Water is not only used in the domestic context, but also in agriculture and industry in the production of commercial goods, from food to paper. The water footprint is an indicator of freshwater use that looks at both direct and indirect use of water by a consumer or producer.

This paper finds that the water footprint of agricultural products (a definition that presumably includes non-food products) accounts for 91% of the EU’s production-related water footprint and 89% of its consumption related footpint. It argues that much more water can be saved by modifying diets and reducing food waste than through the traditional water-saving routes highlighted in mainstream awareness raising campaigns. The paper echoes others that find animal products to be particularly water intensive.

This study calculates and maps humanity’s green, blue and grey water footprint at a high spatial resolution. 

The State of Land and Water Resources (SOLAW) is FAO's first flagship publication on the global status of land and water resources. It is an 'advocacy' report and will be published every three to five years.  

'Virtuous Circles: Values, Systems and Sustainability’, a recently published book by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), articulates an alternative future in which food, energy and water supplies are sustainable and in the control of local communities.  It focuses on local communities as the driver of alternative means of designing resilient food systems.