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With growing water scarcity in many parts of the world and projections that indicate the need to increase agricultural production and, concurrently, agricultural water use, it is increasingly advocated to focus efforts on improving agricultural water productivity and efficiency-and thus achieve more crop per drop. Many international organizations concerned with water management are also promoting these efforts, and significant public and private investments are being made in both developed and developing countries. Yet some serious problems are associated with this approach. They include conceptual issues, the methods used for measuring agricultural water productivity and efficiency, and the application of these concepts and methods in different contexts-all of which influence the choice of interventions and the evaluation of their implementation. The report aims to shed further light on these issues: first, by clarifying some of the underlying concepts in the discussion of agricultural water productivity and efficiency; second, by reviewing and analyzing the available methods for assessing water productivity and efficiency, including single-factor productivity measures, total factor productivity indices, frontier methods, and deductive methods; and, third, by discussing their application and relevance in different contexts. As a background for this analysis, the report highlights the central role of water use in irrigated agriculture and its link with increasing water scarcity. An underlying framework of the analysis is the view of the water economy transitioning from an expansionary to a mature phase. The report further develops this framework to reflect water management issues in irrigated agriculture. The framework is then applied to make the case that, with increasing water scarcity, the ongoing efforts for improving agricultural water productivity and efficiency need to move beyond crop per drop approaches, because they are in many circumstances an insufficient and sometimes counterproductive attempt to adapt agricultural water management to a maturing water economy.

Adaptation Measures --- Crop Per Drop --- Deductive Methods --- Frontier Methods --- Irrigated Agriculture --- Irrigation Efficiency --- Maturing Water Economy --- Productivity --- Single-Factor Productivity --- Water Conservation --- Water Productivity --- Water Scarcity

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Water Footprint Assessment is a young research field that considers how freshwater use, scarcity, and pollution relate to consumption, production, and trade patterns. This book presents a wide range of studies within this new field. It is argued that collective and coordinated action - at different scale levels and along all stages of commodity supply chains - is necessary to bring about more sustainable, efficient, and equitable water use. The presented studies range from farm to catchment and country level, and show how different actors along the supply chain of final commodities can contribute to more sustainable water use in the chain.

effective rain --- cabbage --- urban area --- water footprint benchmarks --- value addition --- threshold --- Haihe River Basin --- land footprint --- irrigation intensity --- environmental sustainability --- water resources --- virtual water trade --- land use change --- blue water footprint --- embedded resource accounting --- multi-level governance --- soil type --- cattle --- crop water demand --- lettuce --- modelling --- sustainability --- water scarcity footprint --- water scarcity --- green water availability --- root water uptake --- water footprint --- water productivity --- South Africa --- economic land productivity --- crop trade --- Amazon --- Cerrado --- wheat-bread --- international trade --- life cycle analysis --- broccoli --- value chain --- oil palm (Eleasis guineensis) --- crop choice --- water accounting --- retail --- Malawi --- river basin management --- Steenkoppies Aquifer --- carrots --- consumers --- wheat --- silk --- soybean --- water footprint assessment --- CSR --- sericulture --- food self-sufficiency --- water management --- water footprint accounting --- packhouse --- economic water productivities --- groundwater --- consumption --- Central Europe --- maize --- beetroot --- economic water productivity --- Mato Grosso --- regulation --- food security --- water saving --- crop ages

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International Water Scarcity and Variability considers international water management challenges created by water scarcity and environmental change. Although media coverage and some scholars tend to cast natural resource shortages as leading inexorably toward armed conflict and war, Shlomi Dinar and Ariel Dinar demonstrate that there are many examples of and mechanisms for more peaceful dispute resolution regarding natural resources, even in the face of water paucity and climate change. The authors base these arguments on both global empirical analyses and case studies. Using numerous examples that focus on North America, Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East, this book considers strategies and incentives that help lessen conflict and motivate cooperation under scarcity and increased variability of water resources.

Water-supply --- Water security --- Security, Water --- Human security --- International cooperation. --- Social aspects. --- International cooperation --- Social aspects --- E-books --- armed conflict. --- case studies. --- central asia. --- climate change. --- climatology. --- conflict resolution. --- cooperation. --- ecology. --- environmental changes. --- europe. --- global warming. --- globalization. --- government and governing. --- international water management. --- media coverage. --- middle east. --- natural resource shortages. --- natural resources. --- north america. --- peaceful dispute resolution. --- political boundaries. --- political. --- war. --- water paucity. --- water resources. --- water scarcity. --- water variability. --- water.

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This paper assesses the impact of water supply variability on treaty cooperation between international bilateral river basin riparian states. Climate change is anticipated to change the variability of water supply, as well as its expected magnitude. Previous studies have focused mainly on water scarcity, measured in terms of mean precipitation or per capita water availability in the country, as a trigger for conflict or cooperation. The water variability measure used here captures both annual runoff variability and precipitation variability over periods of 30 and 100 years. The analysis used economic and international relations data to identify incentives for international cooperation in addressing water supply variability. The authors find that small-to-moderate increases in variability create an impetus for cooperation, although large increases in variability would reduce incentives for treaty cooperation. Stronger diplomatic and trade relations support cooperation, while uneven economic power inhibits cooperation. Various measures of democracy/governance suggest different impacts on cooperation across the basin riparians. The findings have policy implications in the context of preparedness for impacts of climate change on the water sector.

Allocation agreements --- Arid areas --- Climate change --- Climatic conditions --- Common Property Resource Development --- Drought Management --- Flow Regimes --- Hydrologic cycle --- Hydrological cycle --- Quality of water --- Riparian countries --- Riparian States --- River Basin --- River basins --- Rivers --- Rural Development --- Town Water Supply and Sanitation --- Water allocation --- Water and Industry --- Water availability --- Water resource --- Water Resources --- Water scarcity --- Water sector --- Water Supply --- Water Supply and Sanitation --- Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions

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This Special Issue opens a new field of research in certain emerging innovative instruments, because it provides an in-depth revision of the main aspects of institutions and instruments available for the management and governance of droughts and water scarcity. The key aspects that institutions may tackle not only include the increasing water scarcity in many regions around the world but also the increasing frequency and impact of droughts on economic and natural systems. Some of the included papers analyze critical issues, such as the state and future trends of water markets; the estimation of transaction costs when dealing with drought management; and the use of new instruments, such as insurance and water-rights entitlements, which include water security, water-pricing effects on the whole basin level, and intra- and inter-sectorial re-allocation. The important issues regarding non-conventional water supply and the governance of the new resources also feature as the focus of some of the contributions.

Technology: general issues --- Baiyangdian Lake --- Landsat --- complex water extraction --- SMDPSO --- dynamic changes --- drought risk --- water supply risk --- irrigation insurance --- water use --- Spain --- drought --- water markets --- Western US --- hydro-economic modelling --- water policy --- climate change --- river basin management --- water scarcity --- water supply --- risk reduction --- risk curves --- cost-benefit analysis --- water management --- water rights --- water supply reliability --- irrigation agriculture --- allocation rules --- priority rights --- Po River Basin --- institutional economics --- climate change adaptation --- cost of adaptation --- water pricing --- water-use efficiency --- economic model --- inter-sectoral --- river basin --- good water practices --- tourist accommodation --- tourist --- Mediterranean --- water reuse --- reclaimed water --- SWOT analysis --- cluster analysis --- n/a