Climate change, irrigation and hydropower

The study finds that the combined impact of climate change and expanded irrigation will generally reduce river runoff, with the most significant negative impact on hydropower production occurring in the Kizilirmak basin. While reservoirs in the Devoll basin improve water availability during low flow periods, reservoirs in the Kizilirmak basin increase water losses through evaporative surfaces and by enabling larger irrigation withdrawals.

• The combined impact of climate change and expanded irrigation withdrawals is expected to reduce overall river runoff, with the most severe reductions occurring in the Kizilirmak basin, thereby limiting water available for hydropower.
• Reservoirs in the Kizilirmak basin increase water losses by facilitating larger irrigation withdrawals and increasing evaporation from surfaces; specifically, irrigation losses are 2 to 4 times higher than gross evaporation losses from the reservoirs.
• In the Devoll basin, reservoirs enhance water availability for hydropower during low flow periods, and current upstream irrigation poses a low risk to downstream power producers.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2016). Climate change, irrigation and hydropower. https://www.sei.org/publications/climate-change-irrigation-hydropower/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Climate change, irrigation and hydropower. 2016. https://www.sei.org/publications/climate-change-irrigation-hydropower/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Climate change, irrigation and hydropower |date=16 March 2016 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/climate-change-irrigation-hydropower/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2016climate, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Climate change, irrigation and hydropower}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2016}, month = mar, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/climate-change-irrigation-hydropower/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }