Nacionalização dos recursos hídricos: um estudo exploratório da pegada hídrica no Brasil.

Abstract

The water footprint concept (PH) has been launched as an indicator of the total annual volume of freshwater that is used to produce the goods and services consumed by the inhabitants of the nation. The aim of this study is to develop the dietary habits of PH from every state and regions of Brazil. The results indicated an average PH in Brazil of 1.107 m3/year per capita. The regions Midwest, Southeast and South had the highest PH while the regions North and Northeast had the lowest PH of the country. The federative entity with higher PH was the Federal District (2,588 m3/year) while the smaller PH was in the state of Bahia (751 m3/year). On the other hand, the city with the highest PH was Florianópolis, SC (2,617.2 m3 per year) and the lower PH was in the city of Serrano in the State of Maranhão (678.8 m3/year). The results also indicate that the population PH increases linearly with their family income, with a coefficient of correlation of 0.99 while the relationship between PH and human development index was of 0.64 both statistically significant at 1% probability level by t-Student test. The water footprint of the population increases as a function of family income and decreases according to the eating habits. The reduction of PH in Brazil is associated with change in eating habits, the reduce consumption of products which involving of import virtual water and the consumer awareness of their water use control in the agricultural sector.