Getting the right framework for

sustainable water resources management

Pasquale Steduto, FAO Water Scarcity Initiative

Chris Perry former Deputy Director General IWMI

Fawzi Karajeh FAO Senior Water Specialist

Cairo - Egypt, 27-29 October 2015

Consumptive and

non-consumptive water use

Actual Renewable Water Resources per Capita, by Region

The Water Context

Declining Water Availability in the NENA region

m3 p

er

cap

ita

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

1 2 3 41962 1992 2011 2013

Water scarcity

Year

Absolute water scarcity

% of Total Renewable Water Resources Withdrawn, by Region

> 85% used in Irrigation

Sustainability limits

Groundwater abstraction as % of annual recharge

Country Groundwater

consumption Recharage

Required

Reduction in

Consumption

BCM/yr BCM/yr %

Iran 53 26 51

KSA 21 6 71

Egypt 5 2 60

Libya 4.4 1.3 70

Algeria 2.5 0.8 68

Morocco 2.4 0.8 67

Yemen 1.9 1 47

Syria 1.6 0.4 75

UAE 1.6 0.4 75

Tunisia 1.6 0.9 44

Israel 0.6 0.2 67

Jordan 0.5 0.3 40

Oman 0.5 0.3 40

Kuwait 0.3 0.1 67

Qatar 0.2 0.2 0

The key point is that

consumption of irrigation

water has to decrease

substantially to restore

equilibrium in aquifers.

7

North China Plain

20 years… ~20 year

~20 m

~37 year

~30 m

California

The NENA Region – and the world in general –

is heavily dependent on unsustainable water

consumption (by-far due to irrigation)

The Message

The Response

Management of

•Supply [Better storage and conveyance efficiency, integrated

surface and groundwater, greywater, rain water harvesting,

protection of water resources , wastewater treatment and reuse,

desalination, etc. ]

•Demand [land use, market-based instruments, increase water

productivities, reduce food losses, intersectoral allocation, raising

public awareness, etc.]

One key-word is ‘Water Saving’ in irrigation

But …what water saving refers to?

Water saving refers to that water that would be

otherwise no longer available to the system under

consideration (spatial-scale issue)

…and the ‘dominant’ measure undertaken is the

‘conversion’ from traditional to modern or hi-tech

irrigation (higher efficiency and better performance)

But in the NENA Region water scarcity is chronic

and will intensify with time

Field 1 Field 2 Field 3

Basin

ef=33%

ef=50%

ef=100%

eB=100%

Field 4 Field 5 Field 6

ef=100% ef=100% ef=100%

Use of efficient/high-

tech irrigation (e.g.,

drip) at farm-field level

is assumed to ‘save

water’ but in reality

has only re-allocated

water at basin level

Water

Efficiency

≠ Energy

Efficiency

Spain

From González-Cebollada (2015)

Does high-tech/modernization of

irrigation allows water saving?

“irrigation modernization policies in Spain, mainly financed with

billions of euros from Europe, Spanish states and Spanish regions,

and justified socially by hypothetical water savings has not in

practices led to any water savings, but rather the reverse”

Does high-tech/modernization of

irrigation allows increased efficiency?

Benefits of hi-tech irrigation

• Precise timing and amount of water supply

• Allows water sensitive, high value crops

• Saves fertilizer

• Saves labor

• Saves pumping costs (?)

• ………

But does it reduce consumption of water?

Water use

We need a water accounting framework to

make sure we are saving water or not

Consumptive

Non-consumptive

Beneficial (TC)

Non-beneficial (ES/Tw)

Recoverable (return flow)

Non-recoverable

{

{

Water Accounting

Simple rules for

Water Sustainability

Water

Accounting

Setting the

limits of

consumption

Adopt all measures to

maximize the benefit of

each drop of water

(sources, users, consumptions, re-uses)

(overall, by allocation;

balancing water in&out)

(e, WP, HiTech, governance, etc.)

1

2

3

• The NENA region is heavily dependent on

unsustainable water consumption

Concluding Remarks

• Water Accounting is a ‘must’ to identify

consumptive and non-consumptive water use

• “Hi-tech” irrigation rarely saves water

Increased production for a given crop means higher water consumption

High value crops increase water demand, more pumping, deeper wells, etc.

• Control of water allocations must precede

introduction of modern/hi-tech irrigation

http://neareast.fao.org

Thank You