Irrigation-Induced Changes in Evapotranspiration Demand of Awati Irrigation District, Northwest China: Weakening the Effects of Water Saving?

Songjun Han, Di Xu and Zhiyong Yang
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Songjun Han: State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China
Di Xu: State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China
Zhiyong Yang: State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China

Sustainability, 2017, vol. 9, issue 9, 1-12

Abstract: The evapotranspiration demand of the Awati irrigation district has changed with irrigation development since 1980. During the first period of traditional irrigation expansion from 1980 to 1997, reference crop evapotranspiration ( ET 0 ) decreased as irrigation intensity increased. Since the second period of water-saving irrigation extension began in 1998, the gross irrigation quota has decreased as the water use efficiency improved, whereas ET 0 has been increasing accordingly. The increasing evapotranspiration demand has enlarged the irrigation water requirement per unit area, which partly weakens the effects of water-saving irrigation. Findings show that irrigation-induced changes in evapotranspiration demand should be considered when evaluating the performance of water-saving technologies in irrigation districts in arid areas.

Keywords: irrigation efficiency; evapotranspiration demand; water-saving irrigation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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