Water footprint of the tourism sector in Chacras de Coria, Mendoza, Argentina

CIVIT, B; ARENA, A.P.; PIASTRELLINI, R; CURADELLI, S

Mendoza

Conferencia; Vth International Conference on Life Cycle Assessment CILCA 2013; 2013

Grupo CLIOPE, Universidad Tecnologica Nacional, Facultad Regional Mendoza

Purpose The world tourism has grown about 4,5 %, during 2011 over 2010 and presents a marked rise both in countries of advanced economies and emerging. According to the World Tourism Organization, Argentina has presented a similar growth being the province of Mendoza, located in the middle west of the country, one of the most attractive destinations because of the ?Wine tours? and ecotourism offered to the visitors. Especially the town of Chacras de Coria is an undeniable stop in the journey of wine tourism because of the attractiveness of the landscape, accommodation in boutique hotels and food. This increase in the influx of tourism can provide important benefits to the local economy. However, tourism depends largely on the water resources of the site. Water is not only needed for drinking, preparing food and bathing, but also to participate in recreational and leisure activities. That is why an increase in demand for water in drylands, which is a scarce resource, can be critical. The aim of this study is to determine the water consumption of the tourism sector in Chacras de Coria, Mendoza. Methods Water use accounting can be done by different models and indicators. Among them is the water footprint. The water footprint is an indicator of sustainability of water use and consumption that considers direct and indirect water consumption throughout the life cycle of a product of an individual, a group of individuals or a nation. The water footprint is applied in this study as an indicator of sustainability in tourism. Moreover, critically it analyzes the methodology of calculation for the case of a set of consumers, tourists visiting Chacras de Coria, exposing its main advantages, the difficulties encountered during the calculation process and solution strategies. Results After having accounted for the water footprint of tourism in Chacras de Coria, was found that the critical point is due to the indirect use of water-related to recreational activities and food consumption. While the direct use of water, based on the personal care is generally significantly lower. The analysis of sustainability shows that a tourist consumes approximately the 69% of the quantity of available water in the basin by inhabitant in the considered site. Conclusions Results demonstrate that the water footprint is an indicator of environmental sustainability which serves as a complement to other indicators of water use, suitable to manage the use of water resources.