Conjunctive use of green and blue water resources in agriculture: Methodology and application for supplemental irrigation *

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Behzad Hessari ◽  
Theib Oweis
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Conjunctive Use ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Supplemental Irrigation ◽  
Green And Blue Water

Changes in the water footprint of urban green spaces over time

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamideh Nouri ◽  
Sattar Chavoshi Borujeni ◽  
Pamela Nagler ◽  
Armando Barreto Munoz ◽  
Kamel Didan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Green Water ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Urban Greenery ◽  
Green And Blue Water

<p>The concept of a sustainable green city based on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)–Goal 11 - sustainable cities and communities – may not be narrowed down to solely intensifying urban green spaces. Sustainability could include urban water management to alleviate possible conflict among “water‐saving” and “greening cities” strategies. Water consumption by urban greenery has a major role in urban water management, particularly in water-scarce regions where green covers are most affected by drought and aridity. More green and blue water resources are required to maintain and expand urban green spaces. Quantifying the water footprint of urban greenery helps to balance greening cities while water saving from both green and blue water resources. We employed remote sensing and artificial intelligence techniques to assess the water consumption and water footprint of a 780‐ha public green space, the Adelaide Parklands in Australia. We estimated the green and blue water footprint of this green space (containing 29 parks) during 2010-2018 on a monthly basis. Our results showed that the mean total water footprint of the Adelaide Parklands was about 7.75 gigaliter per annum over 2010-2018; it varied from 7.19 gigaliter/year in 2018 to 8.45 gigaliter/year in 2012. The blue water footprint was consistently higher than the green water footprint even in wet time of the year. We suggest implementing sponge city and water sensitive urban design (WSUD) techniques to help greening cities while reducing the water footprint of urban green spaces. These approaches have the potential to lessen the pressure on blue water resources and optimise the consumption of green water resources.</p>

scholarly journals Effect of Climate Variability on Green and Blue Water Resources in a Temperate Monsoon Watershed, Northeastern China

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2193
Author(s):  
Junchao Jiang ◽  
Leting Lyu ◽  
Yuechi Han ◽  
Caizhi Sun
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Water Resource ◽  
Green Water ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Reference Period ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Green And Blue Water ◽  
The Impact

Over 80% of global grain production relies on green water, water from precipitation that is stored in unsaturated soil and supports plant growth. Blue water, precipitation that turns into surface water and groundwater, is also a vital surface water resource, and it can be directly utilized. The Tanghe River Basin is a typical temperate continental monsoon watershed in Northern China where residents and crops rely on blue and green water resources. In this study, the spatiotemporal distributions of water resources in the Tanghe River Basin were simulated using the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) model for the period between 1970 and 2015. The results demonstrate that the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency and coefficient of determination were both higher than 0.64 during the calibration and validation periods at all hydrological stations, indicating high simulation accuracy. The average annual water resources of the Tanghe River Basin are 759.37 mm. Green and blue water account for 68% and 32% of the total water resources, respectively. The study period was divided into the reference period (1970–1976) and the variation period (1977–2015), to explore the impact of climate change on the green and blue water resources of the Tanghe River Basin water resources. Compared with the reference period, the average green and blue water resources in the variation period decreased by 78.48 and 35.94 mm/year, and their rate changes were −13.45% and −13.17%, respectively. The water resource relative change rates were high in the south and low in the north, and they were predominantly affected by precipitation. This study improves our understanding of the hydrological processes as well as the availability of blue and green water in the study region, and can prove beneficial in promoting the sustainable development of small basins and the integrated watershed management in areas with similar climatic conditions.

scholarly journals A review of green- and blue-water resources and their trade-offs for future agricultural production in the Amazon Basin: what could irrigated agriculture mean for Amazonia?

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 2179-2194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Lathuillière ◽  
Michael T. Coe ◽  
Mark S. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Amazon Basin ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Green Water ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Green And Blue Water ◽  
Future Economic Development

Abstract. The Amazon Basin is a region of global importance for the carbon and hydrological cycles, a biodiversity hotspot, and a potential centre for future economic development. The region is also a major source of water vapour recycled into continental precipitation through evapotranspiration processes. This review applies an ecohydrological approach to Amazonia's water cycle by looking at contributions of water resources in the context of future agricultural production. At present, agriculture in the region is primarily rain-fed and relies almost exclusively on green-water resources (soil moisture regenerated by precipitation). Future agricultural development, however, will likely follow pathways that include irrigation from blue-water sources (surface water and groundwater) as insurance from variability in precipitation. In this review, we first provide an updated summary of the green–blue ecohydrological framework before describing past trends in Amazonia's water resources within the context of land use and land cover change. We then describe green- and blue-water trade-offs in light of future agricultural production and potential irrigation to assess costs and benefits to terrestrial ecosystems, particularly land and biodiversity protection, and regional precipitation recycling. Management of green water is needed, particularly at the agricultural frontier located in the headwaters of major tributaries to the Amazon River, and home to key downstream blue-water users and ecosystem services, including domestic and industrial users, as well as aquatic ecosystems.

scholarly journals Dynamics of green and blue water flows and their controlling factors in Heihe River basin of northwestern China

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaisheng Luo ◽  
Fulu Tao
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Water Flow ◽  
Heihe River Basin ◽  
Green Water ◽  
Heihe River ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Water Flows ◽  
Green And Blue Water ◽  
County Scale

Abstract. Climate variation will affect hydrological cycle, as well as the availability of water resources. In spite of large progresses have been made in the dynamics of hydrological cycle variables, the dynamics and drivers of blue water flow, green water flow and total flow (three flows), as well as the proportion of green water (GWC), in the past and future at county scale, were scarcely investigated. In this study, taking the Heihe River basin in China as an example, we investigated the dynamics of green and blue water flows and their controlling factors during 1980–2009 using five statistical approaches and the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). We found that there were large variations in the dynamics of green and blue water flows during 1980–2009 at the county scale. Three flows in all counties showed an increasing trend except Jiayuguan and Jianta county. The GWC showed a downward trend in the Qilian, Suzhou, Shandan, Linze and Gaotai counties, but an upward trend in the Mingle, Sunan, Jinta, Jiayuguan, Ganzhou and Ejilaqi counties. In all the counties, the three flows and GWC had strong persistent trends in the future, which are mainly ascribed to rainfall variation. In the Qilian and Shandan counties, rainfall was the major controlling factor for the three flows and GWC. Rainfall controlled the green water and total flows in the Mingle, Linze and Gaotai counties; green water flow and GWC in the Suzhou county; green water flow, total flow and GWC in the Jinta and Ejilaqi counties. Our results also showed that the "Heihe River basin allocation project" had significant influences on the abrupt changes of the flows above-mentioned. Our results illustrate the status of the water resources at county scale, providing a reference for water resources management of inland river basins.

scholarly journals Dynamics of Green and Blue Water Supply Stress Index Across Major Global Cropland Basins

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kul Khand ◽  
Gabriel B. Senay ◽  
Stefanie Kagone ◽  
Gabriel Edwin Lee Parrish
Keyword(s):  
Water Stress ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Green Water ◽  
Stress Index ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Green And Blue Water

Global food and water insecurity could be serious problems in the upcoming decades with growing demands from the increasing global population and more frequent effect of climatic extremes. As the available water resources are diminishing and facing continuous stress, it is crucial to monitor water demand and water availability to understand the associated water stresses. This study assessed the water stress by applying the water supply stress index (WaSSI) in relation to green (WaSSIG) and blue (WaSSIB) water resources across six major cropland basins including the Mississippi (North America), San Francisco (South America), Nile (Africa), Danube (Europe), Ganges-Brahmaputra (Asia), and Murray-Darling (Australia) for the past 17-years (2003–2019). The WaSSIG and WaSSIB results indicated that the Murray-Darling Basin experienced the most severe (maximum WaSSIG and WaSSIB anomalies) green and blue water stresses and the Mississippi Basin had the least. All basins had both green and blue water stresses for at least 35% (6 out of 17 years) of the study period. The interannual variations in green water stress were driven by both crop water demand and green water supply, whereas the blue water stress variations were primarily driven by blue water supply. The WaSSIG and WaSSIB provided a better understanding of water stress (blue or green) and their drivers (demand or supply driven) across cropland basins. This information can be useful for basin-specific resource mobilization and interventions to ensure food and water security.

scholarly journals Assessing Green and Blue Water: Understanding Interactions and Making Balance between Human and Nature

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ganquan Mao ◽  
Junguo Liu ◽  
Feng Han ◽  
Ying Meng ◽  
Yong Tian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystem ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Green Water ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Green And Blue Water ◽  
Crucial Information ◽  
Human And Nature

Abstract. Water resources assessment is crucial for human well-being and ecosystem’s health. Assessments by considering both the blue and green water are of great significance as the green water plays a critical but often ignored role in the terrestrial ecosystem, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Many approaches have been developed for green and blue water valuation, while few of them considers the interrelationship between them. This study proposed a new framework for green and blue water assessment by considering the interactions between them in an arid endorheic river basin where hydrological cycling is dramatically altered by human activities. Results show that even though the green water is the dominant water resources, the blue water is also critical. Most of the blue water are transformed to green water through physically and human induced processes to meet the water demand of ecosystems. Time and spatial variability of water supply and consumption forms totally different blue and green water regimes in different ecosystems. We also found that human use an increasing share of water with the decrease of the water availability. The massive water use by human reduces the water use for natural ecosystems. This indicates that natural ecosystems will take a higher risk of freshwater use when the water use competition increases. This study provides crucial information to better understand the interactions between green and blue water by assessing water resources in an explicit way. It also provides crucial implications for water management aiming to make the balance between humankind and nature.

scholarly journals What could irrigated agriculture mean for Amazonia? A review of green and blue water resources and their trade-offs for future agricultural production in the Amazon Basin

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Lathuillière ◽  
Michael T. Coe ◽  
Mark S. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Amazon Basin ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Green Water ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Green And Blue Water ◽  
Future Economic Development

Abstract. The Amazon Basin is a region of global importance for the carbon and hydrological cycles, a biodiversity hotspot, and a potential centre for future economic development. The region is also a major source of water vapour recycled into continental precipitation through evapotranspiration processes. This review applies an ecohydrological approach to Amazonia's water cycle by looking at contributions of water resources in the context of future agricultural production. At present, agriculture in the region is primarily rain-fed and relies almost exclusively on green water resources (soil moisture regenerated by precipitation). Future agricultural development, however, will likely follow pathways that include irrigation from blue water sources (surface and groundwater) as insurance from variability in precipitation. In this review, we first provide an updated summary of the ecohydrological framework before describing past trends in Amazonia's green and blue water resources within the context of land use and land cover change. We then describe green and blue water trade-offs in light of future agricultural production and potential irrigation to assess costs and benefits to terrestrial ecosystems, particularly land and biodiversity protection, and regional precipitation recycling. Management of green water is needed, particularly at the agricultural frontier located in the headwaters of major tributaries to the Amazon River, and home to key downstream blue water users and ecosystem services, including domestic and industrial users, as well as aquatic ecosystems.

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