Agricultural water demand assessment using the SIMETAW# model

Water scarcity is nowadays one of main world issues, and because of the climate change projections, it will be more important in future. The first step is to compute how much water crops need relative to climate conditions, in order to estimate the depth of storage water required to satisfy future agricultural water demand. In this study, starting from the computation of the regional map of reference evapotranspiration (ETo) zones from climate station data points, the impact of climate changes on crop irrigation requirement in Sardinia was estimated. The SIMETAW# model was used to quantify the actual and future irrigation requirement for some economically important crops for the region, considering an integrated approach that accounts for soil, crop management, and irrigation system data. The model provided detailed information about the crop water demand by the ETo zones. This approach presented possible adaptation strategies and demonstrated a sustainable way for water savings, improving irrigation management, and water productivity.