Measuring and enhancing the value of agricultural water in irrigated river basins

Hussain, Intizar; Turral, Hugh; Molden, David; Ahmad, Mobin-ud-Din

doi:10.1007/s00271-007-0061-4

Cited by 94 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Moreover, studies that connect water use efficiency with wet † water savings are rare. Notable exceptions include the works of Hussain et al (16), Huffaker and Whittlesey (17), Peterson and Ding (18), Huffaker and Whittlesey (19), and Schierling et al (20).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…More than a billion people worldwide lack safe affordable drinking water (8). A considerable number of informed individuals, large development organizations, and much popular belief subscribes to the view that measures to increase irrigation efficiency* will result in additional water for uses outside agriculture (16,17). Numerous public policies have been implemented and billions of dollars in public and private investments spent to promote water conservation in irrigated agriculture.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Water conservation in irrigation can increase water use

Ward

Pulido-Velázquez

2008

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

593

323

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Climate change, water supply limits, and continued population growth have intensified the search for measures to conserve water in irrigated agriculture, the world's largest water user. Policy measures that encourage adoption of water-conserving irrigation technologies are widely believed to make more water available for cities and the environment. However, little integrated analysis has been conducted to test this hypothesis. This article presents results of an integrated basin-scale analysis linking biophysical, hydrologic, agronomic, economic, policy, and institutional dimensions of the Upper Rio Grande Basin of North America. It analyzes a series of water conservation policies for their effect on water used in irrigation and on water conserved. In contrast to widely-held beliefs, our results show that water conservation subsidies are unlikely to reduce water use under conditions that occur in many river basins. Adoption of more efficient irrigation technologies reduces valuable return flows and limits aquifer recharge. Policies aimed at reducing water applications can actually increase water depletions. Achieving real water savings requires designing institutional, technical, and accounting measures that accurately track and economically reward reduced water depletions. Conservation programs that target reduced water diversions or applications provide no guarantee of saving water.agriculture ͉ sustainability ͉ institutions ͉ hydrology

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confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Water conservation in irrigation can increase water use

Ward

Pulido-Velázquez

2008

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

593

323

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…A range of measures has been proposed to guide wise use of water in comparing food, mostly field crop, production systems (Molden, 2007). A transpiration coefficient was proposed by Shantz (1913, 1914) to calculate the amount of water consumed by plants per kilogram of production.…”

Section: > Water Use Metricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can water productivity metrics guide allocation of freshwater to inland fisheries?

Brummett

Lemoalle

Beveridge

2010

Knowl. Managt. Aquatic Ecosyst.

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Key-words:extraction, watershed management, ecosystem services Water productivity (WP) metrics have proven useful in comparing production efficiency of various crops. Recently, it has also been proposed to facilitate more equitable allocation of scarce freshwater resources between irrigated agriculture and fisheries. Parameterizing water productivity metrics, however, proves to be very difficult in the real world of inadequate data and complex aquatic ecosystems, and is usually impossible to calculate for exploitation strategies, such as fisheries, that harvest products, but do not in and of themselves reduce the natural resource base from which those products were derived. In special cases, marginal water productivity (the variation in production for each unit variation in available water) can be estimated, but the complexity of its use under-values the social, ecological and economical importance of fisheries and so cannot be recommended for making inter-sectoral comparisons. RÉSUMÉPeut-on utiliser la métrique de la productivité de l'eau pour définir l'allocation de l'eau aux pêches continentales ? Mots-clés :usage de l'eau, gestion de bassin, écosystèmes aquatiques L'utilisation de la métrique utilisée pour la productivité agricole de l'eau (PE) s'est avérée utile pour comparer l'efficacité de cultures différentes. Cette approche a été récemment proposée pour faciliter une répartition plus équitable de ressources en eau limitées entre agriculture irriguée et pêche. La généralisation de la mé-trique utilisée pour la productivité de l'eau s'est cependant révélée difficile dans un contexte de données inadaptées et d'écosystèmes complexes. Elle n'est, en général, pas applicable à des systèmes d'exploitation tels que les pêcheries qui relèvent de la cueillette et ne sont pas en eux-mêmes consommateurs de la ressource dont ils dépendent. Il est possible de calculer dans certains cas particuliers une productivité marginale de l'eau (PME, la variation de la production par unité de variation de l'eau disponible). Mais la difficulté de sa généralisation fait qu'il en résulte une sous-estimation de la valeur sociale, écologique et économique des pêches. L'approche ne peut donc être recommandée pour des comparaisons entre secteurs de production différents.(1) WorldFish Center, Yaoundé, Cameroon, r.brummett@cgiar.org

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“…As water scarcity intensifies in many regions of the world, better management of irrigation is becoming an issue of paramount importance (Hussain et al, 2007). Skilled management of irrigation should start from planning at the regional level (Lorite et al, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%