scholarly journals HESS Opinions: The myth of groundwater sustainability in Asia

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 489-500
Author(s):  
Franklin W. Schwartz ◽  
Ganming Liu ◽  
Zhongbo Yu

Abstract. Across the arid regions of water-stressed countries of Asia, groundwater production for irrigated agriculture has led to water-level declines that continue to worsen. For India, China, Pakistan, Iran, and others, it is unrealistic to expect groundwater sustainability in a verifiable sense to emerge. Fragmented governance and the general inability to bring traditional socio-economic tools to bear on reducing groundwater demands have impeded progress to groundwater sustainability. For India and Pakistan, where operational management is at the level of states and provinces, there is no capacity to regulate. Also in both China and India, the tremendous numbers of groundwater users, large and small, confound regulation of groundwater. With business as usual, groundwater-related problems receive insufficient attention, a situation referred to as an “accelerating and invisible groundwater crisis” (Biswas et al., 2017). Another obstacle to sustainability comes from trying to manage something you do not understand. With sustainable management, there are significant burdens in the needed technical know-how, in collecting necessary data, and in funding advanced technologies. Thus, there are risks that Iran, India, and Pakistan will run short of groundwater from over-pumping in some places and will also be adversely affected by global climate change.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franklin W. Schwartz ◽  
Ganming Liu ◽  
Zhongbo Yu

Abstract. Across the arid regions of water-stressed countries of Asia, groundwater production for irrigated agriculture has led to water level declines that continue to worsen. For India, China, Pakistan, Iran and others, it is unrealistic to expect groundwater sustainability in a technical sense to emerge. With business as usual, groundwater-related problems receive insufficient attention, a situation referred to as an accelerating and invisible groundwater crisis (Biswas et al., 2017). Another obstacle to sustainability comes from trying to manage something you do not understand. With sustainable management, there are significant burdens in needed technical and socioeconomic knowhow, in collecting necessary data, and in implementing advanced technologies. A pragmatic research agenda for groundwater sustainability should recognize that a common threat to long-term sustainability could occur not just from over-pumping but widespread groundwater contamination. If groundwater sustainability is truly unachievable, then research is needed in facilitating adaption to the worst outcomes (Siegel et al., 2019). In hoping for the best outcomes, it is prudent to plan for the worst.


2021 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-119
Author(s):  
Xinming Xia ◽  
Wan-Hsin Liu

AbstractThis paper analyses how China’s investments in Germany have developed over time and the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in this regard, based on four different datasets, including our own survey in mid-2020. Our analysis shows that Germany is currently one of the most attractive investment destinations for Chinese investors. Chinese state-owned enterprises have played an important role as investors in Germany — particularly in large-scale projects. The COVID-19 pandemic has had some negative but rather temporary effects on Chinese investments in Germany. Germany is expected to stay attractive to Chinese investors who seek to gain access to advanced technologies and know-how in the future.


OENO One ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 975-983
Author(s):  
Javier Abad ◽  
Marín Diana ◽  
Santesteban L. Gonzaga ◽  
Cibriáin José Félix ◽  
Sagüés Ana

This study aims to evaluate the interest of using an under-vine cover crop as a sustainable management tool replacing herbicides or tillage to control weeds, evaluating its effects on yield and berry parameters in a semi-arid climate. The performance of Trifolium fragiferum as an under-vine cover crop was evaluated in 2018 and 2019 in a Merlot vineyard in Traibuenas (Navarra, Spain). This trial showed that the soil under the vines was covered by 80 % of the cover crop in August 2018 and 100 % in Aug 2019, with clover (T. fragiferum) comprising around 26 % and 70 % of the cover crop surface, respectively. The presence of the cover crop only reduced the number of shoots in the second year, although both years there was an increment in water stress. Neither yield, cluster weight nor berry weight were affected by the presence of the under-vine cover crop. Similarly, no changes in grape composition were observed. The use of T. fragiferum-like cover crops under the vine allows for better control of weeds, provided a good installation is achieved. In the first two years, this cover crop reduced vegetative growth and increased water deficit slightly. However, no changes in yield and grape composition were observed.In a context of herbicide suppression and search for sustainable management, under-vine clover cover crops constitute a viable alternative in semi-arid regions provided drip irrigation can be applied. 


Author(s):  
Alberto S. de Melo ◽  
Yuri L. Melo ◽  
Claudivan F. de Lacerda ◽  
Pedro R. A. Viégas ◽  
Rener L. de S. Ferraz ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Global climate change tends to intensify water unavailability, especially in semi-arid regions, directly impacting agricultural production. Cowpea is one of the crops with great socio-economic importance in the Brazilian semi-arid region, cultivated mainly under rainfed farming and considered moderately tolerant to water restriction. This species has physiological and biochemical mechanisms of adaptation to these stress factors, but there is still no clear vision of how these responses can not only allow survival, but also ensure yield advances in the field. Besides acclimation mechanisms, the exogenous application of abiotic (salicylic acid, silicon, proline, methionine, and potassium nitrate) and biotic (rhizobacteria) elicitors is promising in mitigating the effects of water restriction. The present literature review discusses the acclimation mechanisms of cowpea and some cultivation techniques, especially the application of elicitors, which can contribute to maintaining crop yield under different water scenarios. The application of elicitors is an alternative way to increase the sustainability of production in rainfed farming in semi-arid regions. However, the use of eliciting substances in cowpea still needs to be carefully explored, given the difficulties caused by genotypic and edaphoclimatic variability under field conditions.


2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 132-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong ZHAO ◽  
YongJie FANG ◽  
CaiXia CUI ◽  
AnNing HUANG

1971 ◽  
Vol 10 (59) ◽  
pp. 255-267
Author(s):  
Stefan L. Hastenrath

AbstractField observations during a journey through the arid regions of the South American Andes in June-July 1969 are evaluated in conjunction with available air photographs and reports from adjacent regions of the High Andes. Results indicate an increase of the Pleistocene snow-line depression in the western Cordillera from about 700 m at lat. 12° S. to more than 1 500 m at lat. 30° S. The Pleistocene snow-line depression decreases from the Pacific to the Atlantic side of the Andes, but particularly strongly so on the poleward fringe of the arid region. From this geomorphic evidence it is suggested that the atmospheric circulation during the glacial period was characterized by an Equatorward displacement of the boundary between tropical easterlies and temperate-latitude westerlies.


Author(s):  
V.B. Zhezmer

Водообеспеченность объектов мелиоративного комплекса имеет решающее значение при обеспечении высоких и устойчивых урожаев сельскохозяйственных культур в аридных регионах страны. В статье рассмотрены способы устранения негативного влияния основных факторов, способствующих созданию дефицита воды для орошения. Проведен анализ схемы, в которой целью мероприятий является эффективное вложение средств при восстановлении элементов гидромелиоративных систем и обеспечение рационализации водопользования. Установлено, что алгоритмы и конечные выводы, подученные в ходе анализа, могут различаться в зависимости от поставленных задач и объема информации.Water availability of the reclamation complex facilities is crucial in ensuring high and sustainable crop yields in the arid regions of the country. The article discusses ways to eliminate the negative impact of the main factors contributing to the creation of a shortage of water for irrigation. The analysis of the scheme in which the purpose of the measures is an effective investment in the restoration of elements of irrigation and drainage systems and ensuring the rationalization of water use is carried out. It is established that the algorithms and final conclusions obtained during the analysis may vary depending on the tasks and the amount of information.


Author(s):  
Erol H. Cakmak

Irrigated agriculture in Turkey currently consumes 75 percent of the total water consumption, which corresponds to about 30 percent of the renewable water supply. Unfavorable future global climate and economic conditions will increase the stress in the water sector. The operation and maintenance (O&M) of almost all large surface irrigation schemes developed by the state has been transferred to irrigation associations governed by the farmers. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of irrigation management practices and an evaluation of irrigation water pricing after the transfer using price data at the association level since 1999. Results indicate that both irrigation water charges and collection rates increased following the transfer. However, the recuperation of investment costs for irrigation development from the users has remained minimal. The price of the irrigation water continued to be on per hectare basis, and farmers using pumping water face 2.5 times higher water charge per hectare then the gravity water users. The uptake of more efficient water application technology accompanied by pricing mechanisms reflecting scarcity value of water will certainly ease the adjustment burden of the irrigation sector in the future.


Author(s):  
Erol H. Cakmak

Irrigated agriculture in Turkey currently consumes 75 percent of the total water consumption, which corresponds to about 30 percent of the renewable water supply. Unfavorable future global climate and economic conditions will increase the stress in the water sector. The operation and maintenance (O&M) of almost all large surface irrigation schemes developed by the state has been transferred to irrigation associations governed by the farmers. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of irrigation management practices and an evaluation of irrigation water pricing after the transfer using price data at the association level since 1999. Results indicate that both irrigation water charges and collection rates increased following the transfer. However, the recuperation of investment costs for irrigation development from the users has remained minimal. The price of the irrigation water continued to be on per hectare basis, and farmers using pumping water face 2.5 times higher water charge per hectare then the gravity water users. The uptake of more efficient water application technology accompanied by pricing mechanisms reflecting scarcity value of water will certainly ease the adjustment burden of the irrigation sector in the future.


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