SUSTAINABLE WATER MANAGEMENT

The goal of this task is to address the improvement of agricultural practices by tackling water management, and by testing some technical improvements to traditional water harvesting techniques, in order to assess the impacts on water retention in soil. To do so, the DPSIR (Driver–Pressures–State–Impact–Response) model has been applied in several case study areas of the project countries to determine the hydrological balance of the regime, as well as the potential pollution sources (such as nitrate concentration in soil). Eventually, the described method will clarify the current state-of-the-art impacts of the agriculture sector on water quality and quantity as well as integrate the analysis of economic, environmental, and social impacts in a specific area, where water deficiency is becoming a major constraint for economic welfare and sustainable regional development. In addition, traditional water harvesting methods are being tested. Sites in the rain-fed regions where soil water harvesting techniques and structures are realized (e.g. terracing, ridges, pits, bunds, contour plowing, tie-ridging) have been mapped and characterized for soil and hydrological conditions. Based on the results of the investigation, cost-effective and easily adoptable modifications of the traditional water harvesting technique have been proposed and are currently being realized, in order to increase soil water retention and augment the possibility of bridging dry spells.