Virtual water - a new view in water resources manageme

Abstract

Virtual water is a new concept in Vietnam. Up to present, there are only two official studies on virtual water. In 2010, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment approved for Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Environment (now the Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Climate Change) to implement a research project named “Research, propose virtual water calculation methods and applications for Vietnam”. The project was completed and highly appreciated in 2012 by the scientific councils at all levels. The projects’ results were found necessary to be extended and applied in reality in water management. Based on this project, the project “Study the scientific basis of water use adjustment under the virtual water perspective for some main crops and animal products” was approved for implementation in 2013 to supplement the practical issues in water resource management. From the results of this project, this paper presents the virtual water calculation methods and a new approach in water resources management.