Designing Regional Landscapes to Promote Water Preservation
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Designing Regional Landscapes to Promote Water Preservation Dr Khalil Ammar Program Leader on Sustainable Natural Resources Management International Center for Biosaline Agriculture Overview • Arable lands are shrinking, and land degradation is increasing • Water is the single most critical natural resource • Growing freshwater scarcity • As water scarcity problem has Source: World Water Development Report 4. World Water Assessment reached at alarming level, trend is Programme (WWAP), March 2012 shifting towards water efficient landscaping. 1/5 of global population → physical scarcity • Therefore, use of drought tolerant 1/4 of global population → economic water native plants is getting more attention scarcity Water Scarcity and Climate Change • Water scarcity is the defining physical characteristic of arid regions, which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has highlighted as especially vulnerable to impending climate change • Large-scale development in these regions depends upon the ability to pump fossil groundwater, convey freshwater over long distances from natural sources, and desalinate brackish water and seawater. • Desert cities rely on high energy-use infrastructures to supply water from large hydraulic hinterlands • Often compete for scarce water with other cities, the environment, and agriculture Most of the area in MENA region is classified as bare area, but these areas are rich with native plants and shrubs that are used as natural range lands Soil salinity is one of the main growing problems worldwide, where we lose 2000 ha daily Sustainable Landscaping • Sustainable landscape is a healthy and strong landscape that is in harmony with native environmental settings containing climate, water, soil and topography. • Using native plants will not only reduce water requirement but also the maintenance, fertilizer and pesticide cost of any landscape project • The potential of native plants to be used in landscaping due to their growth habits and their water use efficiency as compared to exotic species and its effect on water sources and ecology is still need to be assessed Alternative salt-tolerant forages • High salinity of irrigation water, which ranged between 15-18 dS/m • Four salt-tolerant perennial grasses were planted: ✓ Distichlis spicata, ✓ Sporobolus virginicus ✓ Sporobolus arabicus ✓ Paspalum vaginatum • Fresh biomass yields determined for the four grasses after one year of growth ranged between 75-150 t/ha/year, which is 66% more compared to Rhodes Grass (low salinity 2 ds/m) • Saved 44% of water use compared to traditional forages Species Common name Origin Type Acacea nilotica Babool local tree Alhagi graecorum Camelthorn local bush Calligonum comosum Fire Bush local bush Some Calligonum crinitum Abal local bush examples of Convolvulus pilosellifolius Morning glory local bush native plants Convolvulus prostratus Bindweed local bush Dipterigium glaucum Alqa local bush for Dodonaea viscosa Hop Bush local bush Lawsonia inermis Henna local bush landscaping Moringa peregrina Moringa local tree Nerium oleander Oleander local bush Senna alexandrina Egyptian Senna local bush Senna italica Italian senna local bush Tecomella undulata Honey tree local tree Withania somnifera Indian ginseng local bush Native plants that can grow in Desert and use fog for growing Commiphora sp. Acacia Senegal Anogeissus dhofarica • Many new species are still being reported and total number of plant taxa reported from UAE reached to 820 (Shahid and Rao, 2016a) • UAE made great efforts to increase forest area to approximately 318.36 thousand hectares in 2011 (MOEW, 2015). Irrigation efficiencies describe consumed and non-consumed water, while water productivity describes the benefits for consumed water Portion of water withdrawn from a Irrigation particular source that is stored in the root zone to enhance crop Efficiency evapotranspiration Low irrigation efficiency implies water not reaching its destination in the root zone due to improper conveyance and distribution processes Often more water is applied than the natural ability of the soil to retain water Why we need Non-consumed water is not all lost, some to improve recaptured in the system as return flow, unless it is evaporated or drained away to an irrigation inaccessible sink efficiency Where return flows are heavily polluted then this water is effectively lost or become a burden rather than recycled asset AWP is the return or benefit derived from each cubic meter of water consumed Water is defined by its quantity, quality, and time it is available The concept of AWP provides a standardized way of comparing crops Agricultural and production areas and for determining what to grow and where Water In water scarce areas, water, not land is the resource most limiting Productivity agricultural development A strategy for maximizing agricultural production per unit of land or land productivity may not be appropriate for water –scarce areas Maximizing production per unit of water is more convenient Euphrates and Tigris Case Study Main Characterization • Highly regulated system • High evaporation and Low rainfall in the southern part of the basin • Pollution – Natural More than 60% of the study and human area is located in the dry zone with very limited rainfall, less than 200 mm per year Water Use in Agriculture • Rainfed Agriculture Net water use as evapotranspiration (km3) 40 - Huge quantities of net green water use 30 as evapotranspiration is used in the 13.78 13.73 20 12.32 Euphrates and Tigris study area 10 20.62 20.68 19.13 • Irrigated Areas 0 2002 2006 2008 - Net blue water use as evapotranspiration Irrigated Rain-fed is used in the major agricultural crops in the Euphrates and Tigris study area More than three folds of water needs is used in irrigating croplands, where the total water supplied to irrigate is about 60 km3 Increasing productivity per unit of water consumed: • Improved crop varieties • Alternative crops, shifting to crops with lower water demand or to crops with higher economic return or Options for physical productivity increasing • Precision agriculture • Improved water management with better irrigation water scheduling productivity Reducing non-beneficial water depletion Reallocating water among uses including from lower to higher value uses Landscape is competing with Agriculture Al Batinah Region in Oman UAE Date palms use about 1/3 of all groundwater 250.250 40.40 200.200 30.30 150.150 20.30 100.100 10.10 5050. Air temperature [C] temperature Air Potential ET ET [mm/month]Potential 00. 0 0. Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec • Very high air temperatures • Annual ET > 1900 mm/yr • Can exceed 50o C in the summer • Annual rainfall < 60 mm/yr Source: Joint experiment between ICBA, EAD, Plant and Food Research, Maven Modelling and measurement of crop / Date water use Sap Flow Sensors and Lysimeters Source: Joint experiment between ICBA, EAD, Plant and Food Research, Maven A better understanding of the operational environment and the operation itself, leading to more accurate and faster decision making. Historical records impacts of salinity Irrigation Water Use Estimates Saving is about 35% Present Irrigation Water Application is about 280 l/tree/day Trees are using 50 -75 L/day (winter) and 200-250 L/day (summer) Increasing productivity per unit of water used Supplied Water Needs (m3/dunum) CWP=Physical crop yield/ Water use (kg/m3) 3,000 14.0 12.0 2,500 10.0 2,000 8.0 1,500 6.0 1,000 4.0 500 2.0 - 0.0 Water management decision-support tools Satellite Imagery Weather Modelling Energy Balance Modelling • Produce daily land surface temperature and climate data (temperature, humidity, wind speed solar radiation) • Calculate crop water requirements • Calculate actual crop water use • Produce Agricultural Water Productivity maps • Estimate irrigation water use and groundwater abstraction Conclusions • Improving water use efficiency can help in sustaining the limited available water resources for longer time in the future • Using native plants will not only reduce water requirement but also the maintenance, fertilizer and pesticide cost of any landscape project • There are many advanced methods and approaches that use more accurate Global data and remote sensing tools that can make estimates of crop water requirements more accurate • For water, we should consider its quantity, quality, and time it is available for irrigation Thank you Questions.