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Analysis of Virtual Irrigation Water. Application to Water Resources Management in a Mediterranean River Basin

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  • Pilar Montesinos
  • Emilio Camacho
  • Blanca Campos
  • Juan Rodríguez-Díaz

Abstract

Virtual water, understood as the volume of water needed to produce a good or service, in the context of trade among countries, allows assessing the relative dependency of different countries on imported virtual water. The assessment of virtual water flows in virtual water trade studies is generally carried out at the national level, thus concealing the spatial variability of many countries that comprise a wide range of agro-climatic areas. A finer spatial resolution is needed to apply the virtual water concept with a view to improving local water resources management at the regional or basin scale. This paper presents a more detailed analysis of blue agricultural virtual water at sub-basin scale, which is aggregated to the basin scale for the Guadalquivir River basin in southern Spain. Given that around 80% of the available blue water resources of this region are used in agriculture, improving irrigation water management is of great interest to the basin water resources management. The main objective of this paper is to estimate the virtual irrigation water balance; an important component of the agricultural water footprint that provides additional information to the basin blue water balance and contributes to achieving a more rational and efficient management of basin water resources. Management recommendations focusing on the spatial redistribution of irrigated crops according to both their water efficiency and productivity are proposed with the aim of saving blue water for other purposes such as drought mitigation or environmental flows, among others. In particular, the proposed measures affect irrigated olive trees; the most widespread irrigated crop in this basin. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011

Suggested Citation

  • Pilar Montesinos & Emilio Camacho & Blanca Campos & Juan Rodríguez-Díaz, 2011. "Analysis of Virtual Irrigation Water. Application to Water Resources Management in a Mediterranean River Basin," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 25(6), pages 1635-1651, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:waterr:v:25:y:2011:i:6:p:1635-1651
    DOI: 10.1007/s11269-010-9765-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Md. Islam & Taikan Oki & Shinjiro Kanae & Naota Hanasaki & Yasushi Agata & Kei Yoshimura, 2007. "A grid-based assessment of global water scarcity including virtual water trading," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 21(1), pages 19-33, January.
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    1. Lozano, David & Ruiz, Natividad & Gavilán, Pedro, 2016. "Consumptive water use and irrigation performance of strawberries," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 44-51.
    2. P. Oel & A. Hoekstra, 2012. "Towards Quantification of the Water Footprint of Paper: A First Estimate of its Consumptive Component," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 26(3), pages 733-749, February.
    3. Dong Yan & Zhiwei Jia & Jie Xue & Huaiwei Sun & Dongwei Gui & Yi Liu & Xiaofan Zeng, 2018. "Inter-Regional Coordination to Improve Equality in the Agricultural Virtual Water Trade," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-17, December.
    4. Flores Cayuela, Carmen M. & González Perea, Rafael & Camacho Poyato, Emilio & Montesinos, Pilar, 2022. "An ICT-based decision support system for precision irrigation management in outdoor orange and greenhouse tomato crops," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    5. Taleb Abu-Sharar & Emad Al-Karablieh & Munther Haddadin, 2012. "Role of Virtual Water in Optimizing Water Resources Management in Jordan," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 26(14), pages 3977-3993, November.
    6. José Sánchez & Juan Reca & Juan Martínez, 2015. "Water Productivity in a Mediterranean Semi-Arid Greenhouse District," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(14), pages 5395-5411, November.
    7. J. Rodríguez Díaz & P. Montesinos & E. Poyato, 2012. "Detecting Critical Points in On-Demand Irrigation Pressurized Networks – A New Methodology," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 26(6), pages 1693-1713, April.
    8. Xinchun Cao & Pute Wu & Yubao Wang & Xining Zhao, 2014. "Water Footprint of Grain Product in Irrigated Farmland of China," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 28(8), pages 2213-2227, June.
    9. Maria J. Beltrán & Esther Velázquez, 2015. "The Political Ecology of Virtual Water in Southern Spain," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(5), pages 1020-1036, September.
    10. Najihah Dor & Syafalni Syafalni & Ismail Abustan & Mohd Rahman & Mohd Nazri & Roslanzairi Mostafa & Lakam Mejus, 2011. "Verification of Surface-Groundwater Connectivity in an Irrigation Canal Using Geophysical, Water Balance and Stable Isotope Approaches," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 25(11), pages 2837-2853, September.
    11. Fernández García, I. & Rodríguez Díaz, J.A. & Camacho Poyato, E. & Montesinos, P. & Berbel, J., 2014. "Effects of modernization and medium term perspectives on water and energy use in irrigation districts," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 56-63.
    12. Guadalupe Azuara García & Efrén Palacios Rosas & Alfonso García-Ferrer & Pilar Montesinos Barrios, 2017. "Multi-Objective Spatial Optimization: Sustainable Land Use Allocation at Sub-Regional Scale," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-21, June.
    13. Ali Azarnivand & Mohammad Ebrahim Banihabib, 2017. "A Multi-level Strategic Group Decision Making for Understanding and Analysis of Sustainable Watershed Planning in Response to Environmental Perplexities," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 629-648, May.
    14. S. Sun & P. Wu & Y. Wang & X. Zhao, 2013. "Temporal Variability of Water Footprint for Maize Production: The Case of Beijing from 1978 to 2008," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 27(7), pages 2447-2463, May.

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