Abstract:

Water is viewed as one of the most importantnatual resources, and it is also the essential factors to ensure food security and ecological security However, impacted by the rapid economic development and human activities, water scarcity has been a serious problem all over the world Therefore, it is urgent to quantitify the water use conditions to improve water resource protection Virtual water refers to the amount of water that is needed in the production process of goods and services, and it is a term that links water, food and trade Virtual water has been proven to be a very useful instrument to relieve the pressure in water shortage countries or regions by importing waterintensive products from those whose water resource is abundant Based on the powerful idea of virtual water and ecological footprint, the concept of water footprint is introduced in 2002 A water footprint measures the total water consumed by a nation, business or individual by calculating the total water used during the production of goods and services Virtual water and water footprint have become a hot spot in the field of water resource research Based on the data of Anhui statistical yearbook of 2011 and the concept of virtual water and water footprint, Anhuis water footprint and water resources sustainability were calculated and assessed The results show that the water footprint, the per capita water footprint and the per capita water availability of Anhui Province in 2010 were estimated to be 72 898 million m3[DK]·yr-1, 1 06779 m3[DK]·cap-1[DK]·yr-1, 63144 m3[DK]·cap-1[DK]·yr-1, respectively These indicate that the water consumption apparently exceeded that of water availability, and such a water footprint pattern is not sustainable Agricultural production was the largest water consumer, accounting for 9549% of the water footprint The remaining 451% was for the industrial, domestic and ecological environment sectors In addition, Anhuis 10 000 yuan water footprint is ralatively high, which is mainly due to a high dependence on irrigation for agricultural production These findings indicate a low efficiency of water resourceutilizing in Anhui Province Therefore, we need to optimize the crop planting pattern or to adjust the industrial structure to achieve more proper sustainable water use in Anhui Province This paper provided a scientific method to the water use and water resources management in Anhui Province