Practical applications of the geospatial analysis of water resources for sustainable agricultural water use are numerous. The results are important for identifying areas on regional and global level which are best suited for irrigation development in terms of water resources availability. Results are important as they help areas suffering from periodic droughts to draw governmental attention. This is important as these areas require financial investment in irrigation equipment and irrigation technologies. It helps small growers in remote hilly or karst areas to identify reliable water resources. The results define areas suitable for building small water reservoirs for accumulated surface runoff water, which can help small farm businesses with vegetable or fruit production to be water independent in the drought periods. This is especially important for the population and agriculture businesses in dry, temperate and continental climates with high seasonal differences in precipitation and evapotranspiration.
COBISS.SI-ID: 7473785
To aid the formation of the suggested areas of permanently protected agricultural land, an allocation algorithm was developed and used to establishthe irrigation water use potential of surface waters streams, reservoirs, groundwater and treated municipal wastewater, with the case study area of Slovenia. The result is a map of the irrigation water use potential, regarding the location and water source use suitability for irrigation. The map shows areas where the permanent protection of agricultural land would be either most suitable either least suitable. The appearance of the map depends on several water management aspects, i.e. water demand management, water use administration, the targeted management of water infrastructure and the development of new water sources
COBISS.SI-ID: 5856865