Sustainability of Duero Water Systems for Crop Production in Spain

In recent decades, increased water demand combined with the effects of climate change has endangered water availability in many regions. In this context, sustainable water management has become a priority, seeking to balance human needs with the conservation of aquatic ecosystems. In the Duero basin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2024-01, Vol.16 (1), p.242
Main Authors: Lama-Pedrosa, Beatriz, Sordo-Ward, Álvaro, Bianucci, Paola, Garrote, Luis
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Aquatic resources
Basins
Climate change
Freshwater resources
Global temperature changes
Harvesting
Hydrology
Planning
Portugal
Protection and preservation
Reservoirs
Social sustainability
Spain
Supply & demand
Sustainable development
Water in agriculture
Water shortages
Water supply
Water-supply, Agricultural
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Summary:In recent decades, increased water demand combined with the effects of climate change has endangered water availability in many regions. In this context, sustainable water management has become a priority, seeking to balance human needs with the conservation of aquatic ecosystems. In the Duero basin (Spain), the availability of water is especially relevant for agricultural purposes, representing 93% of the total water needs. This study focuses on identifying and assessing the short-term sustainability of irrigated crop production in the Duero River basin. The maximum potential availability of surface water for irrigation was estimated and compared with the short-term agricultural surface water demand. The analysis was based on the use of a high-spatial-resolution (500 × 500 m) GIS-based model named WAAPA, and three indexes were used to evaluate and analyze the results. The results show that by analyzing the river basin in an aggregate form, the demands for irrigation were met, in which the reservoirs played an important role. When the analysis was downscaled to tributaries or even small streams, non-sustainable situations were identified. This shows the importance of using high-spatial-resolution models to improve, maintain, and achieve sustainability in the production of irrigated crops.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su16010242