Global water use is dominated by agriculture
and has considerable influence on people鈥檚 livelihood
and ecosystems, especially in
semiarid and arid
regions. Methods to address the impacts of water withdrawal
and consumption on terrestrial
and aquatic ecosystems within life cycle assessment are still sparse
and very generic. Regionalized characterization factors (CFs) for a groundwater-fed wetl
and at the arid coast of Peru are developed for groundwater
and surface water withdrawal
and consumption in order to address the spatial dependency of water use related impacts. Several agricultural scenarios for 2020 were developed in a workshop with local stakeholders
and used for calculating total biodiversity impacts. In contrast to assumptions used in top-down approaches (e.g.,
Pfister et al. Environ. Sci Technol.2009, 43, 4098), irrigation with surface water leads in this specific region to benefits for the groundwater-fed wetland, due to additional groundwater recharge from surplus irrigation water. However, irrigation with groundwater leads to ecological damage to the wetland. The CFs derived from the different scenarios are similar and can thus be used as general CFs for this region, helping local decision-makers to plan future agricultural development, including irrigation technologies, crop choices, and protection of the wetland.