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Book (series)Guidance 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)Crop water productivity options to achieve real water savings
Training manual
2025Also available in:
No results found.Water scarcity continues to grow in many Asian countries as the gap between water demand and supply is projected to increase due to population growth, economic development, land degradation and climate change. The agricultural sector is the largest user of freshwater, and within this, irrigation is the largest consumer. Solutions to reverse water scarcity should focus irrigated agriculture, but many improved irrigation techniques to save water for other uses (such as domestic use and the environment) often actually increase water use at the basin level. This training manual provides a review of water saving technologies and examines the concept of understanding real water savings versus local savings. In this training manual, readers will learn how to use the REWAS and WEAP software tools to estimate real water savings and water productivity at both the irrigation system scale and the basin scale, respectively. -
Book (stand-alone)REWAS - 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.
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