towards an integrated water accounting system for ontario

Towards an Integrated Water Accounting System for Ontario and the Great Lakes

Roy Brouwer, Jorge Garcia Hernandez, Rute Pinto, Thomas Cheng

Department of Economics & Earth and Environmental Sciences

University of Waterloo

Presentation Outline

• Background

• Main objective

• Methodology

• Results

• Conclusions and next steps

Background

Increasing policy maker demand for the economic value of water resources internationally (e.g. EU Water Framework Directive) and in Canada

UN System of Environmental-Economic Accounts internationally agreed standard concepts, definitions, classifications, accounting rules and tables for producing internationally comparable statistics and accounts

SEEA-Water

Physical flow accounts (e.g. water abstraction by industry and emissions)

Physical asset accounts (e.g. water balance, stocks and their depletion)

Economic accounts (e.g. costs associated with water use and supply)

Background

Statistics Canada, Physical flow account for water use (m3)

Published every 2 years (2005-2015)

Industrial and household water use

Canada as a whole

Total: 35.7 billion m3 in 2015

Source: Statistics Canada (2018)

7.4% 2.6%

68.1%

10.2%

0.3%

0.2%

2.4%

8.8% Agriculture

Mining

Utilities and construction

Manufacturing

Wholesale and retail

Transportation

Other services

Households

Background

Economy Water transformation

water as a source

water as a sink

Main objective

What are the economic values associated with different forms of water use in the Great Lakes Basin in Ontario?

Main objective


Development integrated water accounting system for Ontario and the Great Lakes

Main objective



Why Great Lakes? 20% of the planet’s freshwater resources Multiple pressures from different sources of pollution

Main objective



Why Great Lakes? 20% of the planet’s freshwater resources Multiple pressures from different sources of pollution Economic importance to the economy of Ontario and Canada as a whole

Main objective



Why Great Lakes? 20% of the planet’s freshwater resources Multiple pressures from different sources of pollution Economic importance to the economy of Ontario and Canada as a whole

Great Lakes Commission (since 2013)

Methodology

Agriculture Industry Households Gross output Discharge Emissions

Agriculture X1 X2 X3 X1+X2+X3 Y1 Z1

Industry X4 X5 X6 X4+X5+X6 Y2 Z2

Households Y3 Z3

Value added X2+X3-X4 X4+X6-X2 GDP

Extraction Y4 Y5 Y6 Balance

Absorption Z4 Z5 Deposition

Source: Brouwer, Schenau and van der Veeren (2005). Integrated river basin accounting

and the European Water Framework Directive. Statistical Journal of the UN, 22(2): 111-131.

Indicators at national and river basin level

PRESENTATION TITLE

80

85

90

95

100

105

110

115

120

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

nutrients

metals

wastewater

GDP

70

80

90

100

110

120

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

nutrients

metals

wastewater

value added

Source: Brouwer, Schenau and van der Veeren (2005). Integrated river basin accounting

and the European Water Framework Directive. Statistical Journal of the UN, 22(2): 111-131.

Methodology

Explore the possibility of combining different data and information sources

Two-step approach

1) Link available economic and physical water data sources (across the same years)

2) Spatial upscaling or downscaling of the available data to (sub-)basin(s) and province

Methodology

Step 1

Economy Water transformation

water as a source

water as a sink

Economic flows

Water flows

Emission flows

Statistics Canada Annual provincial Supply and Use Tables

Statistics Canada Bi-annual national water use accounts

ECCC

Annual Reporting by National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) Annual Effluent Regulatory Reporting Information System (WSER-ERRIS)

2012-2016 (IO tables 1997-2011)

1994-2016

2013-2017

2009-2015

2010-2016 2005-2015 2006,2009,2011,2013,2015

Bi-annual agriculture water survey Bi-annual industrial water survey

Bi-annual drinking water plants survey

Methodology

Step 2

Spatial (dis)aggregation based on Census Subdivisions (CSD) ≈ municipality level

Methodology

Step 2


CSD highest spatial resolution at which job data are available per sector

Methodology

Step 2



Economic activities grouped according to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) in provincial SAUT’s

Methodology

Step 2



Economic activities grouped according to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) in provincial SAUT’s

Activities allocated to Great Lakes sub-basins based on # jobs per CSD

Methodology

Step 2

- CSD located entirely in one sub-basin 100% allocated to that sub-basin (79%) - CSD located in multiple sub-basins allocated to each sub-basin based on area size (21%)

17.0%

11.2%

58.0%

1.2% 12.6%

Erie Huron Ontario Superior Rest province

Results Distribution of value added across sub-basins

Total GDP Ontario in 2016:$741.3 billion

Results

- 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500

Rest province

Ontario

Erie

Huron

Superior

Mm3

Agriculture Mining Utilities Manufacturing Households

Water use across sectors and sub-basins in 2016

Results Value added of water use across sectors and sub-basins in 2016

-

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Agriculture Mining Utilities Manufacturing

14.2

137.1

8.6 0.3

65.8

3.9

137.1

80.4

$/m

3

Lake Superior Lake Huron Lake Erie Lake Ontario

0

Results

Emissions to water

- Point source pollution (industry, wastewater treatment facilities)

- Non-point source pollution (agriculture)

Results

NPRI:

- Release data various pollutants (e.g. kg’s of As, Cd, Hg, Pb, Se, TP, Zn)

- Sectors (linked to NAICS)

- Geographical location

- Employees (>10 FTE)

Emitting activities allocated to sub-basins based on geographical coordinates

Emitted pollutant in kg divided by jobs [kg/job]

Upscaling across CSD in each sub-basin based on jobs/sector

> sub-basin specific emission coefficient [kg/job/sector] x [jobs/sector]

Results

NPRI observations WWTPs limited to n=55

Cross-validated with WSER-ERRIS data (n=437, including 55 in NPRI)

Results



NPRI: release to water in kg

ERRIS: effluent volume in m3

r = 0.97

Results



NPRI: release to water in kg

ERRIS: effluent volume in m3

Upscaling to non-reporting facilities using median value [kg/m3] for each NAICS sector in each sub-basin

r = 0.97

Results P-release to water from WWTPs across sub-basins

Total P emissions from WWTPs in Ontario in 2016: 1,234,709 kg

9.1% 6.0%

45.6%

1.4%

38.0%

Erie Huron Ontario Superior Rest province

Results

Substantial P-release from agriculture (crop and animal production) across sub-basins

Total P emissions from all sources in Ontario in 2016: 3,192 tons

Results Phosphorous emission intensity economic production across sub-basins

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Rest province Superior Huron Erie Ontario

Em

issi

on

TP

(k

g)/

Va

lue

ad

de

d (

$1,

00

0)

Agriculture Mining Utilities Manufacturing

Results

Similar graphs are available for other pollutant releases to water using both NPRI and ERRIS data

Results Lead emission intensity economic production across sub-basins

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6


Em

issi

on

Pb

(k

g)/

Va

lue

ad

de

d (

$10

6)

Manufacturing Mining Utilities

Results Cadmium emission intensity economic production across sub-basins

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

0.30

0.35

0.40

0.45


Em

issi

on

Cd

(k

g)/

Va

lue

ad

de

d (

$10

6)


Results Selenium emission intensity economic production across sub-basins

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4


Em

issi

on

Se

(kg

)/V

alu

e a

dd

ed (

$10

6)


Next steps

Time series analysis 2012-2016 (Supply and Use Tables)

Two papers under review on integrated hydro-economic modelling

- Garcia, J. and Brouwer, R. (under revision). A multiregional Input-Output optimization model to assess the economic impacts of water supply disruptions in the Great Lakes Basin. Economic Systems Research.

- Garcia, J., Brouwer, R., Pinto, R. (under review). Estimating the total direct and indirect costs to the Canadian economy of Phosphorus emission reduction policies in the Great Lakes Basin using a multi-regional Input-Output model. Annual conference EAERE, June 2020, Berlin.

From pressures to impacts: inclusion of water quality monitoring data

[email protected]

Thank you for your attention

www.journals.elsevier.com/water-resources-and-economics

towards an integrated water accounting system for ontario

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