A hydro-economic model to study water footprint in Tuscany

Abstract

An input-output hydro-economic model is applied to study the water footprint int the Tuscany region (Italy). The model integrates the input-output table (for the year 2017) of the Tuscan economy developed by IRPET with a satellite account, expressed in volume (cubic meters of water), accounting for the flows of water resources between the hydrological system and the economy. A multivariate hydrological model is built to simulate the annual supply of water by component of the water balance; in this way hydrological variability is incorporated in the model, which allows to represent the inherently stochastic reality of the relationship between the economic and water systems. The model provides estimates of the net water demand generated by 53 economic sectors and by the ecosystem requirements in 49 sub-regional areas (local labour systems), allowing to study the geographical variability of pressures on water resources within a given economic system.