Modelling water levels of northwestern India in response to improved irrigation use efficiency

Shekhar, Shashank; Kumar, Suman; Densmore, Alexander L.; Dijk, W. M. van; Sinha, Rajiv; Kumar, Manoj; Joshi, Suneel Kumar; Prakash, Shive; Kumar, Dewashish

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-70416-0

Cited by 48 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Daccache et al 22 projected that a pressurized irrigation system is capable to increase irrigation efficiency, but CO 2 emissions increase due to additional energy consumption compared to a gravity-fed surface irrigation system. Shekhar et al 23 showed that technology changes could have the potential to mitigate groundwater depletion through pressure reduction on water resources. However, the lower percolation from fields with improved water saving irrigation techniques may reduce aquifer recharge 24 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic and environmental impact assessment of sustainable future irrigation practices in the Indus Basin of Pakistan

Muzammil

Zahid

2021

Sci Rep

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Pakistan’s agriculture is characterized by insecure water supply and poor irrigation practices. We investigate the economic and environmental feasibility of alternative improved irrigation technologies (IIT) by estimating the site-specific irrigation costs, groundwater anomalies, and CO2 emissions. IIT consider different energy sources including solar power in combination with changes in the irrigation method. The status quo irrigation costs are estimated to 1301 million US$ year−1, its groundwater depletion to 6.3 mm year−1 and CO2 emissions to 4.12 million t year−1, of which 96% originate from energy consumption and 4% via bicarbonate extraction from groundwater. Irrigation costs of IIT increase with all energy sources compared to the status quo, which is mainly based on diesel engine. This is because of additional variable and fixed costs for system’s operation. Of these, subsidized electricity induces lowest costs for farmers with 63% extra costs followed by solar energy with 77%. However, groundwater depletion can even be reversed with 35% rise in groundwater levels via IIT. Solar powered irrigation can break down CO2 emissions by 81% whilst other energy sources boost emissions by up to 410%. Results suggest that there is an extremely opposing development between economic and ecological preferences, requiring stakeholders to negotiate viable trade-offs.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic and environmental impact assessment of sustainable future irrigation practices in the Indus Basin of Pakistan

Muzammil

Zahid

2021

Sci Rep

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“…In terms of groundwater balance, the aquifer of High Plains in the US shows a water table decline rate of about 0.8 m per year (Dong et al 2019). Moreover, the decline in the groundwater level is reported by 2.8 m per year in the northwestern region of India (Shekhar et al 2020). More specifically, the MENA region is a water resource scarcity area that is experiencing serve implications of climate change that extremely impact the recharge of the groundwater resources (Lattemann & Höpner 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of unconventional water resources interventions on the management of Gaza coastal aquifer in Palestine

2021

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The non-conventional water resources of seawater desalination, wastewater treatment, and stormwater harvesting are promising water resources to enhance the water supply and to cope with the groundwater depletion of the Gaza Coastal Aquifer (GCA). In total, the current daily operation of the short-term low-volume (STLV) seawater desalination plants produces 36,000 m3 and on the large-scale perspective, the seawater desalination capacity is planned to lift from 150,000 to 300,000 m3 per day by the years 2025 and 2035, respectively. The wastewater treatment and reuse activities are processed through three wastewater treatment plants with a total daily capacity of 130,000 m3 which is proposed to be lifted to a capacity of 235,000 m3 by the beginning of 2025. The stormwater collecting and harvesting supply the water sector by about 550–820 cubic meters per day. The proposed stochastic and artificial intelligence model that was developed in this study to simulate the interactive conditions between the groundwater and the water intervention plan show proper performance in terms of (r) = 0.95–0.99 and the root mean square error (RMSE) = 0.09–0.21. The model outputs reveal that the annual groundwater abstractions will reach 192 million cubic meters by 2040 with an annual increasing rate of +3%. By applying the model, the optimum utilizing of the unconventional water resources contributes positively to the recovery of the GCA which is experiencing a decline hot spot in the water level reaches to −19 m below mean sea level (MSL) and is expected to drop to −28 m MSL by 2040. The impact of unconventional water resources interventions was investigated by simulating the water table trend using stochastic models and artificial neural networks (ANNs) through three scenarios. The first scenario which addresses the non-intervention status indicates that the groundwater table will decline by −1.5% in the northern governorates and by −51% in the southern governorates of the Gaza Strip within 2020–2040. The second scenario demonstrates the impact of the existing water interventions which reveals an interim recovery in the groundwater balance until 2025 where the water consumption tends to increase rapidly. The third scenario illustrates the impact of applying the full water management intervention plan where the depression cone in the groundwater level will be restored by about +10 m.

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“…Such improvements in efficiency are possible as part of a second Green Revolution that incorporates adoption of an integrated genetic and natural resource management approach (Rockström 2003, Senapati andSemenov 2020). The first Green Revolution in the 1960s largely focused on irrigated ecologies, but the second Green Revolution needs to focus on both irrigated and dryland systems with enhanced resource use efficiency (Davis et al 2017, Shekhar et al 2020. Drylands in India are facing a number of challenges including water scarcity, land degradation, malnutrition, and poverty.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscape resource management for sustainable crop intensification

Anantha

Garg

Singh

et al. 2021

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Crop intensification is required to meet the food demands of an increasing population. This paper presents data from three paired scaling-up initiatives to compare the benefits of landscape-based interventions over individual plot-level interventions using evidence generated in the Indian semi-arid tropics. A range of soil and water conservation interventions were implemented in a decentralized manner following the landscape-based approach. The plot-level approach focused only on balanced fertilizer application and improved crop cultivars while the landscape-based interventions primarily addressed moisture availability, which was the key to reducing risks of crop failure besides aiding productivity gain and enhanced land and water-use efficiency. These interventions have additionally harvested 50-150 mm of surface runoff and facilitated groundwater recharge in 550-800 mm rainfall zones. Individual plot-level interventions also improved the crop yield significantly over the control plots. However, crop intensification was not achieved due to limited moisture availability. Landscape-based interventions produced 100-300% higher crop production per year, greater income generation (>100%), and improved water productivity. Landscape-based interventions were also found to be beneficial in terms of reducing soil loss by 75-90% and improving base flow availability additionally by 20-75 days in a year compared to untreated watersheds. With increased moisture availability, fallow lands in respective watersheds have been utilized for cultivation, thereby enhancing crop intensification. The findings of the study provide critical insights into the design of approaches suitable for scaling-up projects in order to both create impact and target the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

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Modelling water levels of northwestern India in response to improved irrigation use efficiency

Cited by 48 publications

References 32 publications

Economic and environmental impact assessment of sustainable future irrigation practices in the Indus Basin of Pakistan

Economic and environmental impact assessment of sustainable future irrigation practices in the Indus Basin of Pakistan

Effect of unconventional water resources interventions on the management of Gaza coastal aquifer in Palestine

Landscape resource management for sustainable crop intensification

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