Abstract
Assessing sustainability of the wine industry requires improved characterization of its environmental impacts, namely in terms of water use. Therefore, quantification of water inputs and wastewater (WW) outputs is needed to highlight inefficiencies in wine production and related consequences for the environment. Water use and WW generation in irrigated viticulture and oenology remains insufficiently quantified for dry Mediterranean regions (e.g.South Portugal). This paper is focused on wine production under warm and dry climate conditions in the winegrowing region of Alentejo (South Portugal). This region experiences increasingly dry conditions, while the irrigated area keeps expanding, which puts exacerbates the pressure on existing local and regional water resources. Additionally, more erratic variation in climate conditions and the tendency for increasingly extreme climate events (e.g.heat waves) pose more challenges to Alentejo’s wine sector. We conclude that quantitative information on water use and management is not always easy to obtain or access, which hinders improved strategies and/or policies for water use at farm, winery and region-level. Up-to-date statistics and robust metrics can help to better characterize water use and WW flows for Alentejo’s wine region, while optimizing management in vineyards and wineries, in companies and region-wide. The paper is focused on a “Farm-Winery” scenario, which is the most common in South Portugal’s wine sector
Highlights
A avaliação da sustentabilidade da indústria vitivinícola requer uma caracterização detalhada do seu impacto ambiental, nomeadamente ao nível do factor água
Water use and WW generation in irrigated viticulture and oenology remains insufficiently quantified for dry Mediterranean regions (e.g. South Portugal)
This paper is focused on wine production under warm and dry climate conditions in the winegrowing region of Alentejo (South Portugal)
Summary
Assessing sustainability of the wine industry requires improved characterization of its environmental impacts, namely in terms of water use. This paper is focused on wine production under warm and dry climate conditions in the winegrowing region of Alentejo (South Portugal). This region experiences increasingly dry conditions, while the irrigated area keeps expanding, which puts exacerbates the pressure on existing local and regional water resources. Concluímos que a informação quantitativa relativa ao uso e gestão de água não está sempre facilmente disponível, limitando a otimização de estratégias e/ou políticas para o uso da água ao nível da vinha, da adega e da região. Dados atualizados e indicadores robustos podem ajudar a caracterizar melhor o uso de água e a geração de água residual na região vitivinícola do Alentejo, otimizando a gestão na vinha e na adega, ao nível da empresa e da região. Palavras-chave: Escassez de água, métricas de água, reutilização de águas residuais, uso sustentável da água, viticultura regada
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have