Evaluation of the on-site impact of water harvesting in southern Tunisia

Water harvesting techniques (WHT) play an important role in water resources conservation in (semi-) arid environments. However, the impacts of WHT are not clearly understood. This paper presents a method to measure increased water availability to olive ( Olea europeae) trees grown on the terraced ar...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of arid environments 2005-09, Vol.62 (4), p.613-630
Main Authors: Fleskens, L., Stroosnijder, L., Ouessar, M., De Graaff, J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Economic evaluation
Impact assessment
irrigation
Jessr
Olea
Olea europeae
soil
Tunisia
Water harvesting
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Water harvesting techniques (WHT) play an important role in water resources conservation in (semi-) arid environments. However, the impacts of WHT are not clearly understood. This paper presents a method to measure increased water availability to olive ( Olea europeae) trees grown on the terraced area of a traditional WHT site in southern Tunisia (jessr) and to translate these measurements into effects on yield. Although the WHT were shown to greatly enhance possibilities for olive growing, yields remain dependent on water supply (rainfall+run-on) in spring. Critical factors in the method described are the maximum available soil water capacity (ASW max), crop and yield response factors (kc, ky veg and ky fruit) and the yield consistency index (YCI). Detailed accounts are presented for the costs and benefits of jessr construction and olive production, and the WHT are evaluated using cost-benefit analysis. Difficulties and assumptions are discussed and it is concluded that on-site effects alone might not justify investing in the construction of WHT.
ISSN:0140-1963
1095-922X
DOI:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2005.01.013