Coupling the water footprint accounting of crops and in-stream monitoring activities at the catchment scale

In this work, a simple approach for calibrating the water footprint (WF) accounting of crops with in-stream measurements at the catchment scale was developed. The green and blue components of the WF were evaluated by performing a soil-water balance at a 10-day time-interval. The surface runoff was calibrated based on continuous streamflow measurements. Meanwhile, the grey component of the WF related to nitrogen use was quantified by means of the results from the in-stream monitoring activities. The methodology can be applied to any catchment where soil, land use, weather, agricultural practices, nitrogen balance and stream data are available. This methodological approach can support local authorities in the decision-making process for effective agricultural policy setting and water planning. • The WF accounting for an agricultural catchment is coupled with surface-water monitoring results• The green and blue WF are assessed by performing a soil-water balance• Surface runoff and grey water accounts are based on in-stream monitoring activities