Integrated assessment of policy interventions for promoting sustainable irrigation in semi-arid environments: a hydro-economic modeling approach

The paper presents a hydro-economic model linking farm-based economics with hydrologic simulation to evaluate sustainable irrigation in Spain's Middle Guadiana basin. It finds that current excessive water use threatens the European Water Framework Directive's goal of 'good ecological status' by 2015, particularly during summer low-flow periods. While the Guadiana River Basin Management Plan may improve water productivity, it may not fully ensure required environmental flows, and securing these flows would likely reduce the viability of upstream small-scale rice farms.

• Current irrigation water use patterns in the Middle Guadiana basin may prevent the achievement of the European Water Framework Directive's (WFD) goal to restore 'good ecological status' for water bodies by 2015, with conflicts between agricultural and environmental needs peaking during summer low-flow periods.
• Ensuring minimum environmental stream flows would require a significant decrease in water used for rice cultivation, potentially undermining the economic viability and profitability of small upstream rice farms.
• The proposed Guadiana River Basin Management Plan (GRBMP) may help balance water demands and improve economic water productivity, but it might not be enough to guarantee the environmental flows mandated by the WFD.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2013). Integrated assessment of policy interventions for promoting sustainable irrigation in semi-arid environments: a hydro-economic modeling approach. https://www.sei.org/publications/integrated-assessment-of-policy-interventions-for-promoting-sustainable-irrigation-in-semi-arid-environments-a-hydro-economic-modeling-approach/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Integrated assessment of policy interventions for promoting sustainable irrigation in semi-arid environments: a hydro-economic modeling approach. 2013. https://www.sei.org/publications/integrated-assessment-of-policy-interventions-for-promoting-sustainable-irrigation-in-semi-arid-environments-a-hydro-economic-modeling-approach/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Integrated assessment of policy interventions for promoting sustainable irrigation in semi-arid environments: a hydro-economic modeling approach |date=11 June 2013 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/integrated-assessment-of-policy-interventions-for-promoting-sustainable-irrigation-in-semi-arid-environments-a-hydro-economic-modeling-approach/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2013integrated, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Integrated assessment of policy interventions for promoting sustainable irrigation in semi-arid environments: a hydro-economic modeling approach}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2013}, month = jun, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/integrated-assessment-of-policy-interventions-for-promoting-sustainable-irrigation-in-semi-arid-environments-a-hydro-economic-modeling-approach/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }