Water Productivity in Agriculture
Water Productivity in Agriculture

Author: J. W. Kijne

Publisher: CABI

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 1845933397

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First title in a major new seriesAddresses improving water productivity to relieve problems of scarcity and competition to provide for food and environmental securityDraws from scientists having a multitude of disciplines to approach this important problemIn a large number of developing countries, policy makers and researchers are increasingly aware of the conflicting demands on water, and look at agriculture to be more effective in its use of water. Focusing on both irrigated and rain-fed agriculture, this book gives a state of the art review of the limits and opportunities for improving water productivity in crop production. It demonstrates how efficiency of water use can be enhanced to maximize yields. The book represents the first in a new series of volumes resulting from the Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture, a research program conducted by the CGIAR's Future Harvest Centres, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and partners worldwide. It will be of significant interest to those working in areas of soil and crop science, water management, irrigation, and development studies.

Water Requirements for Irrigation and the Environment
Water Requirements for Irrigation and the Environment

Author: Marinus G. Bos

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2008-11-23

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13: 1402089481

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Irrigated agriculture produces about 40% of all food and fibre on about 16% of all cropped land. As such, irrigated agriculture is a productive user of resources; both in terms of yield per cropped area and in yield per volume of water consumed. Many irrigation projects, however, use (divert or withdraw) much more water than consumed by the crop. The non-consumed fraction of the water may cause a variety of undesirable effects ranging from water-logging and salinity within the irrigated area to downstram water pollution. This book discusses all components of the water balance of an irrigated area; evapotranspiration (Ch.2), effective precipitation (Ch.3) and capillary rise from the groundwater table (Ch.4). Chapter 5 then combines all components into a water management strategy that balances actual evapotranspiration (and thus crop yield) with the groundwater balance of the irrigated area (for a substainable environment). Chapter 6 presents CRIWAR 3.0, a simulation program that combines all water balance components into a single simulation procedure. The chapter describes the use of the CRIWAR software for developing water requirement tables and other useful information based on the selected water management strategy. This version greatly expands upon the capabilities of previously published programs.

Ground Water Recharge Using Waters of Impaired Quality
Ground Water Recharge Using Waters of Impaired Quality

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1994-02-01

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13: 0309051428

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As demand for water increases, water managers and planners will need to look widely for ways to improve water management and augment water supplies. This book concludes that artificial recharge can be one option in an integrated strategy to optimize total water resource management and that in some cases impaired-quality water can be used effectively as a source for artificial recharge of ground water aquifers. Source water quality characteristics, pretreatment and recharge technologies, transformations during transport through the soil and aquifer, public health issues, economic feasibility, and legal and institutional considerations are addressed. The book evaluates three main types of impaired quality water sourcesâ€"treated municipal wastewater, stormwater runoff, and irrigation return flowâ€"and describes which is the most consistent in terms of quality and quantity. Also included are descriptions of seven recharge projects.

Taming the Anarchy
Taming the Anarchy

Author: Tushaar Shah

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2010-09-30

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 1136524037

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In 1947, British India-the part of South Asia that is today's India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh-emerged from the colonial era with the world's largest centrally managed canal irrigation infrastructure. However, as vividly illustrated by Tushaar Shah, the orderly irrigation economy that saved millions of rural poor from droughts and famines is now a vast atomistic system of widely dispersed tube-wells that are drawing groundwater without permits or hindrances. Taming the Anarchy is about the development of this chaos and the prospects to bring it under control. It is about both the massive benefit that the irrigation economy has created and the ill-fare it threatens through depleted aquifers and pollution. Tushaar Shah brings exceptional insight into a socio-ecological phenomenon that has befuddled scientists and policymakers alike. In systematic fashion, he investigates the forces behind the transformation of South Asian irrigation and considers its social, economic, and ecological impacts. He considers what is unique to South Asia and what is in common with other developing regions. He argues that, without effective governance, the resulting groundwater stress threatens the sustenance of the agrarian system and therefore the well being of the nearly one and a half billion people who live in South Asia. Yet, finding solutions is a formidable challenge. The way forward in the short run, Shah suggests, lies in indirect, adaptive strategies that change the conduct of water users. From antiquity until the 1960‘s, agricultural water management in South Asia was predominantly the affair of village communities and/or the state. Today, the region depends on irrigation from some 25 million individually owned groundwater wells. Tushaar Shah provides a fascinating economic, political, and cultural history of the development and use of technology that is also a history of a society in transition. His book provides powerful ideas and lessons for researchers, historians, and policy

Blue Revolution
Blue Revolution

Author: Cynthia Barnett

Publisher: Beacon Press

Published: 2012-09-04

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 080700328X

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Americans see water as abundant and cheap: we turn on the faucet and out it gushes, for less than a penny a gallon. We use more water than any other culture in the world, much to quench what’s now our largest crop—the lawn. Yet most Americans cannot name the river or aquifer that flows to our taps, irrigates our food, and produces our electricity. And most don’t realize these freshwater sources are in deep trouble. Blue Revolution exposes the truth about the water crisis—driven not as much by lawn sprinklers as by a tradition that has encouraged everyone, from homeowners to farmers to utilities, to tap more and more. But the book also offers much reason for hope. Award-winning journalist Cynthia Barnett argues that the best solution is also the simplest and least expensive: a water ethic for America. Just as the green movement helped build awareness about energy and sustainability, so a blue movement will reconnect Americans to their water, helping us value and conserve our most life-giving resource. Avoiding past mistakes, living within our water means, and turning to “local water” as we do local foods are all part of this new, blue revolution. Reporting from across the country and around the globe, Barnett shows how people, businesses, and governments have come together to dramatically reduce water use and reverse the water crisis. Entire metro areas, such as San Antonio, Texas, have halved per capita water use. Singapore’s “closed water loop” recycles every drop. New technologies can slash agricultural irrigation in half: businesses can save a lot of water—and a lot of money—with designs as simple as recycling air-conditioning condensate. The first book to call for a national water ethic, Blue Revolution is also a powerful meditation on water and community in America.

Rethinking the Approach to Groundwater and Food Security
Rethinking the Approach to Groundwater and Food Security

Author: Marcus Moench

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 68

ISBN-13: 9789251049044

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This study attempts to re-frame the current thinking on groundwater development and the implications for food security. Groundwater is important in agriculture as it provides a reliable fallback when rainfeeding fails. It is therefore instrumental in managing risk and optimizing food production. However accessing groundwater has become habit and turned to dependency. Resources limits on many key aquifers have been exceeded and competition for groundwater has become intense. This study highlights the role of adaptive strategies in dealing with aquifer management and indicates directions of research and management.

Artificial Recharge of Groundwater
Artificial Recharge of Groundwater

Author: Takashi Asano

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2016-01-22

Total Pages: 784

ISBN-13: 1483163202

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Artificial Recharge of Groundwater focuses on artificial recharge of groundwater basins as a means to increase the natural supply of groundwater, along with the technical issues involved. Special emphasis is placed on the use of reclaimed municipal wastewater as a source for artificial recharge of groundwater. This book is comprised of 26 chapters organized into five sections. After reviewing the state of the art of artificial recharge of groundwater, the discussion turns to the fundamental aspects of groundwater recharge, including the role of artificial recharge in groundwater basin management, recharge methods, hydraulics, monitoring, and modeling. The next section considers pretreatment processes for wastewater and renovation of wastewater with rapid-infiltration land treatment systems and describes the health effects of wastewater reuse in groundwater recharge. A number of artificial recharge operations using reclaimed wastewater are then highlighted, focusing on cases in various countries including Israel, Germany, Poland, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States. The remaining chapters look at the extent of contaminant removal by the soil system and the fate of micropollutants during groundwater recharge as well as the legal and economic aspects of groundwater recharge. Research needs for groundwater quality management are also explored. This monograph is written for civil and sanitary engineers, agricultural engineers, hydrologists, environmental scientists, and research scientists as well as public works officials, consulting engineers, agriculturalists, industrialists, and students at colleges and universities.

Developing Groundwater
Developing Groundwater

Author: Alan M. MacDonald

Publisher: ITDG Publishing

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 392

ISBN-13:

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A user-friendly guide to developing groundwater for rural water supplies in developing countries. It provides information on simple, effective techniques for siting wells and boreholes, assessing resource sustainability, constructing and testing the yield of boreholes and wells, and monitoring groundwater quality.