Impact Assessment of Livestock Production on Water Scarcity in a Watershed in Southern Brazil

This study presents the assessment of water scarcity associated with livestock production in a watershed in Southern Brazil where 115 farms (poultry, pig, and milk) are located. The methods, AWARE—available water remaining, and BWSI—blue water scarcity index, were applied monthly for the year 2018,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inWater (Basel) Vol. 15; no. 22; p. 3955
Main Authors Carra, Sofia Helena Zanella, Drastig, Katrin, Palhares, Julio Cesar Pascale, Bortolin, Taison Anderson, Koch, Hagen, Schneider, Vania Elisabete
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.11.2023
Subjects
Agricultural production
Agriculture
Analysis
Aquatic resources
Australia
AWARE
Beef
blue scarcity index
Brazil
Cattle
Cooling
Decision making
domestic water consumption
environmental water requirement
Farms
Feeds
Food
Functional foods
Global temperature changes
Livestock
livestock water consumption
Milk
Poultry
Productivity
Supply chains
Sustainable agriculture
Sustainable development
technical water
Water shortages
Watershed management
Watersheds
Brazil
Australia
United States > US
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Summary:This study presents the assessment of water scarcity associated with livestock production in a watershed in Southern Brazil where 115 farms (poultry, pig, and milk) are located. The methods, AWARE—available water remaining, and BWSI—blue water scarcity index, were applied monthly for the year 2018, and the characterization factors (CF) were regionalized into five scenarios evaluated by varying water availability and environmental water requirements. Livestock water consumption accounted for 94.1% of the total water consumed. Low water scarcity was observed in all scenarios (BWSI < 0). The highest CFAWARE was observed in scenario 3, ranging from 2.15 to 9.70 m3 world eq.m3, with higher water scarcity in summer. In the same scenario, pig production presented the highest annual average water scarcity footprint (WSF) of 90.3 m3 world eq./t carcass weight. Among milk production systems, pasture-based systems presented the highest annual average WSF of 52.7 m3 world eq./t fat protein corrected milk, surpassing semi-confined and confined systems by 12.4% and 3.5%, respectively. In scenario 3, poultry production presented an annual average WSF of 49.3 m3 world eq./t carcass weight. This study contributes knowledge to the livestock sector to perform the assessment of water scarcity.
ISSN:2073-4441
2073-4441
DOI:10.3390/w15223955