scholarly journals Water Conservation in Irrigated Agriculture: Trends and Challenges in the Face of Emerging Demands

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn Schaible ◽  
Marcel Aillery
Keyword(s):  
Water Conservation ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
The Face

Efficient water conservation in agriculture for growing urban water demands in Jordan

Water Policy ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Octavio A. Ramírez ◽  
Frank A. Ward ◽  
Raed Al-Tabini ◽  
Richard Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
High Price ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Economic Productivity ◽  
Water Demands ◽  
Irrigation Water Use ◽  
The Face ◽  
Scarce Water

A significant worldwide challenge is to increase the food supply to accommodate a population growing to 9,000,000,000 in the face of climate change. Per capita water supply in Jordan is among the world's lowest. Despite this scarcity, three-quarters of Jordan's water use is consumed by irrigated agriculture, while producing low economic values from additional water used compared to urban uses. However, irrigated agriculture supports Jordan's food security, so its policymakers continue to examine measures to produce more crop per drop in irrigated agriculture, to permit scarce water to meet growing urban demands. This paper examines economically efficient measures to conserve water in irrigated agriculture to sustain growing urban water demands. Using a sample of one-third of the farms in Jordan's Mafraq Basin, an econometric model is formulated to identify factors influencing irrigation water use and economic productivity. Findings show that the price of water is the overarching factor influencing both. A low water price discourages water conservation even if other institutions promote it. A high price of water encourages conservation even in the presence of other discouraging factors. Results suggest that water-conserving policies in Jordan's irrigated agriculture can be more effectively implemented where water institutions and programs are designed to be compatible with the underlying economic scarcity of water. Results carry significant implications for the design and implementation of development programs affecting the use of water in the world's dry areas.

scholarly journals Effect of infrastructure design on commons dilemmas in social−ecological system dynamics

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (43) ◽  
pp. 13207-13212 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Yu ◽  
Murad R. Qubbaj ◽  
Rachata Muneepeerakul ◽  
John M. Anderies ◽  
Rimjhim M. Aggarwal
Keyword(s):  
Design Feature ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Qualitative Behavior ◽  
Central Feature ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Vital Functions ◽  
The Face ◽  
Design Characteristics ◽  
Shared Infrastructure

The use of shared infrastructure to direct natural processes for the benefit of humans has been a central feature of human social organization for millennia. Today, more than ever, people interact with one another and the environment through shared human-made infrastructure (the Internet, transportation, the energy grid, etc.). However, there has been relatively little work on how the design characteristics of shared infrastructure affect the dynamics of social−ecological systems (SESs) and the capacity of groups to solve social dilemmas associated with its provision. Developing such understanding is especially important in the context of global change where design criteria must consider how specific aspects of infrastructure affect the capacity of SESs to maintain vital functions in the face of shocks. Using small-scale irrigated agriculture (the most ancient and ubiquitous example of public infrastructure systems) as a model system, we show that two design features related to scale and the structure of benefit flows can induce fundamental changes in qualitative behavior, i.e., regime shifts. By relating the required maintenance threshold (a design feature related to infrastructure scale) to the incentives facing users under different regimes, our work also provides some general guidance on determinants of robustness of SESs under globalization-related stresses.

scholarly journals Insights from a Calibrated Optimization Model for Irrigated Agriculture under Drought in an Irrigation District on the Central Mexican High Plains

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 858 ◽  
Author(s):  
José M. Rodríguez-Flores ◽  
Josué Medellín-Azuara ◽  
Ramón Valdivia-Alcalá ◽  
Oscar A. Arana-Coronado ◽  
Roberto C. García-Sánchez
Keyword(s):  
Water Conservation ◽  
Commodity Prices ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Irrigation District ◽  
Market Model ◽  
Water Market ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Net Income

An economic assessment of the value of agricultural water was conducted at the subdistrict (module) level within the Alto Rio Lerma Irrigation District 011 in Guanajuato, Mexico. The assessment employed positive mathematical programming (PMP), a deductive valuation methodology, which self-calibrates to baseline production input use. Production and water use values for the 2016–2017 agricultural year, and the averages of the 2014 to 2017 agricultural years for yields, agricultural commodity prices, and production costs were employed disaggregated per irrigation module. Results indicate that the economic value of water is 1.8 to 4.7 times higher than the rate currently paid by users, about US$7.89 dam−3 (cubic decameters). The differences among the rate and shadow prices could create a pricing water policy focused on water conservation and its efficient use. This work also conducts an assessment of a formal water market in the irrigation district as way to achieve economically efficient water allocations and reduce the potential economic impacts of water shortage during droughts. Modeling results show that an active water market would allow the irrigation district to adapt to scarcer water conditions by shifting cropping patterns and trading water among subdistricts, by reducing loss in net income at the irrigation district. A successful implementation of this system would be feasible, provided that the irrigation modules are able to import and export water, under water scarcity scenarios considered for the water market model. Potential distributional effects and policy insights from this assessment are discussed.

Reduction of evaporation from bare soil using plastic and gravel mulches and assessment of gravel mulch for partitioning evapotranspiration under irrigated canola

Soil Research ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 222 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Dlamini ◽  
I. B. Ukoh ◽  
L. D. van Rensburg ◽  
C. C. du Preez
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Sandy Loam ◽  
Bare Soil ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Brassica Napus L ◽  
Water Losses ◽  
Lysimeter Experiment ◽  
Gravel Mulch

Partitioning of evapotranspiration (ET) into its components of evaporation (E) and transpiration (T) is difficult, yet important for managing unproductive and productive water losses under irrigated agriculture. A lysimeter experiment (Expt 1) was conducted on sandy Clovelly and sandy loam Bainsvlei soils in Bloemfontein, South Africa where plastic sheet and dolerite gravel mulches were applied to lysimeters to determine to what extent they restricted E from the soil surface compared with a bare soil control. No crops were grown in the lysimeters for Expt 1. Gravel mulch on Clovelly-filled lysimeters reduced E by 33% and by 41% for Bainsvlei-filled lysimeters compared with bare soil. Based on these results, lysimeter Expt 2 was undertaken on gravel mulched and unmulched bare soil lysimeters to assess the effectiveness of gravel mulch in partitioning ET into E and T using the Tanner and Sinclair (1983) method embedded in the soil water balance. In Expt 2, canola (Brassica napus L.) was grown in the lysimeters for 168 days. Gravel mulch had a significant effect on water use (WU) by suppressing the E component of ET, resulting in WU being on average 11% lower from gravel-mulched lysimeters than the unmulched lysimeters, and this translated to an improved average WU efficiency of 11.91kgha–1mm–1 for canola. Taken together, these results reinforce the potential for gravel mulch as a viable management option for soil water conservation, which is crucial for plant available water, a major limiting factor for plant growth in arid and semiarid lands.

scholarly journals Problems of introducing a system of paid water use in irrigated agriculture in water-deficient regions of Russia (on the example of the Rostov region)

2021 ◽  
Vol 273 ◽  
pp. 05014
Author(s):  
Grigory Kharitonov
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
River Mouth ◽  
Anthropogenic Load ◽  
Small Rivers ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Rostov Region ◽  
Quality Of Water ◽  
The Face

In the face of climate change, regulation of water use is essential. On the example of the Rostov region, the necessity of introducing paid water for agricultural lands was considered. Rostov region is one of the largest producers of agricultural products, including wheat and sunflower. At the same time, this territory belongs to arid territories and needs irrigation of agricultural land. The Lower Don basin on the territory of the Rostov region includes the territory from the Tsimlyansk reservoir to the river mouth. The quality of water resources and river runoff of large waterways in the Don region is largely determined by small rivers, whose environmental problems are also associated with a high anthropogenic load, indicating intense economic activity. The article discusses the possibilities of using the system of payment for water use for agriculture. It is shown that the introduction of a system of tariffs for irrigation water, as well as the modernization of existing legal norms, will reduce the anthropogenic load on the ecosystem. The systemic regulation of water use should ultimately lead to the modernization of the system of irrigation canals and the cleaning of small rivers in the region.

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