Virtual water helps us understand the dependencies our economies have on others’ resources. As nations work toward securing food, water, energy and other essential inputs for people’s well being, livelihoods and the country’s economic development,Most countries rely on imports as well as exports of goods and services. A country may aim to be self-sufficient by relying primarily on goods that can be produced within its borders. But a country may also choose to reduce the burden on the natural resources within its borders by importing water intensive products.
National policy makers in water-scarce countries are likely to be more
interested in national water savings than in global water savings. There
are many examples of water-poor countries that save their domestic
water resources by importing water-intensive goods. Mexico, for example,
imports maize and, in doing so, it saves 12 billion cubic meters per
year of its national water resources. This is the volume of water that
it would need domestically if it had to produce the imported maize
within the country.
More on this Topic: https://waterfootprint.org/en/water-footprint/national-water-footprint/virtual-water-trade/
You can try calculate your waterfootprint here: https://www.watercalculator.org/