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2 nd International Conference Graz October 10 th , 2012

2 nd International Conference Graz October 10 th , 2012. Water allocation and efficient water use in agriculture. Local Council Association – LCA (Malta) Regional Agency for Rural Development FVG – ERSA (Italy). Malta – agriculture and irrigation. Total UAA amounted to 11,453 ha

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2 nd International Conference Graz October 10 th , 2012

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  1. 2nd International Conference Graz October 10th, 2012 Water allocation and efficient water use in agriculture Local Council Association – LCA (Malta) Regional Agency for Rural Development FVG – ERSA (Italy)

  2. Malta – agriculture and irrigation • Total UAA amounted to 11,453 ha • Total UAA served by irrigation: 3,498 ha • annualrainprecipitation: 550 mm/year • agriculturalsector water demand: mainly from groundwater (80%) • treatedeffluent and rainwaterharvesting: marginalimportance • mostwidespreadirrigation pattern: borholesthatabstract water from the meansealevelacquifers • water requirements for agriculturecannot be met by groundwater alone butfurther alternative resourcesshoulddeveloped • need to recoverefficiency for water used for irrigationpurposes

  3. Region FVG – Facts sheet Total UAA 227,000 ha Arablecrops 142,000 ha Vineyards 23,000 haOrchards 1,800 ha Forages 33,000 ha

  4. Region FVG: present challenges Average annual rain precipitation in the Region FVG: 1,500 – 2,000 mm • in FVG total area served by irrigationisca145,400 ha ...but… droughts occurred in FVG in 2003, 2006 and 2012 drought occurred in 2006 resulted in overall losses estimated in 51 MEuro Surfacesystem 20.4% of the served area Sprinkler system 26.8% of the served area

  5. Increasing efficiency If the rate of utilization of the systemcomponentscannotchange, no improvement can be achieved No flexiblesystem: higher rate in a given component = higherconsumption of the wholesystem Flexiblesystem: higher rate of utilization of a component can be compensated by a lower rate applied to another component, sameamount of available water can be allocated more efficiently C - 1 C - 1 Higher rate in C-1 is generated by a lower rate in C-2 and C-4. Increase in efficiency through reallocation of the resources among the components Fixed utilization rate, no flexibility, no increase in efficiency C - 2 C - 2 C - 3 C - 3 C - 4 C - 4

  6. How to increase efficiency At whichlevelwecouldact in order to increase the systemefficiency? Irrigationtechnique Planning: works, investments, cropsystems Expert system (ICT) Farmsawareness on water issues ICT athigherhierarchicallevel Water Governance

  7. Irrigationtechnique Increasing efficiency - 1 • Differentirrigationtechniquesexhibitdifferent water consumption, hencedifferentefficiency for water use: • Surfacesystem (SU) • Sprinkler system (SP) • Dripsystem • Othersystems • “Surfacetechnique”, SU: 2.2 l/(s*ha) • “Sprinkler technique”, SP: 0.9 l/(s*ha) • Potentialsavingsestimation: 1.3 l/(s*ha) Theoretical average water consumption

  8. Increasing efficiency - 2 Farmsawareness on water issues • Costsborne for water consumed, changingsupply pattern and feesapplied • acting on the water pricing: «Flat rate» vs. «Binomialfee» • water pricing and water supply: from «scheduled» towards «on demand» pattern • advantages for the farmspursuing water • savings • Guidedirrigation • role of advisoryservices: enhancement in cultivationtechniques • information on plant-soil water balance, farms are advised on «when» and howmuch to irrigate, via SMS or through Internet web services

  9. Expert system (ICT) Increasing efficiency - 3 Soil-Plant water balance data from sample areasintegrated by an expertsystem (ES) Devices and apparatus of the water network coordinated by the outputsgenerated by the ES The ES coordinatesirrigationoperations, water inflow of the systemresultsoptimized Flow-meters of an irrigationdistrict can be switched on/off and controlled by the ES under the supervision of the water management team (remote control)

  10. ICT athigherhierarchicallevel Increasing efficiency - 4 ICT and technology can be coupledat a higherhierarchicallevel, i.e the whole network sharing common basins or withdrawlpoints Data on the observedprecipitation, water stored in the basins and weatherforecast information can be integrated and used by a DSS to assist the irrigation water management of a wholedistrict over the whole season ES can supervise the pumps and the devices control of the network according to the indicationsprovided by the DSS/water management

  11. Planning: works, investments, cropsystems Increasing efficiency - 5 • Critical points of the network hampering the systemflexibilityshould be identified: investments and works to removesuchobstacles • Higher rate of resourcesutilization in a given area can be achievedthrough a reducedutilization of resources in areasshowinglowerneeds: promote the technological connection amongdifferentirrigationdistricts so as to increase the overallflexibility of the irrigationsystem • Cropsystems: propose differentcultivations or differentirrigationsystems in areas with soilhavinglow water capacity (AWC) • Cropsystems and new irrigatedareas: cost/benefits assessment for new areas to be served by irrigation: • works or investments for irrigation are feasible? • differentirrigationtechniques to be considered • areas with soil with low AWC: whichcrops, whichirrigationtechnique?

  12. Water Governance Increasing efficiency - 6 Promote the cooperation and information exchangeamongAuthoritiesinvolved in water management Coordinate the decisions and the irrigation water management of differentareas so as to take advantage of the flexibilitymargins Coordinationamong the differentfinalusers management: industrial, civil and irrigation CoordinationamongAuthorities/stakeholders on future works/investments and plans: whereefficiencyshould be retrieved?

  13. The point of view of the experts Interview with Ing. Stefano Bongiovanni, Director of the Association of landreclamation and irrigationconsortia FVG Irrigation techniques (SP vs. SU) Irrigation techniques and soil AWC Connections among districts Connections among Basins/Reservoirs EFFECTIVENESS (0 – 10) Water losses and net maintenance works Land use: which cultivations and crops Water pricing system ICT based on water balance at district level ICT and water balance inform. for farmers ICT and whole network water flow control FEASIBILITY (0 – 5) Advisory service for farmers Coordination among planners Remove obst. and critical points in the system

  14. Transferability of the solutions • Experiences or solutionspursued in a certainregioncannot be simplyexported to another • Keep in mind: differentrules, differentorganization and differences in land use and cropssystem • Some general remarks can be applied: • increase the systemefficiencythroughflexibilitymaximization • effect of the existingplans on water management optimisation • ICT potentialin water management for irrigationpurposes • coordinationamongwater management authorities • increase the farmersawarenesson the cost of water and the marginal • utility of the irrigationinterventions • role of farm advisoryservices

  15. Thank you for your attention

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