Using SWAT for Strategic Planning of Basin Scale Irrigation Control Policies: a Case Study from a Humid Region in Northern Germany

The eco-hydrological model SWAT is used worldwide for simulating hydrology and water quality of agricultural catchments. One of the main water uses is irrigation, predominantly in arid and semi-arid regions. Climate impact simulations show that a future increase of irrigation demand can be expected...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water resources management 2016-07, Vol.30 (9), p.3285-3298
Main Authors: Maier, N., Dietrich, J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural production
Agricultural watersheds
Agriculture
Arid zones
Atmospheric Sciences
Case studies
Catchments
Civil Engineering
Climate
Climate change
Computer simulation
Crop yield
Crops
Demand
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Environment
Farms
Freshwater
Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences
Hydrogeology
Hydrologic models
Hydrology
Hydrology/Water Resources
Irrigation
Irrigation water
Land use
Plant growth
Precipitation
River catchments
Semiarid lands
Simulation
Soil moisture
Statistical analysis
Strategic planning
Strategy
Water consumption
Water demand
Water quality
Water resources management
Water saving
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Summary:The eco-hydrological model SWAT is used worldwide for simulating hydrology and water quality of agricultural catchments. One of the main water uses is irrigation, predominantly in arid and semi-arid regions. Climate impact simulations show that a future increase of irrigation demand can be expected for humid regions. Options for adaptation include the improvement of irrigation techniques and the modification of crop patterns. In our study we investigate the application of SWAT for the development of water saving irrigation control strategies in a humid river catchment in Northern Germany. We developed different scenarios using both soil moisture deficit control and plant water demand control. The results show plausible changes of irrigation amounts when changing the trigger points of both control methods. By deficit control strategies, the water consumption could be reduced with only a moderate decrease of crop yield. Differences between soil characteristics were well shown in the SWAT simulations, but the model consistently overestimated irrigation values. Furthermore we found a high variability of the model errors between the different years, even if the long term average values are considered acceptable. Future research is needed to improve the model accuracy in automatic irrigation control.
ISSN:0920-4741
1573-1650
DOI:10.1007/s11269-016-1348-0