Comparison of the water footprint in Poland and Ukraine

Abstract

The aim of the article is to compare the indices of water resources in Poland and Ukraine. The water footprint is an instrument which allows to link the consumption of water resources with the consumption of goods. The blue water footprint shows the consumption of water for production of goods, the green – the use of rainwater in agriculture and forestry and the gray – the amount of water
necessary to assimilate pollution. Poland and Ukraine have different climates. The north-western part of Ukraine has a climate similar to Poland, i.e. moderate continental with an annual rainfall of 600 mm/ yr. Southern Ukraine is a grassland plain with warm continental and marine climate and an annual rainfall of 300 mm/yr. This generates a greater need of water for Ukrainian agriculture. The green footprint of Ukraine (2302 m3/cap/yr) is twice as high as that in Poland (1121 m3/cap/yr). As a result,
the total water footprint of Ukraine (2881 m3/cap/yr) exceeds the total water footprint of Poland (1503 m3/cap/yr). Analysis of “virtual water” indicates that the total net export of water from Ukraine is 282 m3/cap/yr. At the same time, the net import of water to Poland amounts to 147 m3/cap/yr.