IRENA Indicator Fact Sheet IRENA 10 - Water use intensity

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1 Indicator Definition Water use intensity by agriculture is indicated by the area and type of crops grown with the aid of full or supplementary irrigation. Indicator links Input Indicator Links: None Output Indicator Links: IRENA 22 - Groundwater abstraction (P), IRENA 31 - Groundwater levels (S) and IRENA Share of agriculture in water use (I) Key message From 1990 to 2000 the cultivated area of main crops irrigated at least once a year in France, Greece and Spain increased from 4.9 mio ha to 6.0 mio ha, representing an increase of 23.1%. The area of irrigated grain maize increased by 0.3 mio ha between 1990 and 2000, mainly in France and Spain. In France, Greece and Spain the area equipped for irrigation increased by 28.8% compared with a 14.5% increase across the EU-15. Figure 1. Trend in total irrigable area for France, Greece and Spain compared with the EU-15 A). Trend in area irrigated at least once a year for France, Greece and Spain for different crops B) mio ha mio ha Total irrigable area (EU-15) Total irrigable area (France, Greece and Spain) Other crops irrigated Durum wheat, potatoes, sunflowers, soya and vines Sugar beet Citrus fruit Fodder plants Fruit and berries Grain maize Note: Member States report regularly Farm Structure Survey (FSS) results to Eurostat. With regard to irrigation Member States are obliged to report data in three categories: 1. Total irrigable area (area covered with irrigation infrastructure), (Figure 1A); 2. Total cultivated area irrigated at least once a year (actual irrigated area), (Figure 1B); 3. Cultivated area of 10 main crops irrigated at least once a year (Figure 1B). Source: FSS 1990, 1993, 1995 and 1997 and 2000 as reported by Member States (categories: I/03 (a) and (b). German data derive from FAOSTAT concerning Total irrigable area. 1

2 Results and assessment Introduction Agriculture is an essential driving force in the management of water use. From the economic point of view, agriculture accounts for 2.3 % of the GDP in the EU but can increase to more than 10 % in some Mediterranean countries. New production methods and irrigation play an important role in the development of the agriculture sector, but improvements in agricultural productivity often put a great pressure on natural resources. That is the case of the water use for irrigation especially during dry periods. At the regional level this indicator shows the importance of the agricultural sector in terms of water use. An increase of irrigated area in a country or region could imply an increase of water use for agriculture, unless appropriate responses to that trend help keeping water resources at sustainable levels. Specific impacts may derive from irrigation such as aquifer exhaustion, increased erosion of cultivated soils, salinisation or contamination of groundwater by minerals and dessication of wetlands with the consequent destruction of natural habitats. The driving forces behind irrigation water use are: Farmers crop selection - examples of water intensive crops are potatoes in northern Europe and cotton, grain maize, rice, and fruit in southern Europe; Area of agricultural land installed with irrigation equipment (irrigable land) implies that the infrastructure is there to deliver water to the farm; Innovations in irrigation technology; Irrigation investment costs and water prices. Policy relevance and context: The main policy objectives at EU level in relation to water use and water stress are set out in the 6 th EAP and the Water Framework Directive: To ensure the rates of extraction from our water resources are sustainable over the long term 1 and to promote sustainable water use based on a long-term protection of available water resources; 2 To ensure a balance between abstraction and recharge of groundwater, with the aim of achieving good groundwater status by 2015; 3 National, regional and local authorities need, amongst other things, to introduce measures to improve the efficiency of water use and to encourage changes in agricultural practices necessary to protect water resources (and quality); 4 EU Member States shall ensure by 2010 that water-pricing policies provide adequate incentives for users to use water resources efficiently, and thereby contribute to the environmental objectives of the Water Framework Directive. 5 Agri-environmental context The total area equipped for irrigation (Total irrigable area) in EU-15 accounts for 14.1mio ha (2000), (Figure 1) but there are great variations from region to region and between countries, depending above all on the climate of the region. In Southern European countries, full irrigation is an essential element in many types of agricultural production. In Central and Northern European countries, supplementary irrigation is generally used to improve production in dry summers, 1 6 EAP 5.6 Ensuring the Sustainable Use and High Quality of Our Water Resources (p.45-46) [1] 2 Water Framework Directive (WFD) Article 1 [2] 3 WFD Article 4 [2] 4 WFD Article 9 indent 2 [2] 5 WFD Article 9 indent 1 [2] 2

3 especially when the dry period occurs at a sensitive crop growth stage. Installing irrigation equipment represents a major capital outlay for farmers, and farmers will expect to recover irrigation equipment investments by achieving higher returns, either by increased yields or by being able to produce higher value crops. The price of water is an important running cost that the farmer will have to take into account when considering whether to invest in irrigation. Improvements in irrigation technology have improved water application efficiencies, and therefore reduced the gross water consumption rates per hectare. Sprinkler irrigation is predominant in France and Greece while gravity irrigation is still predominant in Spain, Portugal and Italy. There is a tendency to substitute these traditional systems of low water use efficiency with sprinklers and drip irrigation systems. Drip irrigation tends to concentrate in areas, which grow high value crops or are dominated by large farms, due to the high cost of these systems. In France, Greece and Spain together, the total irrigated land is 7.4 mio ha (2000) and accounts for 53 % of the total area equipped for irrigation in EU-15. Water availability problems occur when the demand for water exceeds the amount available during a certain period. They occur frequently in areas with low rainfall and high population density, and in areas with intensive agricultural or industrial activity. Apart from causing problems providing water to users, over-exploitation of water has lead to the drying-out of natural areas in western and southern Europe, and to salt-water intrusion in coastal aquifers. 6 Improvements in agricultural productivity have often put a great pressure on natural resources. Irrigation is the major use of water in agriculture, especially during dry periods. The main types of environmental water impact arising from irrigation are considered to be: Water pollution from nutrients and pesticides due to increased run-off; Damage to habitats and aquifer exhaustion by abstraction of irrigation water; Salinisation, or contamination of water by minerals, of groundwater sources; Ecological effects of large scale water transfers, associated with irrigation projects. 7 Assessment The increase in irrigation area and the increase in agricultural area installed with irrigation equipment indicate that the water use by agriculture has increased during the period Increased water use by agriculture has put pressure on water resources; especially in southern Europe where a much greater efficiency of water use by agriculture is needed to prevent seasonal water shortages. An added factor to consider is that current climate change scenarios predict a reduction of rainfall in southern Europe and an increase of temperatures in central and northern Europe. Both predictions will increase the demand for irrigation in the future. During the 1990s the total irrigable area increased steadily (see Figure 1A and Table 1A) but in the last years this trend is less pronounced with the exception of France, which has had one of the highest increases in its area equipped for irrigation. This increase is because of changes in crop cultivation (approximately 40% of the land irrigated at least once a year is now used for growing grain maize). This trend is evident in particular in the southwestern regions of France. Italy has the highest irrigated area 3.9 mio ha (2000) of irrigated land concentrated mostly in the northern regions (see Figure 2). Spain follows with 3.5 mio ha (2000), concentrated mostly in the South Eastern region of the country where water for irrigation competes with other economic sectors such as tourism. 6 EEA Europe s Environment. The Dobris Assessment [3] 7 IEEP The Environmental Impacts of Irrigation in the European Union [4] 3

4 Figure 2. Regional map of the area of cultivated grain maize (2000) and the area of irrigated grain maize in France, Greece, Italy and Spain (2000) Source: FSS 2000 as reported by Member States (categories: I/03 (b) and D/06). The CORINE Land Cover is used to assess the spatial distribution of permanently irrigated land and rice fields within administrative areas (Figure 3). The major irrigation schemes are located close to major sources of surface water (rivers and/or reservoirs). The geo-referencing of high levels of water use by agriculture is important in assessing the environmental impact of irrigation on other resources. The substantial expansion of the irrigated area in France and Spain has been influenced by policy measures supporting the provision of irrigation infrastructure and providing credit and grants to farmers installing irrigation equipment, as well as guaranteeing low water prices for agriculture. One additional reason for the increase in irrigated grain maize area, in particular, is the higher arable area payments per ha for irrigated crops introduced in the 1992 CAP reform. The total irrigable area in EU-15 nearly increased by 15% during the period The irrigable area has increased significantly from 1990 to 2000 in Belgium, France, Greece, and Spain. However, as appears from Table 4, the irrigable area per UAA in Belgium is only limited. For the same period of time the irrigable area has not increased significantly in Finland, Germany and Italy. The largest decrease in irrigable area is observed in the Netherlands and Portugal. According to the agricultural census, irrigation does not occur in Ireland and Luxembourg. Nevertheless, these country level figures do not reflect the importance of the irrigation in some 4

5 regions, where new patterns in agriculture can lead to an increase of water use. In the UK, for example, irrigation is concentrated in the driest part of the country (South East and East Anglia) where the change in irrigation with the introduction crops such as sunflowers and soya increases water use. In Austria irrigation is mostly concentrated in the northern lowlands, where sugar beet is the most intensive crop and takes most of the water for irrigation. Irrigation may also increase in Wachau region. In the Netherlands, intensive agriculture in some areas of the Polders uses irrigation from groundwater supplies, which has led to salinisation problems. Figure 3. Spatial distributions of permanently irrigated land and rice fields detected by remote sensing (CORINE Land Cover) and aggregated to administrative boundaries (NUTS 3) In South Eastern Spain there is a structural deficit of water and the land under irrigation is stable or decreasing - the National Hydrological Plan proposes different water transfer schemes to address the water deficit. 8 In Portugal, the almost constant area of 0.8 mio ha equipped for irrigation will increase in the future as a consequence of new irrigation projects (Alqueva, Odeleite-Beliche and Odelouca- Fucho) which are designed to address water shortages in the south. The Alqueva project, to be finished in 2024 has a strong irrigation component expanding the current area of irrigated land by some ha. In Greece, irrigation has expanded in the early 1990s, because of the use of irrigation methods for cotton cultivation, grain maize, sugar beet and wine. The Acheloos River Diversion Project aims to irrigate ha in the plains of Thessalia. Salinisation is an issue in the Argolid plain of eastern Peloponnesus; groundwater has almost been exhausted and is contaminated by seawater intrusion. If the agricultural irrigation area would continue to expand at the same rate as shown during the last ten years the pressure on water resources in southern Europe is likely to become unsustainable, leading to the over-exploitation of aquifers and more water shortages. Significant investment in water use efficiency is required to mitigate the effect of the expanding irrigation area. The introduction of water rates and water metering systems would also ensure appropriate incentives to farmers to adopt more efficient irrigation practices/technologies. 8 National Hydrological Plan, Ley 10/2001, 5 July [5] 5

6 Subindicator - Change in total irrigable area per UAA Some areas may be facing unsustainable trends, especially in southern Europe where much improved efficiency of water use, especially in agriculture, is needed to prevent seasonal water shortages. Figure 4: Total irrigable area/utilised Agricultural Area (%) in % 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% GR IT NL PT DK ES EU-15 FR SE FI AT DE BE UK IE LU Note: All Member States report regularly Farm Structure Survey (FSS) results to Eurostat in accordance with EU legislation. However, no FSS data is available concerning Germany. FAOSTAT data is used instead. For Austria, Finland and Sweden the change presented is not but Source: FSS as reported by Member States (categories: I/03 (a)). Assessment for the sub-indicator The percentage of total irrigable area per UAA is increasing or stable from in most Member States, apart from the Netherlands and Portugal. The largest increase in irrigable area per UAA is observed in Greece, France, Italy and Spain. In 2000 the utilised agricultural area that is irrigable varies from 1.7 % in United Kingdom to 37.0 % in Greece. References [1] Parliament and Council of the European Union (2002), Decision No 1600/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 July 2002 laying down the Sixth Community Environment Action Programme. OJ L 242/1-15. CEC, Brussels. [2] Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000, establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy [Official Journal L 327, ], amended by the following Act: Decision No 2455/2001/EC of the European Parliament and the Council, of 20 November 2001 [Official Journal L 331, ] [3] EEA Europe s Environment. The Dobris Report. D. Stanners and P. Bourdeau (Ed). Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. European Environment Agency, Copenhagen. [4] IEEP The Environmental Impacts of Irrigation in the European Union. A report to the Environment Directorate of the European Commission by the Institute for European 6

7 Enviornmental Policy, London in Association with the Polytechnical University of Madrid and the University of Athens. [5] National Hydrological Plan of Spain Data Spreadsheet files Main indicator:.xls Subindicator:.xls Table 1A. Statistical information on total irrigable area summarised at the national level for the years 1990,1993,1995, 1997 and 2000 Total irrigable area (mio ha) Change Austria : : % Belgium % Denmark % Finland : : % France % Germany % Greece % Ireland % Italy % Luxembourg % Netherlands % Portugal % Spain % Sweden : : % United Kingdom % EU-15 (EU-12) % Note: For Austria, Finland and Sweden the change presented is not but The data for Italy in 1995 is taken from 1993 and for United Kingdom the 2000 data is taken from 1997 in order to avoid artefacts. Source: Farm Structure Survey. German data derived from FAOSTAT Table 1B. Statistical information on total irrigable area and areas irrigated at least once a year in France, Greece and Spain during 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997 and Irrigation (mio ha) Change Aggregated data for France, Greece and Spain Total irrigable area (France, Greece and Spain) % Area irrigated at least once a year % Area of main crops irrigated at least once a year Grain maize % Fruit and berries % Fodder plants % Citrus fruits % Sugar-beet % 7

8 Durum wheat, potatoes, sunflowers, soya and vines % Other crops irrigated % Note: The category Other crops irrigated is the difference in area between the ten crops in the survey and the Area irrigated at least once a year Source: Farm Structure Survey Table 2. Cultivated area of grain maize (ha) aggregated to Member State level in year 2000 AT BE DK 0 DE GR ES FI 0 FR IE 0 IT LU 500 NL PT SE 0 UK 0 EU Table 3.1. The area of permanently irrigated land and rice fields detected by remote sensing (CORINE Land Cover) aggregated to Member States ( ). Member States Irrigated area and rice fields (mio ha) Greece Spain France Portugal Italy Total Table 3.2. The NUTS areas where the total area of permanently irrigated land and rice fields detected by remote sensing (CORINE Land Cover) is greater than ha ( ). NUTS CODE NUTS REGION Irrigated area and rice fields (ha) GR14 Thessalia ES618 Sevilla ES62 Murcia ES241 Huesca GR12 Kentriki Makedonia ES243 Zaragoza IT911 Foggia GR11 Anatoliki Makedonia, Thraki

9 ES421 Albacete ES413 León ES422 Ciudad Real ES431 Badajoz Table 4. Total irrigable area/utilised Agricultural Area (%) in , aggregated to Member State level Greece 30.9% 34.9% 34.5% 36.5% 37.0% Italy 25.8% 24.8% 18.4% 24.5% 29.5% Netherlands 37.5% 19.9% 16.5% 17.5% 24.6% Portugal 21.9% 21.1% 20.3% 20.9% 20.5% Denmark 15.3% 16.6% 17.6% 17.7% 16.9% Spain 10.4% 11.2% 11.5% 12.8% 13.3% EU-15 (EU-12) 10.3% 10.4% 9.2% 10.6% 11.1% France 7.4% 8.6% 8.9% 9.5% 9.5% Sweden : : 4.0% 4.0% 4.4% Finland : : 4.0% 3.9% 4.0% Austria : : 2.8% 2.8% 2.8% Germany 2.8% 2.8% 2.8% 2.8% 2.8% Belgium 1.3% 1.6% 1.6% 2.5% 2.3% United Kingdom 1.0% 0.7% 0.8% 1.7% 1.7% Ireland 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Luxembourg 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Meta data Technical information 1. Data source: Data collection from Farm Structure Survey (FSS), (Eurostat), categories: I/03 (a) and (b) and D/06 2. Description of data: Regarding FSS classes I/03 (a) + (b) all Member States are obliged to report data in three categories: 1) Total irrigable area (area covered with irrigation infrastructure), 2) Total cultivated area irrigated at least once a year (actual irrigated area) and 3) cultivated area of 10 main crops irrigated at least once a year, which are: Durum wheat, grain maize, potatoes, sugar beet, sunflower, soya, fodder plants, fruit and berries, citrus fruit and vines. All Member States apart from Germany have reported data in category 1. The German data derive from FAOSTAT for this category. Concerning category 2 and 3, France, Greece and Spain were the only countries to report for the entire period Only the top 5 of the most irrigated crops are shown individually in Figure 1B. The other five crops are grouped (durum wheat, potatoes, sunflowers, soya and vines). The category in Figure 1B called Other crops irrigated is the difference between categories 2 and 3 and is crops that the FSS does not monitor and report for. All member States have reported data for the FSS class D/06 (grain maize), Figure 2. However, no grain maize is cultivated in Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Sweden and United Kingdom. 3. Geographical coverage: Category 1; EU-15 (minus Germany). Category 2 and 3; France, Greece and Spain. 4. Temporal coverage: Most recent year: Temporal development Methodology and frequency of data collection: Data collection through the FSS every third year. 9

10 6. Methodology of data manipulation: Category 1; all Member States except Germany have delivered data so no aggregation was necessary. German data available from FAOSTAT. Category 2 and 3; as France, Greece and Spain were the only countries to report continuously raw data has been aggregated for these three countries. Quality information 7. Strength and weakness (at data level): Data in category 2 and 3 is available for three countries (France, Greece and Spain) which together accounts for more than half of the equipped irrigated area. This gives a good indication of the EU-15 trend. On the other hand the weakness is the large data gaps concerning category 2 and Reliability, accuracy, robustness and uncertainty (at data level): Data from the FSS is regarded as being reliable and robust. 9. Overall scoring (give 1 to 3 points: 1=no major problems, 3=major reservations): Relevancy: 1 Accuracy: 1 Comparability over time: 2 Comparability over space: 2 10