The paradox of irrigation efficiency
Reconciling higher freshwater demands with finite freshwater resources remains one of the great policy dilemmas. Given that crop irrigation constitutes 70% of global water extractions, which contributes up to 40% of globally available calories (1), governments often support increases in irrigation e...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | Inglés |
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American Association for the Advancement of Science
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/97087 |
| _version_ | 1855530659827679232 |
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| author | Grafton, R. Quentin Williams, J. Perry, C.J. Molle, Francois Ringler, Claudia Steduto, P. Udall, B. Wheeler, S.A. Wang, Y. Garrick, D. Allen, R.G. |
| author_browse | Allen, R.G. Garrick, D. Grafton, R. Quentin Molle, Francois Perry, C.J. Ringler, Claudia Steduto, P. Udall, B. Wang, Y. Wheeler, S.A. Williams, J. |
| author_facet | Grafton, R. Quentin Williams, J. Perry, C.J. Molle, Francois Ringler, Claudia Steduto, P. Udall, B. Wheeler, S.A. Wang, Y. Garrick, D. Allen, R.G. |
| author_sort | Grafton, R. Quentin |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Reconciling higher freshwater demands with finite freshwater resources remains one of the great policy dilemmas. Given that crop irrigation constitutes 70% of global water extractions, which contributes up to 40% of globally available calories (1), governments often support increases in irrigation efficiency (IE), promoting advanced technologies to improve the “crop per drop.” This provides private benefits to irrigators and is justified, in part, on the premise that increases in IE “save” water for reallocation to other sectors, including cities and the environment. Yet substantial scientific evidence (2) has long shown that increased IE rarely delivers the presumed public-good benefits of increased water availability. Decision-makers typically have not known or understood the importance of basin-scale water accounting or of the behavioral responses of irrigators to subsidies to increase IE. We show that to mitigate global water scarcity, increases in IE must be accompanied by robust water accounting and measurements, a cap on extractions, an assessment of uncertainties, the valuation of trade-offs, and a better understanding of the incentives and behavior of irrigators. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace97087 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publishDateRange | 2018 |
| publishDateSort | 2018 |
| publisher | American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| publisherStr | American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace970872025-11-12T04:47:35Z The paradox of irrigation efficiency Grafton, R. Quentin Williams, J. Perry, C.J. Molle, Francois Ringler, Claudia Steduto, P. Udall, B. Wheeler, S.A. Wang, Y. Garrick, D. Allen, R.G. irrigation systems water policies water availability crop production irrigation efficiency irrigation methods water use Reconciling higher freshwater demands with finite freshwater resources remains one of the great policy dilemmas. Given that crop irrigation constitutes 70% of global water extractions, which contributes up to 40% of globally available calories (1), governments often support increases in irrigation efficiency (IE), promoting advanced technologies to improve the “crop per drop.” This provides private benefits to irrigators and is justified, in part, on the premise that increases in IE “save” water for reallocation to other sectors, including cities and the environment. Yet substantial scientific evidence (2) has long shown that increased IE rarely delivers the presumed public-good benefits of increased water availability. Decision-makers typically have not known or understood the importance of basin-scale water accounting or of the behavioral responses of irrigators to subsidies to increase IE. We show that to mitigate global water scarcity, increases in IE must be accompanied by robust water accounting and measurements, a cap on extractions, an assessment of uncertainties, the valuation of trade-offs, and a better understanding of the incentives and behavior of irrigators. 2018-08-24 2018-09-07T10:08:28Z 2018-09-07T10:08:28Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/97087 en Open Access application/pdf American Association for the Advancement of Science Grafton, R. Q.; Williams, J.; Perry, C. J.; Molle, F.; Ringler, C.; Steduto, P.; Udall, B.; Wheeler, S. A.; Wang, Y.; Garrick, D.; Allen, R. G. 2018. The paradox of irrigation efficiency: Higher efficiency rarely reduces water consumption. Science 361(6406): 748-750. DOI: 10.1126/science.aat9314 |
| spellingShingle | irrigation systems water policies water availability crop production irrigation efficiency irrigation methods water use Grafton, R. Quentin Williams, J. Perry, C.J. Molle, Francois Ringler, Claudia Steduto, P. Udall, B. Wheeler, S.A. Wang, Y. Garrick, D. Allen, R.G. The paradox of irrigation efficiency |
| title | The paradox of irrigation efficiency |
| title_full | The paradox of irrigation efficiency |
| title_fullStr | The paradox of irrigation efficiency |
| title_full_unstemmed | The paradox of irrigation efficiency |
| title_short | The paradox of irrigation efficiency |
| title_sort | paradox of irrigation efficiency |
| topic | irrigation systems water policies water availability crop production irrigation efficiency irrigation methods water use |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/97087 |
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