Globalization of Water is a first-of-its-kind review of the critical relationship between globalization and sustainable water management. It explores the impact of international trade on local water depletion and pollution and identifies "water dependent" nations.

• Examines the critical link between water management and international trade, considering how local water depletion and pollution are often closely tied to the structure of the global economy
• Offers a consumer-based indicator of each nation's water use: the water footprint
• Questions whether trade can enhance global water use efficiency, or whether it simply shifts the environmental burden to a distant location
• Highlights the hidden link between national consumption and the use of water resources across the globe, identifying the threats facing 'water dependent' countries worldwide
• Provides a state-of-the-art review and in-depth data source for a new field of knowledge

Arjen Y. Hoekstra has academic and professional experience in the field of integrated water resources management in various countries and is currently Professor of Multidisciplinary Water Management at the University of Twente, the Netherlands.

Ashok K. Chapagain has been an irrigation engineer in Nepal, received his PhD degree at the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education in Delft, the Netherlands, was employed as researcher at the University of Twente, and currently works for the World Wide Fund for Nature in the UK.

List of Maps.

Preface.

1. Introduction.

2. How much Water is used for Producing our Goods and Services?.

3. Virtual-Water Flows between Nations as a Result of Trade in Agricultural and Industrial Products.

4. Water Saving through International Trade in Agricultural Products.

5. The Water Footprints of Nations.

6. The Water Footprints of Morocco and the Netherlands.

7. Virtual- versus Real-Water Transfers within China.

8. The Water Footprint of Coffee and Tea Consumption.

9. The Water Footprint of Cotton Consumption.

10. Water as a Geopolitical Resource.

11. Efficient, Sustainable, and Equitable Water Use in a Globalized world.

Appendix I. Analytical Framework for the Assessment of Virtual-Water content, Virtual-Water Flows, Water Savings, Water Footprints, and Water Dependencies.

Appendix II. Virtual-Water Flows per Country Related to International Trade in Crop, Livestock, and Industrial Products.

Appendix III. National Water Savings and Losses due to Trade in Agricultural Products.

Appendix IV. Water Footprints of Nations.

Appendix V. Water Footprint versus Water Scarcity, Self-Sufficiency, and Water Import Dependency per Country.

Glossary.

References.

Index