Appraisal of the water footprint of irrigated agriculture in a semi-arid area: The Segura River Basin

Martínez‐Paz, José Miguel; Castillo, Francisco Gomariz-Castillo; Pellicer-Martínez, Francisco

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0206852

Cited by 18 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 58 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Specifically, the latter applies for the study area, because no information respective to water extraction for agricultural proposes is registered [96]. Although irrigated agriculture is the sector that consumes the highest amounts of the local hydrological resources in semiarid regions [97,98], a quantification is complex, due to the poorly managed irrigation canals and the uncontrolled irrigation practices in the study area.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water Balance and Soil Moisture Deficit of Different Vegetation Units under Semiarid Conditions in the Andes of Southern Ecuador

Fries

Silva

Pucha-Cofrep

et al. 2020

Climate

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Water availability in semiarid regions is endangered, which is not only due to changing climate conditions, but also to anthropogenic land use changes. The present study analyzed the annual and monthly water balance (WBc) and the soil moisture deficit (Ds) for different vegetation units under semiarid conditions in the Andes of southern Ecuador, based on limited meteorological station data and field measurements (soil samples). To calculate crop evapotranspiration (ETc) the Blaney-Criddle method was applied, and the specific crop factor (Kc) included, because only temperature (T) and precipitation (P) data were available. By means of the soil samples the water retention capacity (RC) of the different soil types present in the study area were estimated, which, in combination with WBc, provided reliable results respective to water surpluses or deficits for the different vegetation units. The results indicated highest Ds for cultivated areas, particularly for corn and sugarcane plantations, where annual deficits up to −1377.5 mm ha −1 and monthly deficits up to −181.1 mm ha −1 were calculated. Natural vegetation cover (scrubland, forest and paramo), especially at higher elevations, did not show any deficit throughout the year (annual surpluses up to 1279.6 mm ha −1 ; monthly surpluses up to 280.1 mm ha −1 ). Hence, it could be concluded that the prevailing climate conditions in semiarid regions cannot provide the necessary water for agricultural practices, for which reason irrigation is required. The necessary water can be supplied by areas coved by natural vegetation, but these areas are endangered due to population growth and the associated land use changes.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water Balance and Soil Moisture Deficit of Different Vegetation Units under Semiarid Conditions in the Andes of Southern Ecuador

Fries

Silva

Pucha-Cofrep

et al. 2020

Climate

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The calculation of the general WF should include the consumption of surface water and groundwater, the amount of precipitation consumed by the evaporation of plants and the amount of water to dilute the sewage (Hoekstra et al , 2011; Martínez‐Paz et al , 2018). In this essay, the total WF (

{normalW normalF}_{normalt normalo normalt normala normall}

) of a household is divided into the blue WF (

{normalW normalF}_{normalb normall normalu normale}

), green WF (

{WF}_{green}

) and grey WF (

{normalW normalF}_{normalg normalr normale normaly}

).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agricultural water and carbon footprint driving mechanisms at the household scale in North China Plain

Wang

Chen

Shi³

et al. 2019

Water & Environment J

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The North China Plain (NCP) is dominated by intensive household agriculture, and household plays a decisive role in agricultural development. Studying the factors of agricultural water consumption and carbon emissions at the household scale can help solve the problems of agricultural water scarcity and greenhouse gases excessive emissions. This study investigates the agricultural production scenarios of 590 households in the NCP and calculates the household's agricultural water footprint (WF) and carbon footprint (CF). The driving mechanisms of the WF and CF are analysed by a two-layer, multilevel linear statistical model. The results show that agricultural production conditions will affect a household's WF and CF; family labour and the economy will affect a user's willingness to adopt agricultural water-saving technology. The results of this study can serve as a reference for the sustainable management of groundwater resources and emissions reductions.

show abstract

“…A wide range of fruit, vegetables, and flowers are grown across the alluvial plains of the Segura Basin. The water demand of irrigated agriculture amounts to 85% of total water demand in the basin [29]. Particular sites of ecological importance are the 120 wetlands in the basin, of which 70 are subject to special protection in the framework of the European Habitats directive [30].…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual Tracers to Detect Sources of Water and Track Water Reuse across a River Basin

Simons

Droogers²,

Contreras³

et al. 2020

Water

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Water managers around the world face the increasingly challenging task to evaluate the impacts of technological measures and policy mechanisms from the local to the river basin scale. A toolset providing quantitative, actionable information on dependencies and trade-offs between upstream and downstream water users is currently lacking. Yet, any intervention needs to be assessed in terms of consequences for downstream water users. This study evaluates the potential of a tracer-like approach, implemented in the water allocation software WEAP, to quantitatively track return flows and their downstream reuse in the river basin context. The WEAP-Virtual Tracer (WEAP-VT) approach was successfully applied to one of Europe’s driest river basins, the Segura River Basin in Spain. For each water demand site, the different original sources of water supply, dependency on upstream return flows, and downstream reuse of its return flow were assessed. Based on these results, agricultural, urban, and environmental water users were evaluated in terms of their suitability for water saving measures and their vulnerability to the reduction in upstream return flows. A scenario analysis simulating the improvement of local efficiency improvements shows that specific irrigation schemes and ecosystems become deprived of water. Hence, efficiency improvement in water-scarce basins should be considered with caution. The demonstrated ability to quantify key water reuse indicators for individual water users and at different aggregation levels makes WEAP-VT a valuable tool to support water resource management decisions.

show abstract

Appraisal of the water footprint of irrigated agriculture in a semi-arid area: The Segura River Basin

Cited by 18 publications

References 58 publications

Water Balance and Soil Moisture Deficit of Different Vegetation Units under Semiarid Conditions in the Andes of Southern Ecuador

Water Balance and Soil Moisture Deficit of Different Vegetation Units under Semiarid Conditions in the Andes of Southern Ecuador

Agricultural water and carbon footprint driving mechanisms at the household scale in North China Plain

Virtual Tracers to Detect Sources of Water and Track Water Reuse across a River Basin

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About