Water consumption per sector
Water consumption per sector is defined as the annual water consumption for domestic use, industrial use, agricultural use and other sectors expressed in cubic metres per year or as a percentage of total water consumption. These indicators can be used for water resources management by identifying crucial sectors of consumption in which specific future plans have to be developed. Usually, the given hierarchy among the various sectors of water consumption is domestic, industrial, agriculture. Therefore, the amount of water consumption for agriculture becomes a crucial factor for desertification vulnerability of areas facing water scarcity problems. The calculation of the percentage for each sector has been defined by dividing the consumption of each sector by the total water consumption. The data for this indicator have been collected from the local administration or the national statistical services.
As Table 12 shows, data for this indicator have been defined in 103 study field sites, corresponding to 3 study sites of Boteti Area-Botswana, Novij Saratov-Russia, and Djanybek-Russia. The analysis of the data showed that the main consumer of water is agriculture corresponding to 61.2% of the sites, while in 36.9% of the field sites domestic is the main sector of water consumption.
