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Timsina, J., & Weerahewa, J. (2023). Restoring ancient irrigation systems for sustainable agro-ecosystems development: Reflections on the special issue. Agricultural Systems, 209, 103668.
Abstract: Humans have relied on agriculture to feed their communities for thousands of years. Irrigation is practiced in many different forms over the years in countries all over the world. Although modern irrigation systems have been developed, and are in use in many countries, ancient irrigation systems (AISs) have also played a major role in sustaining food production, especially in smallholder farming in least developed and developing countries. The editorial team of Agricultural Systems put out a call for a special issue on restoring AISs for sustainable agro-ecosystems development to capture ancient marvels of traditional irrigation technology across the world. The objectives of this special issue were to: (i) understand and analyse the hydrological and socio-economic networks anchored by AISs; (ii) explain the nature and sustainability of management of these systems in relation to local agro-ecosystems; (iii) analyse the implications of the AISs for land, soil and water quality, and agro-ecosystem services; (iv) qualitative and quantitative analysis of AISs, including bio-physical and bio-economic modelling of these systems; and (v) assess the feasibility of alternative technological, institutional and management strategies to enhance the productivity, profitability, and environmental sustainability of the systems. The overall goal of the special issue was to develop a useful repository for this information as well as to use the journal’s international reach to share this information with the agricultural systems research community and journal readership. This paper provides reflections of papers published in the special issue. The special issue resulted in twelve high quality original research articles and one review article from Asia, Africa and Europe. The findings from various papers revealed that the AISs have been degraded due to human interventions or the anthropogenic activities across the world. Various papers emphasized that as a corrective measure, there is a need for developing and implementing rehabilitation projects in these systems. Authors identified that appropriate policy interventions by the relevant authorities would be a major step towards such rehabilitation process. However, resetting the ecosystem structure of the AISs strictly towards their historical manifestation is neither required nor feasible in the present context as it would contradict the expectations of stakeholders from these systems. The knowledge generated through the special issue provides evidence-based information on various aspects of AISs. It helps aware governments, private sectors and development agencies for improved policy planning and decision making and for prioritizing the restoration, rehabilitation, and management of various AISs around the world.
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Hayes-Rich, E., Levy, J., Hayes-Rich, N., Lightfoot, D., & Gauthier, Y. (2023). Searching for hidden waters: The effectiveness of remote sensing in assessing the distribution and status of a traditional, earthen irrigation system (khettara) in Morocco. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 51, 104175.
Abstract: This paper presents the results of a multi-year, interdisciplinary project that aimed to assess the holistic status of the khettara system in Morocco. The khettara (also known as qanat) is a traditional, earthen water management system. Historically the system was used for settlement in regions without access to reliable surface water. It is both a world and local heritage structure, found in rural and urban regions throughout 46 countries. Recent evaluations of this traditional system have advocated for its preservation and use in arid and semi-arid regions, as modern technologies (pump wells, industrial dams, drip irrigation, etc.) have proven to be unsustainable. This project evaluates remote sensing as a tool for assessing the distribution and status of the khettara in Morocco. The results of this project demonstrate that (1) the khettara system played a large role in the historic settlement of arid and semi-arid regions, and (2) the system continues to be an important part of agriculture and life in many oases across Morocco.
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Lightfoot, D. R. (1996). Moroccan khettara: Traditional irrigation and progressive desiccation. Geoforum, 27(2), 261–273.
Abstract: A 300 km network of khettara (qanat) subsurface irrigation channels was excavated in the Tafilalt basin beginning in the late 14th century. More than 75 of these chains provided perennial water following the breakup of the ancient city of Sijilmassa. Khettara continued to function for much of the northern oasis until the early 1970s, when new technologies and government policies forced changes. Data on origins, maintenance, and current use were collected from archival sources, aerial photographs, Landsat imagery, and from interviews. Insufficient water resources and unsustainable practices have dramatically lowered the water table, drying up khettara. This has resulted in a loss of local control over water resources, abandonment of a sustainable irrigation system, and progressive desiccation.
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Remmington, G. (2018). Transforming tradition: The aflaj and changing role of traditional knowledge systems for collective water management. Journal of Arid Environments, 151, 134–140.
Abstract: Living in a harsh, desert climate, Omani rural communities have developed locally-appropriate knowledge to deal with water scarcity. Similar to the qanat, the aflaj taps into the natural water table and uses a gravity system to channel water through underground channels to villages. Traditional techniques of water management, such as the aflaj, represents a way of adapting to and coping with difficult climates which have persisted for millennia. However, knowledge systems have often ‘decayed’ with the onset of modernity. These management systems, which developed concurrently with early Omani date palm cultivation, have defined customary and hereditary water rights which are in decline. This article uses Ostrom’s Common Pool Resource (CPR) framework, which prioritises the collective management of shared resources to maximise the benefit for all involved and avoid diminishing benefits that are created by the pursuit of individual goals. Using this framework, this article’s evaluation of the literature found that traditional aflaj management systems have a great capacity to evolve and, therefore, the aflaj represents both a dying system, and a potential for climate adaptation. Historically, aflaj have been managed by ancient water users associations, which provide social controls and govern usage norms. The findings of this review are that the aflaj system’s ability to respond to pressures of modernity from competing institutions, including markets, and embedded social capital mechanisms will influence its capacity to mitigate uncertain hydrology and climate. This article suggests ways in which the management of the aflaj can adapt to a multiple institutional framework to ‘transform’ collective water management.
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Kamash, Z. (2012). Irrigation technology, society and environment in the Roman Near East. Journal of Arid Environments, 86, 65–74.
Abstract: This paper uses a multi-faceted approach to understand the use and distribution of different irrigation technologies in the Roman Near East (63 BC – AD 636), looking at the ways in which social and environmental factors affected the implementation of those irrigation technologies. It is argued that no single factor can fully explain how irrigation technologies were used across time and space in this region. Instead, choices in irrigation technology seem to have been governed by a complex nexus of both social and environmental factors.
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Ubierna, J. A. J. (1998). Tunnel heritage in Spain: Roots of the underground. Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology, 13(2), 131–141.
Abstract: Spain has deep roots in the underground. The territory of myth and legend, of cave and tunnel, has existed in Spain since that ancient time overwhelmed with shreds of fog, where all was myth around heros like Túbal Hércules, Gárgoris and Abidis. The underground evokes strong links with life and death, light and darkness, and has served as a source of inspiration for art through the centuries. The history of tunnels in Spain reflects the mosaic of cultures that have inhabited Iberia from prehistoric times till today. This contribution on the subterranean History of Spain traces the country’s heritage in the form of natural caves, troglodyte dwellings, mining, crypts, galleries in fortresses and castles, aqueducts, qanats, cellars, and other landmarks.
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Sedghi, M. M., & Zhan, H. (2020). Semi-analytical solutions of discharge variation of a qanat in an unconfined aquifer subjected to general areal recharge and nearby pumping well discharge. Journal of Hydrology, 584, 124691.
Abstract: Qanat is a type of drain that extract water from aquifers by gravity. Significant amount of fresh water used in Middle East and other parts of the world are supplied by qanats. Despite their importance, discharge variation of these type of wells received almost no attention. The aim of this research is to obtain a Laplace domain solution of discharge variation of a qanat installed in an anisotropic unconfined aquifer subjected to arbitrary areal recharge and nearby pumping well(s) discharge. A new semi-analytical solution of drawdown is obtained first to implement the effects of arbitrary areal recharge and nearby pumping well(s) using the principle of superposition. Then, the discharge variation solution of the qanat is obtained from the drawdown solution. To establish a constant-head boundary condition at the qanat periphery, the qanat is discretized into several segments. The results of this study are presented in dimensionless discharge-dimensionless time curves. The effects of hydraulic as well as geometric parameters on the discharge variation of the qanat due to arbitrary areal recharge, falling of water table from its initial position and discharge of nearby wells are explored. We also investigate the influences of distance and screen depth and location of the nearby well on the discharge variation of the qanat. The results of this study can be utilized for multiple purposes: 1) to predict discharge of qanat in response to rainfall and nearby pumping well(s); 2) to estimate the aquifer parameters using hydrograph of the qanat; 3) to determine optimal location and pumping pattern of the nearby wells to minimize their influences on the discharge of the qanat; 4) to calculate water budget of aquifers drained by a qanat. The equation presented in this work can also be used to estimate discharge of a horizontal drain installed in cropland subjected to arbitrary irrigation pattern.
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Rubin, R. (1988). Water conservation methods in Israel’s Negev desert in late antiquity. Journal of Historical Geography, 14(3), 229–244.
Abstract: Settlement in Israel’s Negev desert historically has been dependent on water conservation techniques. Fieldwork carried out on settlement sites constructed during the Byzantine period, when agriculture and trade flourished, revealed a variety of water installations some of which are in use today. Perennial springs in the Negev are generally small and difficult of access. Cisterns were the most common conservation devices and came in both large, enclosed and single, open forms. Cisterns were common particularly in the towns, where they were usually built as part of house foundations. Dams were discovered at several sites but proved to be inefficient and easily abandoned because of evaporation and siltation problems. Public reservoirs were part of the structure of the largest towns and were open and among the larges structures uncovered at settlement sites. Wells were distributed widely throughout the desert and were part of the only conservation system that did not depend directly on surface rainfall. A qanat system was located in the eastern Negev dating from the late settlement period before the area was abandoned at the turn of the eighth century. These various water systems raise questions about their builders and their origins, and suggests that builders originating in more humid Mediterranean environments tended to produce less adaptable installations than builders derived from the south or the east.
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Carrión, A., & Fornes, A. (2016). Underground medieval water distribution network in a Spanish town. Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology, 51, 90–97.
Abstract: The city of Alcudia de Crespins, in the centre of the Valencia province (east of Spain), has an exceptional water distribution system that in the past served fresh water to many houses in the town. This system is formed by more than one km of tunnels and underground cisterns, and dates probably in the late medieval times, while it has been in use and suffering modifications until 1955. This paper presents the structure and characteristics of such exceptional system, and explains the functioning parameters of the infrastructure.
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Sardo, M. S., & Jalalkamali, N. (2022). A system dynamic approach for reservoir impact assessment on groundwater aquifer considering climate change scenario. Groundwater for Sustainable Development, 17, 100754.
Abstract: With its arid and semi-arid climate, Iran claims about one-third of the world’s average annual precipitation. Accordingly, the present study investigated whether an effective water resources management (WRM) strategy (both groundwater and reservoir resources) could reduce groundwater drawdown while simultaneously providing secure enough water for preservation of agricultural activities and rural settlements. For this purpose, a comprehensive system dynamics (SD) model incorporating reservoir, surface-water, and groundwater resources was developed. Then, the model was implemented for the Nesa plain in Bam County, Iran, as an example. In this plain, the construction of a dam to supply drinking water to the cities of Bam and the Bam Industrial Zone had devastated the environment and human communities in the downstream areas, leading to the depopulation of as many as 104 villages in the Bam region. The results of the SD model revealed that the artificial recharge of the plain groundwater aquifer along with the management of the operation of the wells and increasing productivity would be very effective. In order to estimate future precipitation data, the SDSM statistical exponential microscale model was used to microscale the large CanESM2 scale model under two scenarios of RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. The continuation of the current trend of the groundwater resources in the plain during the next 20 years will also cause a drop in water level of 8.3 m compared with the existing situation and a reduction of 41 m compared with the long-term average of 1980. Based on this modeling effort, upon releasing 60% of river flow, surplus to downstream demand, for recharging aquifer through artificial recharge projects, the rate of water table fall will decline significantly over a 20-year period and the amount of negative aquifer water balance would most likely improve from 65.5 to 35.17 million cubic meters annually.
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