This study examines how environmental issues have been addressed in the water sector in Brazil, within the context of activities of the Federal Government, generally, and those implemented under Bank sector operations, in particular. The core focus of the study lies in the management of water quality, as it affects both the users of raw water, and those who are primarily concerned with the disposal of wastewater. The report considers the following three sectoral areas concomitantly - water resources management, water supply and sanitation, and, the environment - thus limiting its review, and focus to those themes which are key to the over-arching issue of water quality. Water resources management in the country relied upon heavy investments in medium, and large scale projects that provided basic infrastructure for water uses. However, these have produced questionable impacts in terms of reducing poverty, and inequality. One of the reasons for this, has been the poor infrastructure management, which despite its importance, has been largely underestimated. While improvements in the utilization of existing infrastructure in the water sector remain critical, it needs to be complemented by incentives to both service providers, and water users. Moreover, low economic, environmental, and social returns from investments in the water sector, reflect the tendency to distract attention from the objectives in the design, and implementation of projects. Thus, an assessment of water quality goals is required, which should be based on systematic evaluations of the costs, and benefits of reaching alternative standards, and explicit social objectives.

Gift

Gift | Summary (Es)

En la actualidad un gran número de familias de agricultores de norpatagonia se encuentran condicionadas por las dificultades de acceso al agua, ya sea como fuente de abastecimiento para consumo de los animales o riego, como así también para el consumo familiar. Esta situación la encontramos incluso donde existe disponibilidad de cursos de agua, pero por encontrarse en zonas marginales al sistema de riego y distribución de energía, no es posible utilizar la gravedad o extraerla mecánicamente. Frente a esta problemática y ante la demanda de alternativas se trabaja en el desarrollo de prototipos de “bombas de río”: una tecnología que permite elevar el agua desde un cauce haciendo uso de su propia energía cinética. Si bien su origen es muy antiguo estas bombas no han sido tan estudiadas y difundidas como otros sistemas de bombeo en base a fuentes renovables de energía complementarios a éste como los molinos de viento y las bombas de ariete. Se ensayaron una variedad de prototipos funcionales en diferentes cursos de agua de norpatagonia: sobre el Río Negro, sobre un canal secundario de riego en Senillosa; sobre el Río Limay, en los canales principal, secundario y terciario del sistema de riego de la zona de China Muerta y en un canal derivado del Río Colorado en Catriel. Durante las pruebas se verificó el funcionamiento de los prototipos y se estudiaron los caudales erogados, la elevación y la velocidad de giro en relación a la velocidad del curso de agua. El desarrollo de la tecnología se planificó como una experiencia adaptativa mediante ensayos iterativos y corrección sobre los prototipos. En el presente trabajo se exponen los resultados de la construcción de bombas de río siguiendo las experiencias precedentes y los aprendizajes en base al intercambio entre técnicos y productores sobre la elección de materiales, criterios de dimensionamiento, uso y mantenimiento y las dificultades encontradas en el proceso de desarrollo y difusión. | Investigación y Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Agricultura Familiar Región Patagonia | Fil: Zanovello, Lucas. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Investigación y Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Agricultura Familiar Región Patagonia; Argentina | Fil: Guiñazu Micames, Maira Soledad. Instituto Nacional Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Investigación y Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Agricultura Familiar Región Patagonia; Argentina | Fil: Gómez, Daniel. Secretaría de Agricultura Familiar delegación Neuquén; Argentina | Fil: Girolimini, Fabricio. Secretaría de Agricultura Familiar delegación Neuquén; Argentina | Fil: Calcagni, Horacio. Secretaría de Agricultura Familiar delegación Neuquén; Argentina | Fil: Sheridan, Miguel Mariano. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Alto Valle. Agencia de Extensión Rural Cipolletti; Argentina

Many environmental dilemmas such as water scarcity originate from human behavior. This study aimed to analyze Iranian farmers’ water conservation behavior using Bandura’s social-cognitive theory. To this end, a cross-sectional survey was conducted to collect the required data. The research instrument was a questionnaire. A sample of 380 farmers was selected using a multistage stratified random sampling method. The results indicated that variables of social-cognitive theory could predict about 73% of farmers’ water conservation behavior variance. Investigation of direct effects of factors on farmers’ water conservation behavior revealed that the major determinants are as follows: intention of water conservation, social-structural factors, perception of others’ behavior, outcome expectancy, self-efficacy, and water conservation co-regulation. Findings showed that factors that have been mentioned in social-cognitive theory could be considered for enhancing farmers’ water conservation behaviors since the theory provides a more realistic insight into farmers’ behaviors with an emphasis on farmers’ social and structural contexts.

Groundwater resources in semi-arid areas and especially in the Mediterranean face a growing demand for irrigated agriculture and, to a lesser extent, for domestic uses. Consequently, groundwater reserves are affected and water-table drops are widely observed. This leads to strong constraints on groundwater access for farmers, while managers worry about the future evolution of the water resources. A common problem for building proper groundwater management plans is the difficulty in assessing individual groundwater withdrawals at regional scale. Predicting future trends of these groundwater withdrawals is even more challenging. The basic question is how to assess the water budget variables and their evolution when they are deeply linked to human activities, themselves driven by countless factors (access to natural resources, public policies, market, etc.). This study provides some possible answers by focusing on the assessment of groundwater withdrawals for irrigated agriculture at three sites in North Africa (Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria). Efforts were made to understand the different features that influence irrigation practices, and an adaptive user-oriented methodology was used to monitor groundwater withdrawals. For each site, different key factors affecting the regional groundwater abstraction and its past evolution were identified by involving farmers’ knowledge. Factors such as farmer access to land and groundwater or development of public infrastructures (electrical distribution network) are crucial to decode the results of well inventories and assess the regional groundwater abstraction and its future trend. This leads one to look with caution at the number of wells cited in the literature, which could be oversimplified.

Extraction of groundwater for onion and other cash crop production has been increasing rapidly during the last two decades in the dry zone areas of Sri Lanka. As a result of overuse, the quantity of available groundwater is gradually declining, while water quality is deteriorating. The deteriorating water quality has a negative impact on agricultural production, especially for crops (such as onions) that are sensitive to increases in salinity levels. This issue is examined with respect to onion production in Sri Lanka. A stochastic frontier production function (SFPF) is used, in which technical efficiency and the determinants of inefficiencies are estimated simultaneously. The results show that farmers are overusing groundwater in their onion cultivation, which has resulted in decreasing yields. Factors contributing to inefficiency in production are also identified. The results have important policy implications.

Overexploitation of groundwater resources in Sana’a Basin, Yemen, is causing severe water shortages associated water quality degradation. Groundwater abstraction is five times higher than natural recharge and the water-level decline is about 4–8 m/year. About 90 % of the groundwater resource is used for agricultural activities. The situation is further aggravated by the absence of a proper water-management approach for the Basin. Water scarcity in the Wadi As-Ssirr catchment, the study area, is the most severe and this area has the highest well density (average 6.8 wells/km²) compared with other wadi catchments. A local scheme of groundwater abstraction redistribution is proposed, involving the retirement of a substantial number of wells. The scheme encourages participation of the local community via collective actions to reduce the groundwater overexploitation, and ultimately leads to a locally acceptable, manageable groundwater abstraction pattern. The proposed method suggests using 587 wells rather than 1,359, thus reducing the well density to 2.9 wells/km². Three scenarios are suggested, involving different reductions to the well yields and/or the number of pumping hours for both dry and wet seasons. The third scenario is selected as a first trial for the communities to action; the resulting predicted reduction, by 2,371,999 m³, is about 6 % of the estimated annual demand. Initially, the groundwater abstraction volume should not be changed significantly until there are protective measures in place, such as improved irrigation efficiency, with the aim of increasing the income of farmers and reducing water use.