Environmental Impact of Irrigation Development

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate water quality of irrigation development project and its impact on the environment. To achieve this goal, represent tive samples of irrigation, ground and drainage water, cultivated plants were collected at the beginning and tail end of each mesqas of wasat, manaifa and mahmoudia. The obtained results showed that, irrigation water is of a good quality, ground water is classified as high saline and moderately to highly saline and drainage water is classified as restricted for irrigation purposes. In case of pollutants of water resources, (i) macro, micronutrient and heavy metals are considered below the permissible limits in all sites, (ii) total and fecal coliform in irrigation and ground water samples of manaifa and mhmoudia are free except main drain (2) of manaifa, while at wassat, the three types water samples are contaminated at the head of mesqa, (iii) irrigation and ground water samples of the representive sites are free of salmonela and shigella except drainage water, (iv) COD, in all water samples are below permissible limits except main drain of wassat and manifa, while BOD are below the permissible limits. With regard to soil, EC values reduced almost (26%) compared to the previous data collected. The extractable elements for locations under study still less than the maximum permitted metal loading. Concerning plant assessment, the sequence of micro nutrients for plant shoots and roots in the investigated sites followed the order of : Fe > Mn > Cu > B while total coliform was found in mahmoudia but still under the permissible limits.

Impact of Deficit Irrigation Strategies Using Saline Water on Soil and Peach Tree Yield in an Arid Region of Tunisia

“…gated agricultural development could have negative environmental impacts, there is an increasing trend to take accountability for its impacts on the environment, as well as t improve its environmental performance and ensure long-term sustainability [37]. Reduc ing the amount of total salt, in addition to saving water with little impact on the yield makes deficit irrigation a very valuable strategy when no drainage systems are used, as i the case of many arid regions [31].…”

“…Nowadays, several countries around the world are forced towards using low-quality water as alternative resources for irrigation in agriculture to overcome the inadequate water supply [36] and sustain agriculture activities. Although low-quality water for irrigated agricultural development could have negative environmental impacts, there is an increasing trend to take accountability for its impacts on the environment, as well as to improve its environmental performance and ensure long-term sustainability [37]. Reducing the amount of total salt, in addition to saving water with little impact on the yield, makes deficit irrigation a very valuable strategy when no drainage systems are used, as is the case of many arid regions [31].…”