Regional water footprint assessment for a semi-arid basin in India

Water footprint assessment enables us to pinpoint the impacts and limitations of the current systems. Identifying vulnerabilities across various regions and times helps us prepare for suitable actions for improving water productivity and promoting sustainable water use. This study aims to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the sector-wise water footprint in the Banas River Basin from 2008–2020. The water footprint of the Banas River Basin was estimated as 20.2 billion cubic meters (BCM)/year from all sectors. The water footprint has increased over the year with the increase in population, the number of industries, and crop production demand. The average annual water footprint of crop production varied from 11.4–23.1 BCM/year (mean 19.3 BCM/year) during the study period. Results indicate that the water footprint has nearly doubled in the past decade. Wheat, bajra, maize, and rapeseed & mustard make up 67.4% of crop production’s total average annual water footprint. Suitable measures should be implemented in the basin to improve water productivity and promote sustainable water use in agriculture, which accounts for nearly 95.5% of the total water footprint (WF) of the Banas basin. The outcomes of the study provide a reference point for further research and planning of appropriate actions to combat water scarcity challenges in the Banas basin.