Effects of marginal water for irrigation on
quality of soil and water resources
GLOWA – Jordan River
1Institute of Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences, A.R.O. – Volcani Center, Israel. 2Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences,
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. 3Extension Service, The Ministry of Agriculture, Israel
S. Assouline1, M. Ben-Hur1; Y. Chen2; E. Graber1, G. Levy1, D. Russo1, J. Tarchitzky3
Expected effects of climate change in
Eastern-Mediterranean regions:
!Increase in the frequency of high intensity
rainfall;
!Decrease in the mean annual rainfall;
!Changes in the seasonal distribution of
rainfall;
!Increase in temperature and evaporation.
Some resulting effects on land and
water management:
!Greater demand on limited water resources;
!Increased irrigation with marginal water;
!Increased runoff, erosion, and pollutants
transport;
!Reduced groundwater recharge;
!Increased salt and pollutant
concentrations in soil and groundwater.
In Israel, freshwater resources are limited and
practically fully exploited, such that irrigation
with marginal water,
especially
treated
wastewater, is inevitable. By the year 2020,
wastewater will constitute 60% of irrigation
water. Therefore, the effects of marginal water
use for irrigation on soil and water resources
are direct consequences of global climate
change in the region.
Some of the effects of global climate change on
soil and water resources are illustrated below.
The effect of rainfall intensity on runoff, soil
loss and solute transport
The effect of long-term irrigation with
treated wastewater on soil properties
The effect of long-term irrigation with treated
wastewater on solute concentrations in the
soil profile (National Wastewater Irrigation
Survey - Extension Service).
0-10
10-30
0.60
0.64
0.68
0.72
0.76
0.80
Stability ratio
Soil depth (cm)
Fresh water
Reused water
The effect of treated wastewater for
irrigation on transport of pollutants in the
soil profile.
Runoff quality from irrigated field