Suchergebnisse

Presented at the Role of irrigation and drainage in a sustainable future: USCID fourth international conference on irrigation and drainage on October 3-6, 2007 in Sacramento, California. ; Includes bibliographical references. ; In the north of the state of Victoria (Australia), irrigation of agricultural crops accounts for 70% of total annual water use. These irrigation communities are concerned about the sustainability and efficiency of irrigation infrastructure, and the ability of existing infrastructure to meet the needs of future irrigation businesses. At the same time, the broader community is seeking a greater range of services from available water supplies for urban consumption and increased water allocations to improve river and stream health. To address this crisis in Victoria, a partnership approach has been adopted to support strategic planning initiatives. The partnerships include representatives from: the irrigation community, catchment management authorities, the Victorian State Government and rural water authorities. Innovative approaches have been developed and adopted to enable irrigation communities to improve water management practices and to formulate sustainable management options for future irrigation landscapes. The approaches have challenged established cultural, environmental, social and economic values and presented both threats and opportunities for irrigation communities and river environments. This paper will discuss three planning initiatives for future irrigation landscapes: (1) a regional pilot landscape change project, (2) State Government Legislative reform, (3) the development of reconfiguration plans. Goulburn Murray Water Authority (GMW), in northern Victoria, has offered support and leadership for these initiatives.

Over-allocation of fresh water resources to consumptive uses, coupled with recurring drought and the prospect of climate change, is compromising the stocks of natural capital in the world's basins and reducing their ability to provide water-dependent ecosystem services. To combat this, governments worldwide are making significant investment in efforts to improve the sharing of water between consumptive uses and the environment. Many investments are centred on the modernisation of inefficient irrigation delivery systems and the purchase of consumptive water for environmental flows. In this study, we applied spatial targeting within a cost-benefit framework to reconfigure agricultural land use in an irrigation district to achieve a 20% reduction in agricultural water use to increase environmental flows, and improve the provision of other ecosystem services. We demonstrate a targeted land use reconfiguration policy approach using spatial planning and optimisation models. Our model estimates a potential increase in the net present value of ecosystem services of up to $A 347 million. The increase in ecosystem services include recovering 62 GL of water for environmental flows, the sequestration of 10.6 million tonnes of CO2e/year, a 12 EC (μS/cm) reduction in river salinity, and an overall 9% increase in the value of agriculture. Without a spatially targeted approach to planning, a 20% reduction in water for irrigation could result in the loss of $A 68.7 million in economic returns to agriculture which may be only marginally offset by the increased value of ecosystem services resulting from the return of 62 GL of water to the environment. Crown

Over-allocation of fresh water resources to consumptive uses, coupled with recurring drought and the prospect of climate change, is compromising the stocks of natural capital in the world's basins and reducing their ability to provide water-dependent ecosystem services. To combat this, governments worldwide are making significant investment in efforts to improve the sharing of water between consumptive uses and the environment. Many investments are centred on the modernisation of inefficient irrigation delivery systems and the purchase of consumptive water for environmental flows. In this study, we applied spatial targeting within a cost-benefit framework to reconfigure agricultural land use in an irrigation district to achieve a 20% reduction in agricultural water use to increase environmental flows, and improve the provision of other ecosystem services. We demonstrate a targeted land use reconfiguration policy approach using spatial planning and optimisation models. Our model estimates a potential increase in the net present value of ecosystem services of up to $A 347 million. The increase in ecosystem services include recovering 62 GL of water for environmental flows, the sequestration of 10.6 million tonnes of CO2e/year, a 12 EC (μS/cm) reduction in river salinity, and an overall 9% increase in the value of agriculture. Without a spatially targeted approach to planning, a 20% reduction in water for irrigation could result in the loss of $A 68.7 million in economic returns to agriculture which may be only marginally offset by the increased value of ecosystem services resulting from the return of 62 GL of water to the environment. Crown