During 2008 the world witnessed a global food crisis which caused social unrest in many countries and drove 75 million more people into poverty. The crisis resulted from sharply higher oil prices, increased bio-fuel production, dwindling grain stocks, market speculation, changing food consumption patterns in emerging economies, and changes in world trade agreements, among other factors. Although the rise in food prices was sudden, the fragility of global food security had been developing for years.

The purpose of this work is to contribute to the development of a combined approach to evaluate irrigated areas based on: (1) irrigation performance analysis intended to assess the productive impacts of irrigation practices and infrastructures, and (2) water accounting focused on the hydrological impacts of water use. Ador-Simulation, a combined model that simulates irrigation, water delivery, and crop growth and production was applied in a surface irrigated area (1213ha) located in the Bear River Irrigation Project, Utah, U.S.A..

1. The progression of approaches in systematic conservation planning from representation to representation and persistence has greatly enhanced its potential applicability to freshwaters. However, conceptual frameworks that consolidate principles for incorporating persistence into freshwater conservation planning are still lacking. 2.

Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZ) are employed as compulsory instruments to meet standards on EU water quality. Farmers operating in NVZs face a number of restrictions on agricultural activity and a greater requirement for record keeping in relation to timing and quantities of nitrogen inputs used. This paper presents results of a survey into the attitudes and values of farmers within the designated Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) in Scotland. A typology based on perceptions towards water quality management was developed using factor and cluster analysis techniques.

We describe the results of a survey of farmers’ perceptions of and satisfaction with the performance of watershed development activities on socioeconomic, agriculture and livestock, and environmental attributes. We administered a questionnaire to 120 farmers randomly interviewed in the Morni Hill area of the Siwalik Himalayas in India. Our results show that the farmers have considerable knowledge about the implementation of watershed development activities and their impact on the economy, agriculture and the environment.

Trans-boundary water agreements are usually conceived as allocation agreements. In other words, water is treated as if it were a pie to be divided among the riparian states. The treatment of water as if it were as immobile as land may be useful in the short term, but it is fundamentally flawed as a means to avoid conflict as well as to ensure efficient, equitable, and sustainable management of water over the long term.

Climate change, food crises and deterioration of the environment create immense challenges in water management. In the Netherlands land subsidence, high population density and intensity of land use aggravate these problems. Increased awareness of these problems and civil society's participation in the discussions complicate these challenges. The Netherlands' Government Service for Land and Water Management (DLG), an organisation specialising in integrated land development, has tackled these problems at a regional/local scale.

This article presents a model to help explain the transition path from one water management system to another, typically a commons framework to one of tradable permit‐based property rights. Furthermore, drawing from transaction cost literature, the model demonstrates how this takes place when externalities (the strain on water resources) become severe enough to warrant the increased transaction costs inherent with more complex water rights management frameworks.

Hydrological processes within riparian environments worldwide are impacted when introduced species invade. Monitoring and management at substantial expense, are subsequently required to combat deleterious effects on the environment and stream hydrology. Willow species (Salicaceae: Salix spp.) introduced into Australia have spread throughout many riparian systems causing adverse environmental impacts, with high rates of water extraction when located within stream beds (in‐stream willows) thus altering hydrology.

The goal of this paper is to illustrate how INSPIRE can facilitate orientation and advice to calculate the water requirements of crops. These technologies can provide information adapted to specific conditions, updated daily and in an interactive way. These tools permit the integration and management of georeferenced agroclimatic data, soil maps, quality of waters, crop information and technical parameters of a farm.

The concept of nature as capital is gaining visibility in policies and practices in both the public and private sectors. This change is due to an improved ability to assess and value ecosystem services, as well as to a growing recognition of the potential of an ecosystem services approach to make tradeoffs in decision making more transparent, inform efficient use of resources, enhance resilience and sustainability, and avoid unintended negative consequences of policy actions.