scholarly journals Effect of irrigation water withdrawal on the hydrology of the Lake Tana sub-basin

2021 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 100961
Author(s):  
Meron Teferi Taye ◽  
Alemseged Tamiru Haile ◽  
Addisalem Genet Fekadu ◽  
Prossie Nakawuka
Keyword(s):  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Water Withdrawal ◽  
Lake Tana

scholarly journals Water savings potentials of irrigation systems: global simulation of processes and linkages

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 3073-3091 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Jägermeyr ◽  
D. Gerten ◽  
J. Heinke ◽  
S. Schaphoff ◽  
M. Kummu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Consumption ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Irrigation Efficiency ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Water Withdrawal ◽  
Indus Basin ◽  
Irrigation Systems ◽  
Regional Patterns

Abstract. Global agricultural production is heavily sustained by irrigation, but irrigation system efficiencies are often surprisingly low. However, our knowledge of irrigation efficiencies is mostly confined to rough indicative estimates for countries or regions that do not account for spatiotemporal heterogeneity due to climate and other biophysical dependencies. To allow for refined estimates of global agricultural water use, and of water saving and water productivity potentials constrained by biophysical processes and also non-trivial downstream effects, we incorporated a process-based representation of the three major irrigation systems (surface, sprinkler, and drip) into a bio- and agrosphere model, LPJmL. Based on this enhanced model we provide a gridded world map of irrigation efficiencies that are calculated in direct linkage to differences in system types, crop types, climatic and hydrologic conditions, and overall crop management. We find pronounced regional patterns in beneficial irrigation efficiency (a refined irrigation efficiency indicator accounting for crop-productive water consumption only), due to differences in these features, with the lowest values (< 30 %) in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa and the highest values (> 60 %) in Europe and North America. We arrive at an estimate of global irrigation water withdrawal of 2469 km3 (2004–2009 average); irrigation water consumption is calculated to be 1257 km3, of which 608 km3 are non-beneficially consumed, i.e., lost through evaporation, interception, and conveyance. Replacing surface systems by sprinkler or drip systems could, on average across the world's river basins, reduce the non-beneficial consumption at river basin level by 54 and 76 %, respectively, while maintaining the current level of crop yields. Accordingly, crop water productivity would increase by 9 and 15 %, respectively, and by much more in specific regions such as in the Indus basin. This study significantly advances the global quantification of irrigation systems while providing a framework for assessing potential future transitions in these systems. In this paper, presented opportunities associated with irrigation improvements are significant and suggest that they should be considered an important means on the way to sustainable food security.

scholarly journals Water savings potentials of irrigation systems: dynamic global simulation

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 3593-3644 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Jägermeyr ◽  
D. Gerten ◽  
J. Heinke ◽  
S. Schaphoff ◽  
M. Kummu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Consumption ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Irrigation Efficiency ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Water Withdrawal ◽  
Irrigation Systems ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Dynamic Representation

Abstract. Global agricultural production is heavily sustained by irrigation, but irrigation system efficiencies are often surprisingly low. However, our knowledge of irrigation efficiencies is mostly confined to rough indicative estimates for countries or regions that do not account for spatio-temporal heterogeneity due to climate and other biophysical dependencies. To allow for refined estimates of global agricultural water use, and of water saving and water productivity potentials constrained by biophysical processes and also non-trivial downstream effects, we incorporated a dynamic representation of the three major irrigation systems (surface, sprinkler, and drip) into a process-based bio- and agrosphere model, LPJmL. Based on this enhanced model we provide a gridded worldmap of dynamically retrieved irrigation efficiencies reflecting differences in system types, crop types, climatic and hydrologic conditions, and overall crop management. We find pronounced regional patterns in beneficial irrigation efficiency (a refined irrigation efficiency indicator accounting for crop-productive water consumption only), due to differences in these features, with lowest values (< 30%) in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa and highest values (> 60%) in Europe and North America. We arrive at an estimate of global irrigation water withdrawal of 2396 km3 (2004–2009 average); irrigation water consumption is calculated to be 1212 km3, of which 511 km3 are non-beneficially consumed, i.e. lost through evaporation, interception, and conveyance. Replacing surface systems by sprinkler or drip systems could, on average across the world's river basins, reduce the non-beneficial consumption at river basin level by 54 and 76%, respectively, while maintaining the current level of crop yields. Accordingly, crop water productivity would increase by 9 and 15%, respectively, and by much more in specific regions such as in the Indus basin. This study significantly advances the global quantification of irrigation systems while providing a framework for assessing potential future transitions in these systems. Here presented opportunities associated with irrigation improvements are significant and suggest that they should be considered an important means on the way to sustainable food security.

Impacts of human intervention through irrigation on hydrological responses of Lake Tana sub-basin, upper Blue Nile, Ethiopia.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meron Teferi Taye ◽  
Alemseged Tamiru Haile
Keyword(s):  
Water Balance ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Water Source ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Lake Tana ◽  
Blue Nile ◽  
Water Abstraction ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Small Scale Irrigation

&lt;p&gt;Lake water balance studies in Ethiopia are commonly conducted for natural conditions without considering the impact of water abstraction. However, hydrological changes are a function of changes caused by human interventions as much as through natural processes. The Lake Tana sub-basin is one of the important basins in Ethiopia as the source of the Blue Nile river and supporter of various livelihoods including considerable number of small-scale farmers. With Ethiopia&amp;#8217;s ambitious plan to expand irrigation at different scales to feed the growing population, the Lake Tana sub-basin is one of the selected areas by the federal government for medium scale irrigation. Moreover, the basin is experiencing booming small-scale irrigation users due to initiations by local governments, NGOs and individual farmers. Small-scale community managed irrigation schemes and farmer-led irrigations schemes are common in the basin. While communities are expected to benefit from the expanding irrigation use, there is limited information on how this irrigation expansion impacts the water balance of the sub-basin.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In this study the area under small-scale irrigation is estimated through inventory survey of woredas (districts) that are within the Lake Tana sub-basin and cover the four main tributaries (Gilgel Abay, Ribb, Gumara, and Megech).&amp;#160; The inventory from 16 woredas showed more than 30,000 ha is under small-scale irrigation in the Lake Tana sub-basin in 2020. The dominant water source for irrigation is found to be surface water through diversion from rivers and streams. This accounts for 80% of irrigation water source. The other 20% comes from shallow groundwater sources, which are mainly located in the eastern part of the sub-basin in the floodplain in the Fogera area.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This study investigates the current situation of irrigation water abstraction through water abstraction surveys in selected locations in the dry-season and evaluates the impact of water abstraction on the long-term water balance of the sub-basin. Previous studies indicate that Gilgel Abay sub-basin, for instance, shows a decreasing dry season flow in the past decades, which might be associated with dry season water abstraction. The current survey provides the gross diversion of water from rivers to canals in the selected schemes. Preliminary results show large amount of water is being diverted by medium irrigation schemes but also collectively by small-scale irrigation schemes. Continuation of such water abstraction levels will be a concern to the water balance of the sub-basin as it increases losses without productive use and calls for better water management practices.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;

Spatial and temporal patterns of freshwater salinity and impacts on irrigation water use constraints globally

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josefin Thorslund ◽  
Michelle T.H. van Vliet
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Temporal Trends ◽  
Water Withdrawal ◽  
Low Flow ◽  
Irrigation Water Use ◽  
Strong Control

&lt;p&gt;Salinization of freshwater resources is a growing water quality issue, which poses challenges for different sectoral water uses. While it is generally recognized that salinity may constrain irrigation water use, our ability to evaluate the severity and extent of the problem has been hampered by a lack of assessments at the global scale. The aim of this study is to (i) quantify spatial and temporal trends in salinization of surface- and groundwaters in irrigated regions globally, and (ii) evaluate its implications for irrigation water use, by considering global salinity guidelines.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;To address these aims, we collected and harmonized electrical conductivity (EC) monitoring data between 1980-2018 at both ground- and surface water locations in irrigated areas around the world. We used a suit of data sources including local, regional and global online water quality databases, and data provided by governmental organizations, river basin management commissions and scientific literature. Estimates of irrigated regions and associated groundwater and surface water withdrawal rates for irrigation water use was estimated using global grid-based hydrological outputs of the PCR-GLOBWB model.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Our results show that 23 % and 73 % of all surface water and groundwater stations, respectively, have long-term annual average EC values that exceed FAO guidelines of irrigation water use restrictions (700 &amp;#181;S/cm). Regionally, dryland areas, such as central and western parts of the US, eastern parts of Australia, South Africa and Southern Europe are particularly affected, but also coastal areas of Bangladesh, Florida and Vietnam show elevated EC levels. Regarding temporal variability, groundwater stations generally have low absolute EC variability, but with a majority of stations exceeding irrigation water use guidelines at more than 50 % of their total measurements for all continents except Europe and South America. For surface waters stations, more variability in terms of both exceedance levels and absolute EC was observed across continents, but with increasing EC during low flow periods, suggesting discharge (and seasonality) to be a strong control on surface water salinity. These results are a first step in assessing global impacts of salinity on irrigation water use constraints. Further assessments on salinity trends and its large-scale drivers will be provide necessary information for sustainable irrigation water use and management today and in the future.&lt;/p&gt;

Assessing the regional food insecurity in Bangladesh due to irrigation water shortage in the Teesta catchment area

Water Policy ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 304-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Arfanuzzaman ◽  
Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Catchment Area ◽  
Water Shortage ◽  
Rice Production ◽  
Water Withdrawal ◽  
Fiscal Year ◽  
Irrigation Project ◽  
The North ◽  
North Western

Bangladesh is losing huge food production from the Teesta catchment area due to a lack of availability of irrigation water in the dry and lean period because of unilateral water withdrawal in the upstream country, India. The area, which is directly dependent on the irrigation water of the Teesta river, is the study area for this paper. The study reveals that rice production in Dalia, Nilphamari, Sayedpur and Rangpur regions is badly affected by the irrigation water scarcity. It appears that production is particularly severely affected in Rangpur, making it a relatively more food insecure area in the Teesta basin. The major finding of this study is that more than 4.45 million metric tons of rice production have been missed from the Teesta catchment area since 2006–07, triggered by the massive irrigation failure of the Teesta Barrage Irrigation Project (TBIP) due to reduced water flow in the Teesta river. The total rice production missed in the north-western region since 2006–07 is more than the country's total rice import during 2008/09–2013/14 fiscal years and nearly one quarter of the total boro production in the 2012/13 fiscal year. This reduced food production renders the north-western part of the country a food insecure region from its own production.

scholarly journals Estimates of public-supply, domestic, and irrigation water withdrawal, use, and trends in the Upper Rio Grande Basin, 1985 to 2015

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara I. Ivahnenko ◽  
Allison K. Flickinger ◽  
Amy E. Galanter ◽  
Kyle R. Douglas-Mankin ◽  
Diana E. Pedraza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Rio Grande ◽  
Water Withdrawal ◽  
Public Supply ◽  
Rio Grande Basin ◽  
Upper Rio Grande
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