The DOI matches its Crossref record; 31 of the 31 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Advancing Water Footprint Assessment Research: Challenges in Monitoring Progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 6
Open accessAbstract
This special issue is a collection of recent papers in the field of Water Footprint Assessment (WFA), an emerging area of research focused on the analysis of freshwater use, scarcity, and pollution in relation to consumption, production, and trade. As increasing freshwater scarcity forms a major risk to the global economy, sustainable management of water resources is a prerequisite to development. We introduce the papers in this special issue by relating them to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 6 of the United Nations, the goal on water. We will particularly articulate how each paper drives the understanding needed to achieve target 6.3 on water quality and pollution and target 6.4 on water-use efficiency and water scarcity. Regarding SDG 6, we conclude that it lacks any target on using green water more efficiently, and while addressing efficiency and sustainability of water use, it lacks a target on equitable sharing of water. The latter issue is receiving limited attention in research as well. By primarily focusing on water-use efficiency in farming and industries at the local level, to a lesser extent to using water sustainably at the level of total water systems (like drainage basins, aquifers), and largely ignoring issues around equitable water use, understanding of our water problems and proposed solutions will likely remain unbalanced.
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“The WF estimation depends heavily on the availability of baseline data, which is often either unavailable or not freely accessible [46,47].”
From The water footprint of lithium extraction technologies: Insights from environmental impact reports in Argentina's salt flats (2025) · cites this paper as [46]
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Cites
Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet
Steffen, W., Richardson, K., Rockström, J., Cornell, S. E., Fetzer, I., Bennett, E. M., Biggs, R., Carpenter, S. R., de Vries, W., de Wit, C. A., et al. (2015) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1259855 · Cited by 12,527
The water footprint of humanity
Hoekstra, A. Y., & Mekonnen, M. M. (2012) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1109936109 · Cited by 2,405
Self-citationWater footprints of nations: Water use by people as a function of their consumption pattern
Hoekstra, A. Y., & Chapagain, A. K. (2006) · Water Resources Management · doi:10.1007/s11269-006-9039-x · Cited by 1,458 · cited 1×
“Water-intensive commodities like agricultural, forestry, and mining products are internationally traded, which implies that consumers of these products have water footprints far beyond the places where they live [3].”
BackgroundSelf-citationWater footprint benchmarks for crop production: A first global assessment
Mekonnen, M. M., & Hoekstra, A. Y. (2014) · Ecological Indicators · doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.06.013 · Cited by 446
Self-citationWater Footprint Assessment: Evolvement of a New Research Field
Hoekstra, A. Y. (2017) · Water Resources Management · doi:10.1007/s11269-017-1618-5 · Cited by 410
Self-citationWater Footprint of crop productions: A review
Lovarelli, D., Bacenetti, J., & Fiala, M. (2016) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.01.022 · Cited by 390
Closing Yield Gaps: How Sustainable Can We Be?
Pradhan, P., Fischer, G., van Velthuizen, H., Reusser, D. E., & Kropp, J. P. (2015) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0129487 · Cited by 322
Imported water risk: the case of the UK
Hoekstra, A. Y., & Mekonnen, M. M. (2016) · Environmental Research Letters · doi:10.1088/1748-9326/11/5/055002 · Cited by 264
Self-citationMapping of water footprint research: A bibliometric analysis during 2006–2015
Zhang, Y., Huang, K., Yu, Y., & Yang, B. (2017) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.02.067 · Cited by 230
The Water Footprint of Modern Consumer Society
Hoekstra, A. Y. (2013) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203126585 · Cited by 187
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Items 101–121 of 121
Sustainable development and its goals
Giannetti, B. F., Agostinho, F., & Almeida, C. M. V. B. (2022) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-85851-9.00009-2 · Cited by 1
Chiu, C.-Y., & Tang, W. (2022) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su142114198 · Cited by 1
Ulatu, H. A., Tola, T. L., & Adugna, M. T. (2023) · Journal of Water and Environment Technology · doi:10.2965/jwet.21-156 · Cited by 1
Water Footprint and Virtual Water
Mathur, D., & Kaushik, P. (2018)
Studies on the Evaluation of Water Footprints at Various Regional Scales
Xu, M., & Li, C. (2019) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-981-15-0234-7_4
Yang, X. (2020) · Discover Sustainability · doi:10.1007/s43621-020-00003-w
Bhowmik, G., & Dutta, S. (2019) · Research Bulletin · doi:10.33516/rb.v45i1-2.100-117p
Virtual Water Flow at County-Level of the Heihe River Basin in China
Zhang, Y., Zhou, Q. C., & Wu, F. (2019) · Ecohydrology · doi:10.1007/978-981-10-6949-9_13
Zhilnikova, N. A., Baranova, A. A., & Milova, V. M. (2022) · Wave Electronics and its Application in Information and Telecommunication Systems (WECONF) · doi:10.1109/weconf55058.2022.9803476
Water Footprint and Virtual Water
Schnepper, R., & Lopes, P. D. (2022) · Encyclopedia of the UN sustainable development goals · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-95846-0_70
Chanu, N. B., & Oinam, B. (2023) · Remote Sensing Letters · doi:10.1080/2150704x.2023.2264494
Bedouins choice behavior toward the desalinated water in Halaib, Egypt
Tohamy, H. M., Diab, A. M., & Diab, H. M. (2023) · Journal of Multidisciplinary Sciences · doi:10.33888/jms.2023.512
Collection and protection of water in desert areas and ways to prevent its progressPreprint
Ostad‐Ali‐Askari, K. (2024) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4825525
Drivers of the growing water footprint: a global scenario
Rad, A. K. (2024) · Current directions in water scarcity research · doi:10.1016/b978-0-443-23631-0.00004-2
Réduire les inégalités et atteindre l’équité pour sauver la planète : par quel bout commencer ?
Hiwasaki, L., Déry, S., & Bleau, N. (2024) · VertigO · doi:10.4000/12er4
Spatial assessment of agricultural water footprint in Dhaka division of Bangladesh
Lina, A. S., Adhikary, S. K., & Nath, H. (2025) · AIP conference proceedings · doi:10.1063/5.0247297
Colmenares‐Cruz, R. A., López, N. M. M., Cuellar-Rodríguez, L. A., & Siabato, A. I. B. (2025) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-6908510/v1
Future Directions in Sustainable Practices for Plant-Based Textiles
Hasan, M., Nahid‐Ull‐Islam, M., Sarker, S., Labid, A. M., Akter, M., Chowdhury, M. K. H., & Urmi, N. A. (2026) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-981-92-0791-6_13
Desafíos invisibles: una revisión de revisiones sobre la crisis del agua no contabilizada
Espinoza-Santeli, G., & Huacho-Oleas, J. A. (2026) · Tecnología y Ciencias del Agua · doi:10.24850/j-tyca-18-03-03
Ali, H. O. (2026) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.7536959
Ishrat, I. F. B., Farhet, F. A. S., Masroor, M. M., & Rizwan, M. R. Q. (2026) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-10772988/v1
Metadata
- Authors
- Hoekstra, A., Chapagain, A., & Van Oel, P.
- Affiliations
- National University of Singapore (SG)
- Water Footprint Network, Bezuidenhoutseweg 2, 2594 AV The Hague, The Netherlands
- Water Resources Management group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Corresponding author
- Hoekstra, Arjen
- Venue
- Water
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2017-06-19
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 438
- ISSN
- 2073-4441 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2625204172
- Cited by
- 121
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 4
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Water (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- University of Twente Research Information (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Environmental Impact and Sustainability
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Water Resources and Sustainability
- Keywords
- water footprint assessment, SDG 6, water use efficiency, water scarcity, equitable water distribution, green water, agricultural water use, industrial water use, freshwater management, SDG targets
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