Water Resources Management in Coastal Areas Under Climate Change and Irrigation and Fertilization Scenarios

Aikaterini Lyra (), Athanasios Loukas and Pantelis Sidiropoulos
Additional contact information
Aikaterini Lyra: University of Thessaly
Athanasios Loukas: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Pantelis Sidiropoulos: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), 2025, vol. 39, issue 10, No 20, 5119-5134

Abstract: Abstract The study aims to analyze the effects of climate change, irrigation and nitrogen fertilization practices and water reserve strategies, on water resources, aimed at nitrogen use efficiency, groundwater nitrate pollution, groundwater budget, and seawater intrusion. Intensive groundwater abstraction for irrigation and nitrogen fertilization has led to a substantial water deficit, rising nitrate pollution, and seawater intrusion in the Almyros aquifer system. The analysis employs an Integrated Modelling System (IMS) to simulate coastal water resources, incorporating models for surface hydrology (UTHBAL), reservoir operations (UTHRL), groundwater hydrology (MODFLOW), nitrate leaching/crop growth (REPIC), nitrate pollution (MT3DMS), and seawater intrusion (SEAWAT) to capture the complex interactions between climate, hydrology, and agricultural practices. Climate projections for Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 (RCP 8.5) from the Med-CORDEX (Mediterranean Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment) database for precipitation and temperature are bias-corrected with Empirical Quantile Mapping and used to estimate the effects of climate change. Irrigation scenarios, including base irrigation and deficit irrigation, as well as reduced nitrogen fertilization, are evaluated to determine their effects on water resources management and sustainability. The study’s results highlight a significant decline in water availability across climate models, with reduced runoff and groundwater recharge projected for the Almyros Basin. Increasing nitrate concentrations and chloride levels suggest worsening water quality, posing risks of seawater intrusion and nutrient pollution. The Nitrogen Use Efficiency index (NUE) improves under reduced nitrogen fertilization, supporting more efficient nutrient use and reducing excess nitrogen losses. The findings highlight critical water quality and quantity challenges, aligning mainly with Sustainable Development Goal 6, and following SDGs 9, 12, and 13 by promoting efficient resource use, pollution reduction, and climate resilience, guiding adaptation strategies for mitigating water scarcity under climate change.

Keywords: Integrated modelling system; Climate change; Water resources; Groundwater recharge; Nitrate concentrations; Reservoir management; Seawater intrusion; MODFLOW; SEAWAT; SDGs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11269-025-04197-4 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:waterr:v:39:y:2025:i:10:d:10.1007_s11269-025-04197-4

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/11269

DOI: 10.1007/s11269-025-04197-4

Access Statistics for this article

Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA) is currently edited by G. Tsakiris

More articles in Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA) from Springer, European Water Resources Association (EWRA)
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().