Water is a nutrient of extreme importance for animals and must be considered vital in any rearing phase. The increasing scarcity of this precious natural resource has concerned different segments of society in order to find solutions for rational and sustainable use of this nutrient. Small ruminants, especially sheep and goats, have social and economic importance due to their great ability in adapting to adverse environmental conditions and using water efficiently. Thus, they might be a good alternative to mitigate the climate change effects and to generate foreign exchange and improving life condition in many places of the world. The concept of water productivity for livestock production is relatively new and there are few studies in the world, especially in Brazil. More researches and new technologies for water use in livestock production are indispensable.<br>A água é um nutriente extremamente importante na vida dos animais e deve ser considerada como vital em qualquer fase da criação. A escassez crescente deste precioso recurso natural tem provocado reações de diferentes segmentos da sociedade na busca de soluções de uso racional e sustentável deste nutriente. Os pequenos ruminantes, especialmente os ovinos e caprinos, são partes importantes da vida econômica e social de muitas nações pela sua ampla capacidade de adaptação às condições adversas do ambiente e boa eficiência no uso da água, podendo ser uma das boas alternativas de mitigação dos efeitos das mudanças climáticas, gerando divisas e melhoria das condições de vida em muitas regiões do mundo. O conceito de produtividade de água para a produção animal é relativamente novo e ainda são recentes e escassos os estudos existentes no mundo e em particular no Brasil. A realização de mais pesquisas e a geração de novas tecnologias de uso da água na produção animal, hoje mais do que nunca tornam-se imprescindíveis.

This publication provides guidance to water-sector decision makers and planners on how to deal with the quality dimension of groundwater resources management in the World Bank's client countries. There is growing evidence of increasing pollution threats to groundwater and some well-documented cases of irreversible damage to important aquifers. This guide has been produced in the belief that groundwater pollution hazard assessment must become an essential part of environmental best practice for water supply utilities. The guide is particularly relevant for the World Bank's Latin American and Caribbean Region, where many countries have initiated major changes to modernize their institutional and legal framework for water resources management, but may not yet have considered groundwater at the same level as surface water, because of lack of awareness and knowledge of groundwater issues and policy options.

Fil: Hämmerly, Rosana del Carmen. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Hídricas; Argentina. | Se propone mejorar las estimaciones de evapotranspiración a partir de la modelación que tiene en cuenta métodos de balance de agua y disponer de herramientas de cálculo eficientes y confiables que permitan una mejor determinación de disponibilidades y pérdidas de agua con fines hidrológicos y agronómicos. Para ello se plantea introducir el uso de métodos modernos de estimación de evapotranspiración, investigar la influencia que tienen sobre estos métodos la disposición y consistencia de datos de entrada y validar con datos de campo las estimaciones que se obtienen de los modelos. Para lograr los objetivos, se utilizaron el Modelo de Jaworski y el Modelo Balver, aplicados a parcelas experimentales situadas dentro del predio de la Estación Experimental Agropecuaria INTA Marcos Juárez en la provincia de Córdoba. A partir de las investigaciones realizadas se concluye la necesidad de incorporar un módulo de escurrimiento en el Modelo de Jaworski para subsanar la sobreestimación de la evapotranspiración y de humedad del suelo. Por su parte el Modelo Balver si bien requiere mayor información del sistema suelo-vegetación, analiza más detalladamente el recorrido del agua dentro del suelo y realiza un balance más elaborado De acuerdo a los resultados obtenidos, los Modelos de Jaworski y Balver se consideran aptos para su utilización, y de acuerdo a la información disponible se seleccionará el más conveniente de utilizar, decisión que también depende de los objetivos planteados y del grado de detalle que se requiera. | It intends to improve evapotranspiration estimates from the modeling that takes into account water balance methods and computational tools have efficient and reliable to allow a better determination of water availability and loss of hydrological and agricultural purposes. So, modern methods are used to estimate the evapotranspiration and the influence that the available information and their consistency have upon these methods are researched too. The results obtained have been validate with field data. To achieve the objectives, we used the Jaworski Model and the Balver Model applied to experimental parcels located within the premises of the Agricultural Experimental Station INTA Marcos Juárez in the province of Cordoba. From this research it is concluded about the need to incorporate in the Jaworski`s Model a runoff module to correct the overestimation of evapotranspiration and soil moisture. For its part, the Balver`s Model while requiring more information on the soil-vegetation system, discussed in more detail the flow of water into the soil and makes a more elaborate balance. According to the results, both models are considered suitable for use, and according to the information available will select the most convenient to use, a decision that also depends on the objectives and the degree of detail required.

Mestrado em Engenharia Agronómica - Hortofruticultura e Viticultura - Instituto Superior de Agronomia | The irrigation management of golf courses has recently become of great importance, mainly in water scarcity conditions. This is due to the increase of water demand in urban areas. The choice of the turf grass is essential for the reduction of water consumption. The main focus of this study is the evaluation of the irrigation systems used in a golf course, located at Oeiras, and the assessment of irrigation water requirements and scheduling strategies to obtain a healthy turf grass. Field assessments provided for the evaluation of the sprinkler irrigation systems, and respective uniformity was estimated. Results have shown that three test areas were classified as uniform, and two other were classified as having sufficient uniformity. The soil water content in different locations was observed under various irrigation schedules: a daily irrigation for C3 grass, and four different schedules for C4 grass: irrigation frequencies of 1, 2, 3 and 4 times per week. The equipment used for measurements of the soil water content was the Delta-T Profile Probe (PR1). These observations allowed the calibration and validation of WinISAREG model and the consequent estimation of crop coefficients and soil water depletion fractions for no-stress relative to both grass types. The landscape net irrigation requirements were calculated through soil water balance simulations, adopting the actual irrigation schedules and soil water content. These irrigation requirements were estimated with the combination of reference evapotranspiration (ETO) with the landscape coefficient parameterized from the crop coefficients derived with the WinISAREG model as referred above. It was observed that the visual quality of the turf grass was affected in C4 grasses when the irrigation frequency decreased below 4 irrigations per week, but the quality of the grass for playing was not affected. The visual quality and conditions for playing of C3 grasses were not affected during the study period. This application to a specific golf course may be extended to other areas using modeling; it also may be concluded that the adopted model can support the decision making on turf grass irrigation for gulf courses when water use has to be improved.-----------------------------------A gestão da rega dos campos de golfe tem-se tornado nos últimos anos de importância vital em especial quando em anos de carência hídrica. Essa importância devese ao aumento da competição pela procura de água no espaço urbano. Assim, os objectivos do presente estudo são a avaliação dos sistemas de rega utilizados num campo de golfe situado na região de Oeiras e avaliar várias estratégias de rega com vista à obtenção de relva de qualidade. Para tal realizou-se trabalho de campo para avaliar os sistemas de rega por aspersão utilizados e foram determinados os índices de uniformidade de distribuição. Observou-se a evolução da água do solo em vários locais correspondendo a um tratamento de rega diária com plantas C3, e quatro tratamentos com plantas C4 com 1, 2, 3 e 4 regas por semana. Estas observações permitiram calibrar e validar o modelo WinISAREG, determinar os coeficientes culturais e a fracção de depleção sem causar stress. As necessidades hídricas do espaço verde foram assim calculadas com base em simulações do balanço hídrico do solo, utilizando os calendários de rega e teores de água do solo observados. Estas necessidades hídricas foram calculadas combinando a evapotranspiração de referência (ETO) com o coeficiente de espaços verdes parametrizado a partir dos coeficientes culturais. Conclui-se que a rega 1 ou 2 vezes por semana é inapropriada para as C4. Esta aplicação a um campo de golfe específico pode ser estendida por modelação e o modelo agora utilizado poderá servir de apoio à gestão.

Nectar-feeding birds oscillate between avoiding overhydration when they are feeding and preventing dehydration during fasts. Here, we examined how resting rates of total evaporative water loss (TEWL) and metabolic water production (MWP) influence water balance in the green-backed firecrown (Sephanoides sephanoides), a Chilean hummingbird. We hypothesized that a circadian rhythm in TEWL would assuage the dehydration risk that hummingbirds face during the night. However, we did not find support for this idea. In resting hummingbirds, rates of TEWL during the day (54 ±6 µLh-1,n = 8) and night (65 ± 12 h-1, n = 5) were similar. Rates of MWP were also similar between the day (22 ±3 µL h-1, n = 8) and night (23 ± 2 µL h-1, n = 5). MWP rates were significantly lower than TEWL rates during both the day and night. Our findings both support the notion that hummingbirds dehydrate during extended fasts and illustrate that evaporative water loss is an important osmoregulatory consideration in hummingbirds. However, because the technique we used to estimate rates of TEWL and MWP at night was indirect, our findings should be interpreted cautiously until direct measurements are available<br>Las aves nectarívoras oscilan entre la sobrehidratación durante los períodos de alimentación y la prevención de la deshidratación durante el ayuno. Examinamos cómo las tasas de pérdida total de agua evaporativa (TEWL) y la producción de agua metabólica (MWP) durante el descanso influyen sobre el balance hídrico en el picaflor chileno (Sephanoides sephanoides). Hipotetizamos que el ritmo circadiano en la TEWL podría disminuir el riesgo de deshidratación que los picaflores enfrentan durante la noche. Sin embargo, no encontramos apoyo de esta hipótesis. En los picaflores en reposo, las tasas de TEWL durante el día (54 ± 6 µL h-1, n = 8) y la noche (65 ± 12 µL h-1, n = 5) fueron similares. Las tasas de MWP también fueron similares durante el día (22 ±3 µL h-1, n = 8) y la noche (23 ± 2 µL h-1, n = 5). Independiente del período de medición las tasas de MWP fueron significativamente menores que las tasas de TEWL. Nuestros resultados apoyan la noción de que los picaflores se deshidratan durante períodos de ayuno prolongado y además ilustran que la pérdida de agua evaporativa es una consideración osmorregulatoria importante en picaflores. Sin embargo, debido a que la técnica que utilizamos para estimar las tasas de TEWL y MWP fue indirecta, nuestros hallazgos debieran ser interpretados con precaución hasta que medidas directas estén disponibles

El balance hídrico industrial es una excelente herramienta para iniciar el proceso de mejorar el uso y reúso del agua dentro de la fábrica, ya que permite diagnosticar la situación actual de la industria y detectar los puntos donde intervenir más rápidamente para obtener una reducción en la captación de agua de fuentes externas a la fábrica. Para su implementación es necesario conocer el diagrama productivo de la fábrica en estudio y disponer de relevamientos de los circuitos de agua y efluentes. En este trabajo se desarrolló una planilla de cálculo que permitió determinar los usos de agua de cada sector del proceso fabril azucarero a través del empleo de balances de materia y energía. Como resultado se obtuvo un uso total de agua fresca ingresada o captada en el procesamiento de un ingenio azucarero de la provincia de 17,504 m³ /t caña (cabe destacar que este valor no es el consumo de la fábrica) y fueron detectados, además, aquellos puntos donde se producen los mayores usos, tales como condensadores barométricos de los sectores de evaporación y cocimientos, enfriamiento de cubas de fermentación y enfriamiento de condensadores de destilería. El resultado obtenido en la captación de agua fresca refleja que la fábrica en estudio no utilizó el recurso hídrico de manera eficiente. La herramienta mencionada facilitó, además, la aplicación de metodologías de recuperación y reutilización del agua que permitieron conducir a minimizar los caudales de captación de agua fresca hoy existentes (el caso que consideró un 57,1% de índice de reúso de flujos provenientes de los condensadores barométricos de los sectores de evaporación y cocimiento y los del enfriamiento de los condensadores del sector de destilación, condujo a reducir la captación de agua desde 16,804 a 6,804 m³ /t caña). El esquema azucarero considerado fue planteado por etapas, incluyendo la obtención de etanol y la producción de energía eléctrica para venta a la red (cogeneración). | Industrial water balance is an excellent tool to start the process of improving the use and reuse of water within the factory, since it allows diagnosing the current situation of the industry and detecting the points where to intervene more quickly to obtain a reduction in the catchment of water from sources outside the factory. For its implementation it is necessary to know the production diagram of the factory under study and to have surveys of the water and effluent circuits. In this work, a spreadsheet was developed that made it possible to determine the water uses of each sector of the sugar manufacturing process through the use of material and energy balances. As a result, a total use of fresh water entered or captured in the processing of a sugar mill in the province of 17.504 m³ /t sugarcane was obtained (it should be noted that this value is not the water factory consumption) and those points where the highest consumption uses were detected (barometric condensers of the sectors of evaporation and cooking, cooling of fermentation tanks and cooling of distillery condensers). The result obtained in the collection of fresh water reflects that the factory under study did not use the water resource efficiently. This tool also allowed the application of water recovery and reuse methodologies that allowed us to minimize the consumption of fresh water catchment flows that exist today. (the case that considered a 57.1% reuse index of flows from the barometric condensers of the evaporation and cooking sectors and those of the cooling of the condensers of the distillation sector, led to a reduction of water uptake from 16.804 to 6.804 m³ /t cane). The sugar scheme considered was proposed in stages, including obtaining ethanol and producing electricity for sale to the grid (cogeneration).

Se destaca la importancia del agua a nivel predial, desde el punto de vista del balance y el equilibrio de los recursos naturales en el planeta. Se insiste en el manejo adecuado de los bosques y demás recursos vegetales para disminuir la pérdida del agua e incrementar su retención. Se presentan datos de necesidades, de agua por parte de personas y algunos animales domésticos y se decribe el estado del agua en el suelo, las fuerzas de retención del agua en el suelo y su movimiento. Se mencionan algunos métodos de riego, sus ventajas, deventajas y los componentes básicos de un sistema de riego en lader