Desire for Greener Land

Transp T port of ffreshw
water frrom
loc cal
stream s s
Greece G - Μεταφφορά
γλυκού αππό
γειτονικά αρ ρδευτικά κανάλια
(Greek)
Freshwater
traansport
from local stream ms for irrigatioon
purposes, , in order to
re eplace the traaditional
formm
of irrigation (by pumpingg
saline groun ndwater from
wells). w
In n low-lying reggions
sufferingg
from overuse
of the grouund
water for irrigation and
se eawater intrusiion,
pumping ggroundwater
is detrimental annd
results in so oil degradation
(s salinization) annd
reduced plannt
growth. For this reason, freeshwater
is tra ansported over
di istances of up to 500 m (or more) from surface
streams, , for irrigation using u water of
be etter quality. Inn
this way, overrexploitation
of f the aquifer is being reduced.
The
pumps trannsfer
water fromm
canals or st treams for irriggation
purposes s. A pumping
st tation (10HP), pipes (PP-R, Ø 1100mm) for r water transpoort
and diesel or
electricity for
pu ump operationn
are the majoor
items neede ed to replace ggroundwater
with w freshwater
irr rigation. Howevver,
annual maaintenance
of the
pump and nnetwork
is nece essary.
Above left: Irrigation
canal that brings
freshwater too
arable land (P Photo: Vasileioss
Diamantis)
Above right: : Electric wate er pump that prrovides
irrigation wateer
directly from m canal (Photo: :
Alexandros PPechtelidis)
The
majority off
families livinng
in the rese earch area maake
their living g mostly from
ag gricultural activvities
but alsoo
from livestoc ck. Croplands are dominantl ly irrigated by
wells w (groundwater)
and onlyy
those which are close to streams are irrigated with Location: Prrefecture
of Xanthi
freshwater.
Owiing
to over-pumping
of the aquifer a in ordeer
to irrigate th he crop fields, Region: East stern Macedonia
and Thrace
th here has beenn
seawater intrusion
over th he past years. As a result, irrigation with Technology area: 9.59 km m
gr roundwater ledd
to saline soilss.
The group affected a by thiss
process comp prises farmers Conservatioon
measure: m
who w are now beeginning
to understand
the extent e of the desertification
problem p in the Stage of inteervention:
pre
ar rea. The degraadation
processs
significantly affects a the quality
of life of the e local people. degradation
Saline
soils leadd
to low produuctivity
and thu us to lower incoomes
(causing g poverty) and Origin: expeeriments
- recen
th hus an increasse
in social unnrest.
Although h the farmers aare
totally awa are of the on- Land use: crropland
go oing degradation
problem that
affects their r fields and theeir
livelihoods, they seem to Climate: semmi-arid,
temper
be e unwilling to cchange
the waay
they irrigate e their fields (wwith
groundwate er) as long as WOCAT dataabase
referen
th hey do not haave
an alternative
source of f irrigation succh
as freshwater
from local cdewocat.uniibe.ch/wocatQT
st treams. The lacck
of informatioon
about how the t salt-affecteed
fields can be e restored also DESIRE site e information:
makes m the farmers
believe thaat
this situation is permanent and will extend d over a wider his.eu/en/nesstos-river-delta
ar rea.
Related apprroach:
Comba
(QA GRE05)
Compiled byy:
John Gkioug
University of Thrace, Greec
Date: 28th Nov
2008 updat
2
management
vention of landd
nt (