Advances in prediction, monitoring and mitigation of climate change effects on water resources and good agricultural practices for crop adaptation to environmental stresses

Abstract. Currently, climate change is a major concern around the world, especially because of the uncertainty associated with its possible consequences for society. Among them, fluvial alterations can be highlighted in basins whose flows depend on groundwater discharges and snowmelt. This is the case of the headwaters of the Tagus River basin, whose water resources, besides being essential for water uses within this basin, are susceptible to being transferred to the Segura River basin (both basins are in the Iberian Peninsula). This work studies the possible effects that the latest climate change scenarios may have on this transfer, one of the most important ones in southern Europe. In the first place, the possible alterations of the water cycle of the donor basin were estimated. To do this, a hydrological model was calibrated. Then, with this model, three climatic scenarios were simulated, one without climate change and two projections under climate change (Representative Concentration Pathways 4.5 (RCP 4.5) and 8.5 (RCP 8.5)). The results of these three hydrological modelling scenarios were used to determine the possible flows that could be transferred from the Tagus River basin to the Segura River basin, by simulating the water resource exploitation system of the Tagus headwaters. The calibrated hydrological model predicts, for the simulated climate change scenarios, important reductions in the snowfalls and snow covers, the recharge of aquifers, and the available water resources. So, the headwaters of the Tagus River basin would lose part of its natural capacity for regulation. These changes in the water cycle for the climate change scenarios used would imply a reduction of around 70 %–79 % in the possible flows that could be transferred to the Segura basin, with respect to a scenario without climate change. The loss of water resources for the Segura River basin would mean, if no alternative measures were taken, an economic loss of EUR 380–425 million per year, due principally to decreased agricultural production.

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Climate Change Effects on Agriculture and Water Resources Availability in Syria

Environmental Protection in the European Union - Implementing Adaptation Strategies by Legal, Economic and Planning Instruments on Climate Change ◽

10.1007/978-3-540-77614-7_18 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 305-313 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Bachar Ibrahim

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Water Resources ◽

Climate Change Effects ◽

Water Resources Availability

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Improvement of soil characteristics making use of logical, good agricultural practices: purpose and results obtained in the LIFE AMDRYC4 Project

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-7439 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez ◽

Salvadora Martinez-Lopez ◽

Lucia Belen Martinez-Martinez ◽

Maria Ortega ◽

Manuel Hernandez-Cordoba ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Organic Matter ◽

Soil Degradation ◽

Plant Cover ◽

Agricultural Practices ◽

Nutrient Content ◽

Soil Characteristics ◽

Good Tool ◽

Good Agricultural Practices ◽

Plant Remains

The modification of environmental conditions and the subsequent evolution of the ecosystems results in soil degradation or desertification, which is also caused by the abandonment of the countryside, poor agricultural practices and the socio-economic dynamics that nowadays presents the rural environment. Land degradation leads to loss of fertility, nutrients and vegetation cover and increased erosion, pollution, salinization and alkalinization. The effects derived from this situation aggravate, in turn, climate change, in a strongly intertwined dynamics that feeds back.Degraded soils are recoverable through various strategies, among them good agricultural practices being especially relevant. &#160;In this paper, the degree of desertification of several plots of soil that have undergone treatments for the incorporation of organic matter (sewage sludge, manure from different animals, composted plant remains) and their untreated counterparts (blank) is evaluated. To this end, desertification indicators (salinization, organic matter, phosphorus content) included in the LIFE AMDRYC4 Project have been used to monitor soil neutrality, as a measure of the global desertification suffered by a plot.The results obtained clearly show an improvement in the soil characteristics following the application of the mentioned strategy for soil treatment. It is therefore concluded that soil degradation is mitigated by good agricultural practices, which leads to a decrease in erosion and salinization and an increase in organic matter, nutrient content, plant cover and the ability to sequester dioxide carbon. &#160;Soils are not affected by polluting processes both in terms of potentially toxic elements and other emerging pollutants. The experimental data obtained indicate that soils in this way remediated can be used to reduce the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and represent a good tool to fight against climate change.&#160;

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Climate change effects on the hydrology of the headwaters of the Tagus River: implications for the management of the Tagus-Segura transfer

10.5194/hess-2018-258 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Francisco Pellicer-Martínez ◽

José Miguel Martínez-Paz

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Water Resources ◽

River Basin ◽

Water Cycle ◽

Economic Loss ◽

Hydrological Modelling ◽

Climate Change Scenarios ◽

Resource Exploitation ◽

Climate Change Effects ◽

Tagus River

Abstract. Currently, climate change is a major concern around the world, especially because of the uncertainty associated with its possible consequences for society. Among these can be highlighted the fluvial alterations in basins whose flows depend on groundwater discharges and snow melt. This is the case of the headwaters of the Tagus River Basin, whose water resources, besides being essential for water uses within this basin, are susceptible to being transferred to the Segura River Basin (both basins are in the Iberian Peninsula). This work studies the possible effects that the latest climate change scenarios may have on this transfer, one of the most important in southern Europe. In the first place, the possible alterations of the water cycle of the donor basin were estimated. To do this, a hydrological model was calibrated. Then, with this model, three climatic scenarios were simulated, one without climate change and two projections under climate change (Representative Concentration Representative 4.5 (RCP 4.5) and RCP 8.5). The results of these three hydrological modelling scenarios were used to determine the possible flows that could be transferred from the Tagus River Basin to the Segura River Basin, by simulating the water resource exploitation system of the Tagus headwaters. These hydrological modelling predict, for the simulated climate change scenarios, important reductions in the snowfalls and snow covers, the recharge of aquifers and the available water resources. So, the headwaters of the Tagus River Basin would be the loss of part of its natural capacity for regulation. These changes in the water cycle for the climate change scenarios used would imply a reduction of around 80 % in the possible flows that could be transferred to the Segura Basin, with respect to a scenario without climate change. The loss of water resources for the Segura River Basin would mean, if no alternative measures were taken, an economic loss of 330–380 million euro per year, due principally to decreased agricultural production.

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Climate Change Effects on Forests, Water Resources, and Communities of the Delaware River Basin

Forest Conservation in the Anthropocene: Science, Policy, and Practice ◽

10.5876/9781607324591.c014 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 195-208

Author(s):

Will Price ◽

Susan Beecher

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Water Resources ◽

River Basin ◽

Delaware River ◽

Climate Change Effects

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Elevational dependence of climate change impacts on water resources in an Alpine catchment

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/hessd-10-3743-2013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 3743-3794 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

S. Fatichi ◽

S. Rimkus ◽

P. Burlando ◽

R. Bordoy ◽

P. Molnar

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Water Resources ◽

Anthropogenic Impacts ◽

Climate Change Impacts ◽

High Elevation ◽

Daily Maximum ◽

Significant Implication ◽

Ice Melt ◽

Climate Change Effects ◽

River Diversions

Abstract. An increasing interest is directed toward understanding impacts of climate change on water related sectors in a particularly vulnerable area such as the Alpine region. We present a distributed hydrological analysis at scale significant for water management for pristine, present-days, and projected future climate conditions. We used the upper Rhone basin (Switzerland) as a test case for understanding anthropogenic impacts on water resources and flood risk in the Alpine area. The upper Rhone basin includes reservoirs, river diversions and irrigated areas offering the opportunity to study the interaction between climate change effects and hydraulic infrastructures. We downscale climate model realizations using a methodology that partially account for the uncertainty in climate change projections explicitly simulating stochastic variability of precipitation and air temperature. We show how climate change effects on streamflow propagate from high elevation headwater catchments to the river in the major valley. Changes in the natural hydrological regime imposed by the existing hydraulic infrastructure are likely larger than climate change signals expected by the middle of the 21th century in most of the river network. Despite a strong uncertainty induced by stochastic climate variability, we identified an elevational dependence of climate change impacts on streamflow with a severe reduction due to the missing contribution of water from ice melt at high-elevation and a dampened effect downstream. The presence of reservoirs and river diversions tends to decrease the uncertainty in future streamflow predictions that are conversely very large for highly glacierized catchments. Despite uncertainty, reduced ice cover and ice melt are likely to have significant implication for aquatic biodiversity and hydropower production. The impacts can emerge without any additional climate warming. A decrease of August-September discharge and an increase of hourly-daily maximum flows appear as the most robust projected changes for the different parts of the catchment. However, it is unlikely that major changes in total runoff for the entire upper Rhone basin will occur in the next decades.

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Coastal Water Resources and Climate Change Effects

Climate Change Impacts on Coastal Soil and Water Management ◽

10.1201/9780429356667-9 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 97-113

Author(s):

Zied Haj-Amor ◽

Salem Bouri

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Water Resources ◽

Coastal Water ◽

Climate Change Effects

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Climate change impacts on irrigation water resource in Switzerland

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-14990 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Zoe Linder ◽

Annelie Holzkämper ◽

Massimiliano Zappa

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Water Resources ◽

Irrigation Water ◽

Water Scarcity ◽

Agricultural Practices ◽

Climate Change Impacts ◽

Climate Projections ◽

Irrigation Water Demand ◽

Irrigation Potential ◽

Efficient Water Use

According to climate projections, rainfall rates and summer discharge from snow and glacier melt in Switzerland are expected to decrease by the end of the 21st century. This may lead to limited water availability for irrigation in agriculture in the future and high irrigation water demand especially during the summer months, which consequently enhances the problem of water scarcity for agriculture.These predicted changes make the identification of timescales, frequencies, and geographical pattern of water scarcity a fundamental concern for future agricultural practices. Therefore, the main aim of this work is to investigate climate change impacts on water resources and the consequences on irrigation water supply in Switzerland. By creating maps of the geographic distribution of natural water resources available according to climate projections until the end of the 21st century using ArcGIS, the severity of water scarcity is quantified, while regional differences and the most affected areas can be revealed.The expected outcomes are increasing days of water scarcity per year over the course of the 21st century, while those regions furthest away from melt water sources and lakes will be most affected. This in turn might lead to restricted irrigation potential, making more efficient water use indispensable in Switzerland, while creating general shifts to more water-resistant crops in Swiss agricultural practices.

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