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Does Improved Irrigation Technology Save Water? a Review of the Evidence

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Does Improved Irrigation Technology Save Water? a Review of the Evidence DOES IMPROVED IRRIGATION TECHNOLOGY SAVE WATER? A REVIEW OF THE EVIDENCE Discussion paper on irrigation and sustainable water resources management in the Near East and North Africa Regional Initiative on Water Scarcity for the Near East and North Africa 1 DOES IMPROVED IRRIGATION TECHNOLOGY SAVE WATER? A REVIEW OF THE EVIDENCE Discussion paper on irrigation and sustainable water resources management in the Near East and North Africa by Chris Perry FAO Consultant Pasquale Steduto Regional Strategic Programmes Coordinator & Delivery Manager of the Regional Initiative on Water Scarcity for the Near East and North Africa FAO, Regional Office for Near East and North Africa Cairo, Egypt with the contribution of Fawzi Karajeh Senior Water Resources and Irrigation Officer FAO, Regional Office for Near East and North Africa Cairo, Egypt FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS CAIRO, 2017 The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of FAO. ISBN 978-92-5-109774-8 © FAO, 2017 FAO encourages the use, reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product. Except where otherwise indicated, material may be copied, downloaded and printed for private study, research and teaching purposes, or for use in non-commercial products or services, provided that appropriate acknowledgement of FAO as the source and copyright holder is given and that FAO’s endorsement of users’ views, products or services is not implied in any way. All requests for translation and adaptation rights, and for resale and other commercial use rights should be made via www.fao.org/contact-us/licence-request or addressed to [email protected]. FAO information products are available on the FAO website (www.fao.org/publications) and can be purchased through [email protected]. Cover photos: courtesy of ICARDA (left photo) and of prof. Don Slack, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA (right photo) CONTENTS Foreword ........................................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... vi Abbreviations and acronyms .......................................................................................................... vii Executive summary ......................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2 From sustainable to unsustainable water use ............................................................................... 3 CHAPTER 3 A basic framework for analyzing the impact of responses to water scarcity and high water demand .......................................................................................................................... 6 3.1. Physical water accounting ......................................................................................................... 6 3.2. Water productivity accounting.................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER 4 The reported impact of technical Interventions. A review of the evidence ................................ 12 4.1. China ........................................................................................................................................ 14 4.2. Egypt ......................................................................................................................................... 16 4.3. India .......................................................................................................................................... 17 4.4. Israel ........................................................................................................................................ 18 4.5. Iran ........................................................................................................................................... 20 4.6. Morocco .................................................................................................................................... 21 4.7. Pakistan .................................................................................................................................... 22 4.8. South Africa .............................................................................................................................. 23 4.9. Spain ......................................................................................................................................... 24 4.10. Tunisia .................................................................................................................................... 27 4.11. United States of America ....................................................................................................... 29 4.12. Yemen ..................................................................................................................................... 32 4.13. Zimbabwe ............................................................................................................................... 33 CHAPTER 5 Concluding remarks ...................................................................................................................... 34 CHAPTER 6 Policy implications ......................................................................................................................... 37 References ...................................................................................................................................... 39 iii DOES IMPROVED IRRIGATION TECHNOLOGY SAVE WATER? TABLES Table 1. Renewable Water Resources in the Near East and North Africa (AQUASTAT) ................. 2 FIGURES Figure 1. Spate system in Yemen ..................................................................................................... 4 Figure 2. Cross section of a qanat ................................................................................................... 4 iv FOREWORD The Near East and North Africa (NENA) Region has the lowest per-capita fresh water resource availability among all Regions of the world. Already naturally exposed to chronic shortage of water, NENA will face severe intensification of water scarcity in the coming decades due to several drivers related to demography, food security policies, overall socio-economic development and climate change. Irrigated agriculture in the Region, which already consumes more than 85 percent of renewable fresh water resources, will face strong challenges in meeting augmented national food demand and supporting economic development in rural areas. Countries of the NENA Region promote efficient and productive irrigation as well as the protection and sustainable management of scarce and fragile natural resources, particularly water, in their national plans. Through the Regional Initiative on Water Scarcity, FAO is providing support and focus to efforts in confronting the fast-widening gap between availability and demand for fresh water resources. A key question to address is: how can countries simultaneously reduce this gap, promote sustainable water resources management and contribute effectively to food security and enhanced nutrition? The traditional assumption has been that increasing irrigation efficiency through the adoption of modern technologies, like drip irrigation, leads to substantial water savings, releasing the saved water to the environment or to other uses. The evidence from research and field measurements shows that this is not the case. The benefit at the local “on-farm” scale may appear dramatic, but when properly accounted at basin scale, total water consumption by irrigation tends to increase instead of decreasing. The potential to increase water productivity— more “crop per drop”—is also quite modest for the most important crops. These findings suggest that reductions in water consumption by irrigated agriculture will not come from the technology itself. Rather, measures like limiting water allocation will be needed to ensure a sustainable level of water use. The present report provides the evidence needed to open up a discussion with all major stakeholders dealing with water resources management on the proper and scientifically sound framework required to address jointly water scarcity, sustainability and food security problems. A discussion that has been disregarded for too long. Abdessalam OuldAhmed Clayton Campanhola FAO Assistant Director General and Regional Representative FAO Strategic Programme Leader for the Near East and North Africa Sustainable Agriculture v
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