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Quantifying the Poorly Known Role of Groundwater in Agriculture: the Case of Cyprus

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Abstract

Agriculture in the Mediterranean region is constrained by limited water resources and in many countries irrigation demand exceeds the renewable water supply. This paper presents a comprehensive approach to (a) quantify the consumptive green (soil moisture provided by precipitation) and blue (irrigation) water use for crop production, (b) distinguish the contribution of groundwater to irrigation supply and (c) estimate groundwater over-abstraction. A spatiotemporally explicit soil water balance model, based on the FAO-56 dual crop coefficient approach, which includes the computation of evaporation losses of the different irrigation systems, was applied to the 5,760-km2 area of the Republic of Cyprus for the agro-meteorological years 1995–2009. The model uses national agricultural statistics, community-level data from the agricultural census and daily data from 34 meteorological stations and 70 precipitation gauges. Groundwater over-abstraction is quantified per groundwater body, based on the sustainable abstraction rates specified in the Cyprus River Basin Management Plan, as prepared for the EU Water Framework Directive. It was found that, on average, total agricultural water use was 506 Mm3/year, of which 62 % is attributed to green water use and 38 % to blue water use. Groundwater contributed, on average, 81 % (151 Mm3/year) to blue water use and exceeded the recommended abstraction rates by 45 % (47 Mm3/year). Even though the irrigated area decreased by 18 % during the 2008 drought year, relative to the wettest year (2003), total blue water use decreased by only 1 %. The limited surface water supply during the driest year resulted in a 37 % increase in groundwater use, relative to the wettest year, and exceeded the sustainable abstraction rate by 53 % (55 Mm3/year). Overall, the model provides objective and quantitative outcomes that can potentially contribute to the improvement of water resource management in Mediterranean environments, in the light of climate change and expected policy reforms.

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Acknowledgments

The research reported was funded by the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation under the programme “DESMI 2009-2010” (project number ΚΟΥΛΤΟΥΡΑ/ΒΕΝΣ/0609/02). We would like to thank the staff of the Cyprus Meteorological Service, Geological Survey, Department of Agriculture and Water Development Department for providing us with the necessary data for this study. The authors extend their gratitude to the editors and anonymous reviewer, for their valuable comments on the initial version of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Cyprus University of Technology, P.O. Box 50329, 3603, Limassol, Cyprus

    Christos Zoumides & Theodoros Zachariadis

  2. Energy, Environment and Water Research Center, The Cyprus Institute, P.O. Box 27456, Nicosia, 1645, Cyprus

    Adriana Bruggeman

  3. Cyprus Meteorological Service, Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment, 1418, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Stelios Pashiardis

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  1. Christos Zoumides
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  2. Adriana Bruggeman
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  3. Theodoros Zachariadis
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  4. Stelios Pashiardis
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Correspondence to Christos Zoumides.

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Zoumides, C., Bruggeman, A., Zachariadis, T. et al. Quantifying the Poorly Known Role of Groundwater in Agriculture: the Case of Cyprus. Water Resour Manage 27, 2501–2514 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-013-0299-y

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