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Book (series)High-profileGuidance on realizing real water savings with crop water productivity interventions 2021
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No results found.This technical document contains clear and practical guidelines on how to implement real water savings in agriculture through interventions for enhancing crop water productivity. A distinction is made between real water savings and “apparent” water savings. Apparent water savings record reductions in water withdrawals but do not account for changes in water consumption. Real water savings record reductions in water consumption and non-recoverable return flows (runoff or percolation). This guidance document emphasizes the paradox of water savings at field and basin scales, which usually do not translate into increased water availability for other users, as is commonly believed. -
Book (stand-alone)Manual / guideREWAS - REal WAter Savings tool 2025
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No results found.Water shortages in the Asia-Pacific region critically impact food security, as irrigated agriculture accounts for nearly 90 percent of freshwater withdrawals. The lack of reliable freshwater for irrigation directly affects farmer productivity and incomes. Traditionally, efforts to save water in agriculture have focused on improving irrigation techniques (e.g. drip irrigation, sprinklers). However, evidence shows that while these methods reduce water withdrawals, they often lead to increased water consumption at a larger scale. Instead of focusing solely on field-level water savings, it is crucial to consider water availability for other sectors, which is known as "real water savings."To bridge this gap, the REal WAter Savings (REWAS) tool was developed. It provides a practical approach for evaluating the larger-scale impacts of field-level crop-watering interventions. Based on FAO's principles of water accounting and productivity, the REWAS tool emphasizes the reuse of drainage, runoff, and groundwater percolation by downstream users rather than viewing them as losses.This document explains the concepts underlying the REWAS tool and provides examples of its successful application in various contexts. It also offers guidelines for assessing the basin-scale water savings of field experiments. By applying these concepts, stakeholders and decision-makers can better manage agricultural water systems at a broader scale, leading to real water savings across regions. -
No Thumbnail AvailableBook (stand-alone)ProceedingsIrrigation scheduling: From theory to practice. Proceedings 1996
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Book (stand-alone)Technical studyReuse of water in agricultural systems
Follow the Water
2025Also available in:
No results found.Many irrigation technologies labelled as potentially "water saving" actually often fail to deliver expected water savings and can even increase water use by farmers, benefiting crop production but failing to effectively reallocate water. A key reason is the common oversight of return flows and water reuse in irrigation systems. This guidance document investigates water reuse rates in irrigation systems, compiling a database from a literature review that finds a lack of data, information and understanding of water reuse. To better assess and manage these flows, the document introduces the Follow the Water approach, which was developed to track water movement within and between irrigation systems and blocks. The accompanying Follow the Water tool offers a practical method for initial analysis of intervention impacts and serves as a valuable resource for training and education. The study’s main recommendation is to apply the Follow the Water approach when planning irrigation technology interventions, ensuring a more accurate understanding of water dynamics and avoiding unintended increases in consumption. This shift in assessment can support more realistic and effective strategies for achieving water savings in agriculture. -
Book (series)High-profileGuidance on realizing real water savings with crop water productivity interventions 2021
Also available in:
No results found.This technical document contains clear and practical guidelines on how to implement real water savings in agriculture through interventions for enhancing crop water productivity. A distinction is made between real water savings and “apparent” water savings. Apparent water savings record reductions in water withdrawals but do not account for changes in water consumption. Real water savings record reductions in water consumption and non-recoverable return flows (runoff or percolation). This guidance document emphasizes the paradox of water savings at field and basin scales, which usually do not translate into increased water availability for other users, as is commonly believed. -
Book (stand-alone)High-profileWaPOR database methodology
Version 2 release, April 2020
2020Also available in:
No results found.The FAO portal to monitor Water Productivity through Open Access of Remotely sensed derived data (WaPOR) provides, as of today, access to 11 years of continued observations over Africa and the Near East. The portal provides open access to various spatial data layers related to land and water use for agricultural production and allows for direct data queries, time series analyses, area statistics and data download of key variables to estimate water and land productivity gaps in irrigated and rain fed agriculture. WaPOR Version 2 was launched in June 2019 based on extensive internal and external validation and quality assessment. This document describes the methodology used to produce Version 2 of the data at the 250m (Level 1), 100m (Level 2) and 30m (Level 3) resolution distributed through the WaPOR portal. -
Book (stand-alone)Technical studyReuse of water in agricultural systems
Follow the Water
2025Also available in:
No results found.Many irrigation technologies labelled as potentially "water saving" actually often fail to deliver expected water savings and can even increase water use by farmers, benefiting crop production but failing to effectively reallocate water. A key reason is the common oversight of return flows and water reuse in irrigation systems. This guidance document investigates water reuse rates in irrigation systems, compiling a database from a literature review that finds a lack of data, information and understanding of water reuse. To better assess and manage these flows, the document introduces the Follow the Water approach, which was developed to track water movement within and between irrigation systems and blocks. The accompanying Follow the Water tool offers a practical method for initial analysis of intervention impacts and serves as a valuable resource for training and education. The study’s main recommendation is to apply the Follow the Water approach when planning irrigation technology interventions, ensuring a more accurate understanding of water dynamics and avoiding unintended increases in consumption. This shift in assessment can support more realistic and effective strategies for achieving water savings in agriculture. -
Book (series)High-profileGuidance on realizing real water savings with crop water productivity interventions 2021
Also available in:
No results found.This technical document contains clear and practical guidelines on how to implement real water savings in agriculture through interventions for enhancing crop water productivity. A distinction is made between real water savings and “apparent” water savings. Apparent water savings record reductions in water withdrawals but do not account for changes in water consumption. Real water savings record reductions in water consumption and non-recoverable return flows (runoff or percolation). This guidance document emphasizes the paradox of water savings at field and basin scales, which usually do not translate into increased water availability for other users, as is commonly believed. -
Book (stand-alone)High-profileWaPOR database methodology
Version 2 release, April 2020
2020Also available in:
No results found.The FAO portal to monitor Water Productivity through Open Access of Remotely sensed derived data (WaPOR) provides, as of today, access to 11 years of continued observations over Africa and the Near East. The portal provides open access to various spatial data layers related to land and water use for agricultural production and allows for direct data queries, time series analyses, area statistics and data download of key variables to estimate water and land productivity gaps in irrigated and rain fed agriculture. WaPOR Version 2 was launched in June 2019 based on extensive internal and external validation and quality assessment. This document describes the methodology used to produce Version 2 of the data at the 250m (Level 1), 100m (Level 2) and 30m (Level 3) resolution distributed through the WaPOR portal.