A Case-Study of a Beach Resort in the Maldives

WATER FOOTPRINT OF COASTAL TOURISM FACILITIES IN SMALL ISLAND DEVELOPING STATES: A CASE-STUDY OF A BEACH RESORT IN THE MALDIVES by Miguel Orellana Lazo A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ADVANCED STUDIES IN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE in The Faculty of Graduate Studies (Landscape Architecture) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) August 2013 © Miguel Orellana Lazo, 2013 Abstract Research on climate change indicates that the risk of water scarcity at many remote tourist destinations will increase in the next few decades. Tourism development puts strong pressure on freshwater resources, the availability of which is especially limited in remote areas. At locations with no access to conventional water sources, tourism facilities require supply alternatives, such as desalinated or imported water, which implies elevated energy demands and carbon emissions. In this context, a shift in the way freshwater use is assessed is crucial for moving toward a more sustainable model of water management for tourism development. This research adapts the Water Footprint framework to the design of tourism facilities and explains how and why this is a promising model for water accounting in isolated locations. Defined as 'an indicator of freshwater resources appropriation', the Water Footprint concept was introduced by Hoekstra in 2002. This methodology goes beyond the conventional direct water use assessment model, upon which most common benchmarking systems in sustainable tourism are based. Measuring the water footprint of a tourism facility allows operators and design teams to understand the environmental and socio-economic impacts associated with its direct and indirect water uses. Furthermore, this methodology enables a holistic consideration of all the water system components: supply, demand, and wastewater. Based on this framework, this thesis presents a Water Footprint Design Tool (Tool) for designers to use in the early stages of design. This Tool enables design teams to run various scenarios and understand how different water system designs can impact the footprint of a project. A case-study of a beach resort in the Maldives illustrates the application of the Tool in a specific context. The results showed that significant desalinated water footprint reductions (75.5%, 80.6% and 95.5%, depending on the precipitation year) could be achieved through the application of a series of water-saving strategies. Finally, this research introduces a three-scale process to be applied in new tourism development operations. This framework allows designers to easily identify which areas need improvement in order to achieve more ambitious water goals that would help make tourism development more sustainable in the future. ii Preface This thesis is an original intellectual product of the author, M. Orellana. The case-study reported in Chapter 5 was covered by UBC Behavioral Ethics Certificate number H12-01373. iii Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................................ ii Preface ........................................................................................................................................................ iii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................................ iv List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................vii List of Figures .............................................................................................................................................viii Acknowledgements .....................................................................................................................................xii 1 INTRODUCTION WATER AND TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN SMALL ISLAND DEVELOPING STATES ................................1 1.1 Problem Statement ...............................................................................................................................2 1.2 Research Questions ............................................................................................................................10 1.3 Goal and Scope of the Study ..............................................................................................................10 1.4 Methodology Overview .......................................................................................................................11 2 REDEFINING WATER GOALS CORPORATE WATER ACCOUNTING AND THE WATER FOOTPRINT METHODOLOGY ........................13 2.1 Literature Review .................................................................................................................................14 2.2 Application to Tourism in SIDS ............................................................................................................16 2.2.1 Water Footprint Types Redefinition ��16 2.2.2 Risks and Impacts Overview ��20 2.3 Net-Zero Water Scenario Definition .....................................................................................................24 3 WATER-RELATED DESIGN STRATEGIES TAKING WATER STRATEGIES TO THE NEXT LEVEL ................................................................................27 3.1 Freshwater Supply Alternatives ...........................................................................................................28 3.1.1 Rainwater Harvesting ��28 3.2 Demand Reduction ��33 3.2.1 Wastewater Recycling ��33 3.2.2 Improved Efficiency ��36 3.2.3 Improved Behaviour ��40 3.3 Precedent Study. CIRS Building ..........................................................................................................43 iv 4 WATER FOOTPRINT DESIGN TOOL CALCULATING THE WATER FOOTPRINT OF A BEACH RESORT ...........................................................48 4.1 Water Footprint Design Tool Components ..........................................................................................49 4.2 Methodology .......................................................................................................................................53 4.2.1 Rainwater Harvesting ��53 4.2.2 Wastewater Recycling ��56 4.2.3 Efficient Devices and User Behaviour Improvement ��57 4.3 Scenario Definition ..............................................................................................................................57 4.4 Tool Transferability ...............................................................................................................................59 5 CASE-STUDY DESTINATION: MALDIVES .........................................................................................................................61 5.1.1 Selection Criteria ��62 5.1.2 Case-Study Selection ��62 5.2 Maldives Context Definition .................................................................................................................63 5.3 Soneva Resort .....................................................................................................................................67 5.3.1 General Information ��67 5.3.2 Resort Description ��68 5.3.3 Water-Use Pattern ��70 5.3.4 Results ��72 5.4 Achievability of the Net-Zero Water Scenario .......................................................................................75 6 DESIGNING A NET-ZERO WATER RESORT ACHIEVING AMBITIOUS WATER GOALS AT NEW RESORT DEVELOPMENTS .......................................79 6.1 Net-Zero Water Goal Review ................................................................................................................80

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