todavía un Ministerio de Medio Ambiente sino un Ministerio de Obras Hidráulicas con algunos "adornos verdes”

Measurements and Monte-Carlo simulations of the particle self-shielding effect of B4C grains in neutron shielding concrete

A combined measurement and Monte-Carlo simulation study was carried out in order to characterize the particle self-shielding effect of B4C grains in neutron shielding concrete. Several batches of a specialized neutron shielding concrete, with varying B4C grain sizes, were exposed to a 2 {\AA} neutron beam at the R2D2 test beamline at the Institute for Energy Technology located in Kjeller, Norway. The direct and scattered neutrons were detected with a neutron detector placed behind the concrete blocks and the results were compared to Geant4 simulations. The particle self-shielding effect was included in the Geant4 simulations by calculating effective neutron cross-sections during the Monte-Carlo simulation process. It is shown that this method well reproduces the measured results. Our results show that shielding calculations for low-energy neutrons using such materials would lead to an underestimate of the shielding required for a certain design scenario if the particle self-shielding effect is not included in the calculations.Comment: This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0

The water footprint of olives and olive oil in Spain

This paper evaluates the water footprint of Spanish olives and olive oil over the period 1997-2008. In particular, it analyses the three colour components of the water footprint: green (rainwater stored in the soil), blue (surface and groundwater) and grey (freshwater required to assimilate load of pollutants). Apparent water productivity and virtual water embedded in olive oil exports have also been studied. Results show more than 99.5% of the water footprint of one liter of bottled olive oil is related to the olive production, whereas less than 0.5% is due to the other components such as bottle, cap and label. Over the studied period, the green water footprint in absolute terms of Spanish olive oil production represents about 72% in rainfed systems and just 12% in irrigated olive orchards. Blue and grey water footprints represent 6% and 10% of the national water footprint, respectively. It is shown that olive production is concentrated in regions with the smallest water footprint per unit of product. However, the increase of groundwater consumption in the main olive producing region (Andalusia), from 98 to 378 Mm3 between 1997 and 2008, has added significant pressure in the upstream Guadalquivir basin. This raises questions about the sustainability of irrigated olive orchards for export from the region. Finally, the virtual water related to olive oil exports illustrate the importance of green water footprint of rainfed olives amounting to about 77% of the total virtual water exports

Performance of RF MEMS switches at low temperatures

The actuation voltage of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) \ud metal switches was investigated at temperatures ranging from 10 to 290 K. The investigation shows a 50% increase in the actuation voltage at low temperature. A comparison has been made using a published model and showed similar increment of actuation voltage at low temperature

Microalgal and nitrogen-fixing bacterial consortia: from interaction to biotechnological potential

Microalgae are used in various biotechnological processes, such as biofuel production due to their high biomass yields, agriculture as biofertilizers, production of high-value-added products, decontamination of wastewater, or as biological models for carbon sequestration. The number of these biotechnological applications is increasing, and as such, any advances that contribute to reducing costs and increasing economic profitability can have a significant impact. Nitrogen fixing organisms, often called diazotroph, also have great biotechnological potential, mainly in agriculture as an alternative to chemical fertilizers. Microbial consortia typically perform more complex tasks than monocultures and can execute functions that are challenging or even impossible for individual strains or species. Interestingly, microalgae and diazotrophic organisms are capable to embrace different types of symbiotic associations. Certain corals and lichens exhibit this symbiotic relationship in nature, which enhances their fitness. However, this relationship can also be artificially created in laboratory conditions with the objective of enhancing some of the biotechnological processes that each organism carries out independently. As a result, the utilization of microalgae and diazotrophic organisms in consortia is garnering significant interest as a potential alternative for reducing production costs and increasing yields of microalgae biomass, as well as for producing derived products and serving biotechnological purposes. This review makes an effort to examine the associations of microalgae and diazotrophic organisms, with the aim of highlighting the potential of these associations in improving various biotechnological processes