Abstract
Sustainability in irrigation has become a major concern as water scarcity threatens sustainable development. In the present study, an Irrigation Sustainability Index (ISI) has been developed and proposed for application in agricultural basins. The ISI uses indicators of four dimensions of sustainability: economic, social, institutional, and environmental, and it was tested in the Segura River Basin in southeastern Spain. The results evidence the (un)sustainability of the system in 17 out of the 62 irrigation districts in the Segura Basin, mainly due to farmers’ low income, the overexploitation of aquifers, and the high demand for water for crops. On the other hand, 45 out of 62 irrigation districts showed moderate and high irrigation sustainability, mostly located along the Segura River and other streams, in the so-called “traditional agroecosystems”. The index application evidenced the prioritization of economic over environmental aspects and generated data to develop future policies in the region.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
ACTED (2013) Conflicts on Irrigation Water in the South of the Kyrgyz Republic. https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1861/COMTACA%20Irrigation%20Water%20Conflict%20Sources%20Report-%20English.pdf. Accessed 20 October 2020
Alcon F, Martin-Ortega J, Berbel J, De Miguel MD (2012) Environmental benefits of reclaimed water: an economic assessment in the context of the Water Framework Directive. Water Policy 14:148–159. https://doi.org/10.2166/wp.2011.001
Alcon F, Tapsuwan S, Brouwer R, de Miguel MD (2014) Adoption of irrigation water policies to guarantee water supply: a choice experiment. Environ Sci Policy 44:226–236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2014.08.012
Anuario de Estadística Agraria. Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación (1904–2020) https://www.mapa.gob.es/app/biblioteca/articulos/rev_numero.asp?codrevista=AEA. Accessed 28 October 2020
Borsato E, Martello M, Marinello F, Bortolini L (2019) Environmental and economic sustainability assessment for two different sprinkler and a drip irrigation systems: a case study on maize cropping. Agric 9:187. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture9090187
Bouwer H (1992) Agricultural and municipal use of wastewater. Water Sci Technol 26:1583–1591. https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.1992.0602
Burns TR (2012) The sustainability revolution: a societal paradigm shift. Sustainability 4(6):1118–1134
Cánovas-Molina A, Cánovas Soler A, García-Frapolli E (2021) City-traditional agriculture dialogues: the ‘Huerta de Murcia’ case study. Land Use Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105780
de Vito R, Portoghese I, Pagano A, Fratino U, Vurro M (2017) An index-based approach for the sustainability assessment of irrigation practice based on the water-energy-food nexus framework. Adv Water Resour 110:423–436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2017.10.027
Dedeurwaerdere T (2014) Sustainability Science for Strong Sustainability. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham
Dinar J, Mody J (2003) Irrigation water management policies: allocation and pricing principles and implementation experiences. “Irrigation Water Policies: Micro and Macro Considerations, Agadir Morocco, June 15–17, 2002.
El Diario.es (2020) ¿Por qué llaman modernización a lo que no es más que un expolio? El caso de los regadíos del Argos. 29/01/2020. https://www.eldiario.es/murcia/murcia-y-aparte/llaman-modernizacion-expolio-regadios-argos_132_1055985.html. Accessed 7 October 2020
El Periódico de Yecla (2019) La crítica situación del agua en Yecla trasciende a medios de Alemania y Francia. 25/08/2019. https://elperiodicodeyecla.com/agua-yecla-prensa-internacional/. Accessed 5 October 2020
FAO (2012) Coping with Water Scarcity an Action Framework for Agriculture and Food Security. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/i3015e/i3015e.pdf
Frodeman R (2014) Sustainable knowledge: a theory of interdisciplinarity. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke
Fundi SS, Kinemo SM (2018) Water User’s Conflicts in Irrigation Schemes in Tanzania. J Public Adm Gov 8:172. https://doi.org/10.5296/jpag.v8i4.13965
Galuppo L, Gorli M, Scaratti G, Kaneklin C (2014) Building social sustainability: Multi-stakeholder processes and conflict management. Soc Responsib J 10:685–701. https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-10-2012-0134
Gerten D, Heinke J, Hoff H, Biemans H, Fader M, Waha K (2011) Global water availability and requirements for future food production. J Hydrometeorol 12:885–899
Ghassemi F, White I (2007) Inter-Basin water transfer: case studies from Australia, United States, Canada, China and India. Cambridge University Press, New York
Gómez-Limón JA, Riesgo L (2009) Alternative approaches to the construction of a composite indicator of agricultural sustainability: an application to irrigated agriculture in the Duero basin in Spain. J Environ Manage 90:3345–3362
Gómez-Limón JA, Sánchez-Fernández G (2010) Empirical evaluation of agricultural sustainability using composite indicators. Ecol Econ 69:1062–1075
Gonzalez-Marquez I, Toledo VM (2020) Sustainability science: a paradigm in crisis? Sustainability 12(7):2802
Hillel D, Vlek P (2005) The Sustainability of Irrigation Adv Agron 87:55–84
Hoekstra AY, Chapagain AK, Aldaya MM, Mekonnen MM (2011) The water footprint assessment manual Setting the global standard. Earthscan, London
Hussain I, Hanjra MA (2004) Irrigation and poverty alleviation: review of the empirical evidence. Irrig Drain 53:1–15. https://doi.org/10.1002/ird.114
Kroll SA, Ringler NH, De las Heras J, Goméz-Alday JJ, Moratalla A, Briggs RD, (2013) Analysis of anthropogenic pressures in the Segura Watershed (SE Spain), with a focus on inter-basin transfer. Ecohydrology 6:878–888. https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.1311
La Opinión (2019) Macrooperación de la Guardia Civil contra los vertidos al Mar Menor. 02/04/2019. https://www.laopiniondemurcia.es/comunidad/2019/04/02/precintan-veinte-desalobradoras-ilegales-entorno/1010214.htm. Accessed 5 October 2020
Lattemann S, Lattemann S, Höpner T (2008) Environmental impact and impact assessment of seawater desalination. Desalination 220:1–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2007.03.009
Liu J, Hertel TW, Lammers RB, Prusevich A, Baldos ULC, Grogan DS, Frolking S (2017) Achieving sustainable irrigation water withdrawals: global impacts on food security and land use. Environ Res Lett 12:104009. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa88db
Martínez J, Esteve Selma MA (2020) El colapso ecológico de la laguna del Mar Menor. In: Fundación nueva cultura del agua (Eds.), Retos de la planificación y gestión del agua en España. Infome 2019. Zaragoza, pp 61–75
Martínez-Fernández J, Esteve-Selma MA, Calvo-Sendín JF (2000) Environmental and socioeconomic interactions in the evolution of traditional irrigated lands: a dynamic system model. Hum Ecol 28:279–299. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007024204961
Martínez-Fernández J, Esteve-Selma MA, Baños-González I, Carreño F, Moreno A (2013) Sustainability of Mediterranean irrigated agro-landscapes. Ecol Modell 248:11–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2012.09.018
Martínez-Fernández J, Neto S, Hernández-Mora N, Del Moral L, La Roca F (2020) The role of the Water Framework Directive in the controversial transition of water policy paradigms in Spain and Portugal. Water Alternatives 13:1–26
Matete M, Hassan R (2006) Integrated ecological economics accounting approach to evaluation of inter-basin water transfers: an application ot he Lesotho Highlands Water Project. Ecol Econ 60(1):246–259
Molle F, López-Gunn E, van Steenbergen F (2018) The local and national politics of groundwater overexploitation. Water Alternatives 11(3):445–457
Morote Á, Olcina J, Rico A (2017a) Challenges and proposals for socio-ecological sustainability of the Tagus—Segura aqueduct (Spain) under climate change. Sustainability 50:1–23. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9112058
Morote ÁF, Rico AM, Moltó E (2017b) Critical review of desalination in Spain: a resource for the future? Geogr Res 55:412–423. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-5871.12232
Morote ÁF, Hernández M, Rico AM, Eslamian S (2020) Inter-basin water transfer conflicts. The case of the Tagus-Segura Aqueduct (Spain). Int J Hydrology Science and Technology 10:364–391
Nardo M, Saisana M, Saltelli A, Tarantola S, Hoffmann A, Giovannini E (2008) Handbook on constructing composite indicators: methodology and user guide. OECD publishing, Paris
Pacto por el Mar Menor (2020) https://pactoporelmarmenor.blogspot.com/. Accessed 4 November 2020
Paisajes del Agua (2019) Las fuentes de Lietor y Ayna en peligro por los regadíos sociales de Alcadozo y Pozohondo. 31/10/2019. https://paisajesdelagua.wordpress.com/2019/10/31/las-fuentes-de-lietor-y-ayna-en-peligro-por-los-regadios-sociales-de-alcadozo-y-pozohondo/. Accessed 6 October 2020
PHDS (2015) Plan Hidrológico de la Demarcación del Segura 2015–2021. Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente, Confederación Hidrográfica del Segura. https://chsegura.es/chs/planificacionydma/planificacion15-21/
Ruggerio CA (2021) Sustainability and sustainable development: a review of principles and definitions. Sci Total Environ 786:147481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147481
Rupérez-Moreno C, Senent-Aparicio J, Martinez-Vicente D, García-Aróstegui JL, Calvo-Rubio FC, Pérez-Sánchez J (2017) Sustainability of irrigated agriculture with overexploited aquifers: the case of Segura basin (SE, Spain). Agric Water Manag 182:67–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2016.12.008
Salmoral G, Viñarta Carbó A, Zegarra E, Knox JW, Rey D (2020) Reconciling irrigation demands for agricultural expansion with environmental sustainability—a preliminary assessment for the Ica Valley. Peru J Clean Prod. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123544
Siebert S, Döll P, Hoogeveen J, Faures JM, Frenken K, Feick S (2005) Development and validation of the global map of irrigation areas. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci Discuss 2:1299–1327. https://doi.org/10.5194/hessd-2-1299-2005
Spangenberg JH (2002) Environmental space and the prism of sustainability: frameworks for indicators measuring sustainable development. Ecol Indic 2:295–309. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-160X(02)00065-1
Stanbury P, Lynott J (1992) Irrigation Management and Conflict Resolution. In: Inequality and the Commons, the Third Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property (pp. 1–26). Indiana University Press, Washington DC
Talukder T, Hipel KW, van Loon GW (2018) Using multi-criteria decision analysis for assessing sustainability of agricultural systems. Sustain Dev. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.1848
Thapa BR, Ishidaira H, Pandey VP, Bhandari TM, Shakya NM (2018) Evaluation of water security in Katmandu Valley before and after water transfer from another basin. Water 10:224
Toze S (2006) Reuse of effluent water - Benefits and risks. Agric Water Manag 80:147–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2005.07.010
UN (2015) Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development United Nations. Washington DC
Viala E (2008) Water for food, water for life: a comprehensive assessment of water management in agriculture. Irrig Drain Syst 22:127–129
Vieira E, Sandoval-Solis S (2018) Water resources sustainability index for a water-stressed basin in Brazil. J Hydrol Reg Stud 19:97–109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2018.08.003
WWF, Anse, (2018) La burbuja del regadío: el caso del Mar Menor. WWF/Adena and ANSE, Spain
Xavier A, Costa Freitas MB, Fragoso R, Rosário MS (2018) A regional composite indicator for analysing agricultural sustainability in Portugal: a goal programming approach. Ecol Indic 89:84–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.01.048
Zhang J, Bai M, Zhou S, Zhao M (2018) Agricultural water use sustainability assessment in the Tarim River basin under climatic risks. Water. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10020170
Zhuang W (2016) Eco-environmental impact of inter-basin water transfer projects: a review. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23:12867–12879
Acknowledgements
This research has received funding from a postdoctoral fellowship granted by DGAPA-Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Authors would also like to thank Prof. Rubén Lombardo for his help in statistics.
Funding
Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Académico, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Cánovas-Molina, A., García-Frapolli, E. & Ruggerio, C.A. A proposal of an Irrigation Sustainability Index for agricultural basins: application in a semi-arid river basin. Irrig Sci 41, 173–182 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-022-00831-w
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-022-00831-w