Water Productivity under Drought Conditions Estimated Using SEEA-Water

Abstract

This paper analyzes the impact of droughts on agricultural water productivity in the period 2004–2012 in the Guadalquivir River Basin using the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting for Water (SEEA-Water). Relevant events in this period include two meteorological droughts (2005 and 2012), the implementation of the Drought Management Plan by the basin's water authority (2006, 2007 and 2008), and the effects of irrigated area modernization (water-saving investment). Results show that SEEA-Water can be used to study the productivity of water and the economic impact of the different droughts. Furthermore, the results reflect the fact that irrigated agriculture (which makes up 65% of the gross value added, or GVA, of the total primary sector) has considerably higher water productivity than rain-fed agriculture. Additionally, this paper separately examines blue water productivity and total water productivity within irrigated agriculture, finding an average productivity of 1.33 EUR/m3 and 0.48 EUR/m3, respectively.