A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
Large variations in global irrigation withdrawals caused by uncertain irrigation efficiencies
An assessment of the human impact on the global water cycle requires estimating the volume of water withdrawn for irrigated agriculture. A key parameter in this calculation is the irrigation efficiency, which corrects for the fraction of water lost between irrigation withdrawals and the crop due to management, distribution or conveyance losses. Here we show that the irrigation efficiency used in global irrigation models is flawed for it overlooks key ambiguities in partial efficiencies, irrigation technologies, the definition of ‘large-scale’ irrigated areas or managerial factors. Once accounted for, these uncertainties can make irrigation withdrawal estimates fluctuate by more than one order of magnitude at the country level. Such variability is larger and leads to more extreme values than that caused by the uncertainties related with climate change. Our results highlight the need to embrace deep uncertainties in irrigation efficiency to prevent the design of shortsighted policies at the river basin-water-agricultural interface.
Large variations in global irrigation withdrawals caused by uncertain irrigation efficiencies
An assessment of the human impact on the global water cycle requires estimating the volume of water withdrawn for irrigated agriculture. A key parameter in this calculation is the irrigation efficiency, which corrects for the fraction of water lost between irrigation withdrawals and the crop due to management, distribution or conveyance losses. Here we show that the irrigation efficiency used in global irrigation models is flawed for it overlooks key ambiguities in partial efficiencies, irrigation technologies, the definition of ‘large-scale’ irrigated areas or managerial factors. Once accounted for, these uncertainties can make irrigation withdrawal estimates fluctuate by more than one order of magnitude at the country level. Such variability is larger and leads to more extreme values than that caused by the uncertainties related with climate change. Our results highlight the need to embrace deep uncertainties in irrigation efficiency to prevent the design of shortsighted policies at the river basin-water-agricultural interface.
Large variations in global irrigation withdrawals caused by uncertain irrigation efficiencies
Arnald Puy (author) / Bruce Lankford (author) / Jonas Meier (author) / Saskia van der Kooij (author) / Andrea Saltelli (author)
2022
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
Unknown
Metadata by DOAJ is licensed under CC BY-SA 1.0
Impacts of crop insurance on water withdrawals for irrigation
| British Library Online Contents | 2017
Impacts of crop insurance on water withdrawals for irrigation
| British Library Online Contents | 2017
Impacts of crop insurance on water withdrawals for irrigation
| British Library Online Contents | 2017
Achieving sustainable irrigation water withdrawals: global impacts on food security and land use
| DOAJ | 2017
Practical Potential Irrigation Efficiencies
| British Library Conference Proceedings | 1995