Water Use Intensities and the Composition of Production in Canada
Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 136, Issue 1
Abstract
The Government of Canada has endorsed a policy to promote water conservation in an attempt to reduce environmental impacts of water use. Nonetheless, total water intake, consumption, and gross water use in the business sector have increased in the period 1981–1996. Water intake intensities, measured in cubic meters of intake water per dollar of production, however, have fallen by 4%. To better understand these changes in intensities, we decompose them into separate composition and technique effects. We show that changes in the composition of business activity have lead to an expansion of water intensive industries. However, changes in techniques and production processes have more than offset this. Overall, water intake intensities have fallen by 7%, after accounting for changes in the relative growth of sectors. These reductions are even stronger when we include recirculated water where technological and process changes have reduced gross water intensities by 18%. At the same time, though, firms have increased their consumption of water so that, on average, consumption intensities rose 17%. Hence, firm level changes in techniques and processes may have increased the impact of economic activity on the environment rather than having reduced it.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 136 • Issue 1 • January 2010
Pages: 72 - 79
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Jun 22, 2007
Accepted: Jul 9, 2009
Published online: Dec 15, 2009
Published in print: Jan 2010
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