IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/waterr/v26y2012i4p949-962.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Water Savings Through Improved Irrigation Techniques: Basin-Scale Quantification in Semi-Arid Environments

Author

Listed:
  • Rebecka Törnqvist
  • Jerker Jarsjö

Abstract

In many semi-arid and arid regions of the world, water saving strategies need to be implemented in the agricultural sector in order to increase the resilience to water scarcity. We investigate basin-scale hydrological impacts of possible irrigation technique improvements, considering extensive cotton fields in the Aral Sea drainage basin (ASDB), Central Asia. We use a distributed hydrologic model that combines basin-scale, calibrated discharge and evapotranspiration quantifications with experimental results of (on-farm) water application needs for different irrigation techniques. This allows for quantification of how return flows contribute to river discharge through coupled groundwater-surface water-systems at the basin scale, under different regional climatic conditions. Results show that an implementation of improved irrigation techniques can yield water savings that increase the discharge to the Aral Sea by between 1 and 6 km 3 /year. Such water savings could contribute to mitigation of the acute water scarcity in the lower ASDB. The basin-scale water savings are about 60% lower than corresponding on-farm reductions in irrigation water application, since water is re-used and, hence, return flows decrease when less water is applied. Spatial analysis of regional differences in climatic conditions shows that implementation of more efficient irrigation systems would result in much larger (up to a factor 4) water savings in the more arid downstream regions than in the colder, upstream mountainous regions. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012

Suggested Citation

  • Rebecka Törnqvist & Jerker Jarsjö, 2012. "Water Savings Through Improved Irrigation Techniques: Basin-Scale Quantification in Semi-Arid Environments," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 26(4), pages 949-962, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:waterr:v:26:y:2012:i:4:p:949-962
    DOI: 10.1007/s11269-011-9819-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11269-011-9819-9
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11269-011-9819-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cai, Ximing & McKinney, Daene C. & Rosegrant, Mark W., 2003. "Sustainability analysis for irrigation water management in the Aral Sea region," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 76(3), pages 1043-1066, June.
    2. Rajak, Daleshwar & Manjunatha, M.V. & Rajkumar, G.R. & Hebbara, M. & Minhas, P.S., 2006. "Comparative effects of drip and furrow irrigation on the yield and water productivity of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) in a saline and waterlogged vertisol," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 83(1-2), pages 30-36, May.
    3. Molden, David, 2007. "Water for food, water for life: a comprehensive assessment of water management in agriculture," IWMI Books, Reports H040193, International Water Management Institute.
    4. Molden, David, 2007. "Water for food, water for life: a comprehensive assessment of water management in agriculture: summary. In Russian," IWMI Books, Reports H041260, International Water Management Institute.
    5. Kanber, Riza & Koksal, Harun & Onder, Sermet & Kapur, Selim & Sahan, Sebahattin, 2001. "Comparison of surge and continuous furrow methods for cotton in the Harran plain," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 119-135, March.
    6. Mateos, L. & Berengena, J. & Orgaz, F. & Diz, J. & Fereres, E., 1991. "A comparison between drip and furrow irrigation in cotton at two levels of water supply," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 313-324, May.
    7. Maneta, M.P. & Torres, M. & Wallender, W.W. & Vosti, S. & Kirby, M. & Bassoi, L.H. & Rodrigues, L.N., 2009. "Water demand and flows in the São Francisco River Basin (Brazil) with increased irrigation," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(8), pages 1191-1200, August.
    8. Abdullaev, Iskandar & Giordano, Mark & Rasulov, A., 2005. "Cotton in Uzbekistan: water and welfare," Conference Papers h037863, International Water Management Institute.
    9. J. Meigh & A. McKenzie & K. Sene, 1999. "A Grid-Based Approach to Water Scarcity Estimates for Eastern and Southern Africa," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 13(2), pages 85-115, April.
    10. Cetin, O. & Bilgel, L., 2002. "Effects of different irrigation methods on shedding and yield of cotton," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 1-15, March.
    11. Horst, M.G. & Shamutalov, S.S. & Goncalves, J.M. & Pereira, L.S., 2007. "Assessing impacts of surge-flow irrigation on water saving and productivity of cotton," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 115-127, January.
    12. Pereira, Luis Santos & Oweis, Theib & Zairi, Abdelaziz, 2002. "Irrigation management under water scarcity," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 57(3), pages 175-206, December.
    13. Molden, David, 2007. "Water for food, water for life: a comprehensive assessment of water management in agriculture: summary," IWMI Books, Reports H039769, International Water Management Institute.
    14. Ibragimov, Nazirbay & Evett, Steven R. & Esanbekov, Yusupbek & Kamilov, Bakhtiyor S. & Mirzaev, Lutfullo & Lamers, John P.A., 2007. "Water use efficiency of irrigated cotton in Uzbekistan under drip and furrow irrigation," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 90(1-2), pages 112-120, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Shumin Han & Qiuli Hu & Yonghui Yang & Jiusheng Wang & Ping Wang & Quan Wang, 2015. "Characteristics and Driving Factors of Drainage Water in Irrigation Districts in Arid Areas," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(14), pages 5323-5337, November.
    2. Shaochun Huang & Valentina Krysanova & Jianqing Zhai & Buda Su, 2015. "Impact of Intensive Irrigation Activities on River Discharge Under Agricultural Scenarios in the Semi-Arid Aksu River Basin, Northwest China," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(3), pages 945-959, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Komlan Koudahe & Aleksey Y. Sheshukov & Jonathan Aguilar & Koffi Djaman, 2021. "Irrigation-Water Management and Productivity of Cotton: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-21, September.
    2. Mohammad Alauddin & Upali A. Amarasinghe & Bharat R. Sharma, 2014. "Four decades of rice water productivity in Bangladesh: A spatio-temporal analysis of district level panel data," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 51-64.
    3. Scheierling, Susanne M. & Treguer, David O. & Booker, James F. & Decker, Elisabeth, 2014. "How to assess agricultural water productivity ? looking for water in the agricultural productivity and efficiency literature," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6982, The World Bank.
    4. Molle, Francois & Berkoff, Jeremy, 2007. "Water pricing in irrigation: the lifetime of an idea," Book Chapters,, International Water Management Institute.
    5. Bossio, Deborah & Geheb, Kim & Critchley, William, 2010. "Managing water by managing land: Addressing land degradation to improve water productivity and rural livelihoods," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 97(4), pages 536-542, April.
    6. Batidzirai, B. & Smeets, E.M.W. & Faaij, A.P.C., 2012. "Harmonising bioenergy resource potentials—Methodological lessons from review of state of the art bioenergy potential assessments," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(9), pages 6598-6630.
    7. Katerji, Nader & Campi, Pasquale & Mastrorilli, Marcello, 2013. "Productivity, evapotranspiration, and water use efficiency of corn and tomato crops simulated by AquaCrop under contrasting water stress conditions in the Mediterranean region," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 14-26.
    8. Feng Huang & Baoguo Li, 2020. "What is the Redline Water Withdrawal for Crop Production in China?—Projection to 2030 Derived from the Past Twenty-Year Trajectory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-14, May.
    9. Venot, Jean-Philippe & Reddy, V. Ratna & Umapathy, Deeptha, 2010. "Coping with drought in irrigated South India: Farmers' adjustments in Nagarjuna Sagar," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 97(10), pages 1434-1442, October.
    10. repec:kqi:journl:2017-2-1-2 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Bossio, Deborah & Noble, Andrew D. & Aloysius, Noel & Pretty, J. & Penning de Vries, F., 2008. "Ecosystem benefits of \u2018bright\u2019 spots," IWMI Books, Reports H041603, International Water Management Institute.
    12. Andrew J. Wiltshire & Gillian Kay & Jemma L. Gornall & Richard A. Betts, 2013. "The Impact of Climate, CO 2 and Population on Regional Food and Water Resources in the 2050s," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(5), pages 1-23, May.
    13. Rosa Francaviglia & Claudia Di Bene, 2019. "Deficit Drip Irrigation in Processing Tomato Production in the Mediterranean Basin. A Data Analysis for Italy," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-14, April.
    14. Malin Falkenmark, 2013. "Adapting to climate change: towards societal water security in dry-climate countries," International Journal of Water Resources Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(2), pages 123-136, June.
    15. Awulachew, Seleshi Bekele & Smakhtin, Vladimir & Molden, David & Peden, D., 2012. "The Nile River Basin: water, agriculture, governance and livelihoods," IWMI Books, International Water Management Institute, number 210740.
    16. Kherbache, Nabil & Oukaci, Kamal, 2020. "Assessment of capital expenditure in achieving sanitation-related MDG targets and the uncertainties of the SDG targets in Algeria," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    17. Tarjuelo, José M. & Rodriguez-Diaz, Juan A. & Abadía, Ricardo & Camacho, Emilio & Rocamora, Carmen & Moreno, Miguel A., 2015. "Efficient water and energy use in irrigation modernization: Lessons from Spanish case studies," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 67-77.
    18. Gebreegziabher, Z. & Mekonnen, A. & Beyene, A.D. & Hagos, F., 2018. "Valuation of access to irrigation water in rural Ethiopia: application of choice experiment and contingent valuation methods," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277168, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    19. Neumann, Kathleen & Stehfest, Elke & Verburg, Peter H. & Siebert, Stefan & Müller, Christoph & Veldkamp, Tom, 2011. "Exploring global irrigation patterns: A multilevel modelling approach," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 104(9), pages 703-713.
    20. Mukherji, Aditi & Facon, T. & Molden, David & Chartres, Colin, 2010. "Growing more food with less water: how can revitalizing Asia\u2019s irrigation help?," Conference Papers h043241, International Water Management Institute.
    21. Unknown, 2012. "Water for wealth and food security: supporting farmer-driven investments in agricultural water management. Synthesis report of the AgWater Solutions Project," IWMI Reports 158834, International Water Management Institute.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:waterr:v:26:y:2012:i:4:p:949-962. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.