Evaluation of water-use in traditional irrigation: An application to the Lemos Valley irrigation district, northwest of Spain

The approval of the National Irrigation Plan (NIP) in Spain in 2001 accelerated the improvement and modernisation of the irrigated areas. The first step towards the implementation of performance of the actions envisaged in the plan is to analyse water-use in traditional irrigation. Moreover, the social impacts of irrigation on rural areas must be evaluated, and the common irrigation practices must be determined. This paper presents the results of a study conducted in the Lemos Valley irrigation district (NW of Spain). Irrigation evaluations were conducted in nine trial sites, representing the existing soil types. A sample of irrigation users were interviewed to gather information about water-use, land tenure and irrigation socioeconomics. This irrigation district is characterised by low water-use efficiency, significant losses in the distribution network, fragmented land ownership and a poor use of the available infrastructure. Yet, water availability and an important distribution network render the modernisation of this traditional irrigated land a challenging task that must be faced.