On efficiency, the sustainable use of water resources and land management

Abstract

In this paper we use the concept of irrigation efficiency in order to reflect on the use of water by agriculture and its implications for territorial management. To that end, we analyse the technical and managerial reasons that could lead to a low level of irrigation efficiency, its implications for the quantity and quality of water flowing through natural channels and, above all, the sustainability of irrigationbased agriculture in a specific territory from the hydrologic, environmental and economic points of view.