GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT FOR IRRIGATED AGRICULTURE IN SOUTH-EASTERN ALGERIA BY APPROACHING CROP WATER NEEDS

Abstract

The demand for irrigation is growing and will continue to grow in the future due to increasing food demand and climate change. Data on current and future demands are essential for better management and planning of water resources use. The province of Biskra is ranked as the largest consumer of irrigation water in the cities of South East Algeria with 42% of annual consumption. Under the arid climatic conditions of this region, it is inevitable to irrigate and the majority of irrigation water comes from groundwater. The objective of our study is to evaluate the irrigation water withdrawals in the region using the agro-meteorological model CROPWAT for the 2014-2015 campaign over the entire province, and to compare them with the official data of the Directorate of Water Resources Services (DRE) and the Sahara River Basin Agency (ABHS). Our results were superior to their data and the water consumption per hectare of water was also superior to the results of the SASS (2015) but similar to the Döll (2010). With increasing withdrawals and a decrease in recharge, we could fear economic and ecological problems in a region under severe water stress.