Irrigation efficiency and water policy implications for river basin resilience

This research paper examines how irrigation efficiency and water savings can lead to unintended consequences—categorized as paradoxes—that may impair river basin resilience and negatively impact ecological flows and non-irrigation water uses.

• The pursuit of irrigation efficiency can lead to three types of paradoxes: the efficiency paradox, where tighter water cycling increases resource use; the scale paradox, where efficiency aggravates scarcity and resource quality deterioration without policies to limit the expansion of irrigated areas; and the sectoral paradox, where declining ecological flows and salinity affect urban supply, energy generation, and estuarine ecosystems.
• Short-term mitigation of water scarcity and salinity in the lower reaches of basins may be achieved through increased surface water storage capacity or groundwater pumping.

APA

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (2025). Irrigation efficiency and water policy implications for river basin resilience. https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/irrigation-efficiency-and-water-policy-implications-for-river-basin-resilience/

Chicago

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. Irrigation efficiency and water policy implications for river basin resilience. 2025. https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/irrigation-efficiency-and-water-policy-implications-for-river-basin-resilience/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |title=Irrigation efficiency and water policy implications for river basin resilience |date=16 January 2025 |url=https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/irrigation-efficiency-and-water-policy-implications-for-river-basin-resilience/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{interamericaninstituteforglobalchangeresearch2025irrigation, author = {{Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}}, title = {{Irrigation efficiency and water policy implications for river basin resilience}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, year = {2025}, month = jan, url = {https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/irrigation-efficiency-and-water-policy-implications-for-river-basin-resilience/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }