Water footprints and virtual water provide little insight into important policy issues

Much of the research on virtual water and water footprints focuses on the potential water savings that may be achieved when water-scarce nations purchase water-intensive agricultural products from countries with greater water resources. Some of the published estimates of prospective national and global water savings from international commerce are very high, and they do not represent actual or potential water savings. Consumers of imported goods in one nation put pressure on water resources in another, according to recent contributions to the virtual water literature. Some writers argue that consumers are partially to blame for water resource issues in remote areas due to international commerce. Although one of the goals of virtual water analysis is to identify possibilities for increasing water security, there is virtually little discussion of the possible effects of the prescriptions resulting from the study on farm families in developed and developing nations. It's critical to think about the inherent faults in the virtual water and water footprint viewpoints more thoroughly, especially when making policy choices.