Illuminating Deep Uncertainties
in the Estimation of Global
Irrigation Water Withdrawals
About DAWN
Irrigation agriculture can boost crop yields with year-round production, but consumes a significant portion of global freshwater resources. In the last decades numerous mathematical models have been developed to precise how much water is withdrawn for crops, as quantification precedes control. But despite the use of ever-powerful computers and finer-grained models, pinpoint accuracy towards the "true" number remains elusive.
The DAWN project contends that this discord reflects deep uncertainties within our understanding of irrigation water use, hidden behind sophisticated algorithms. Rather than intensifying the race for increasingly detailed models, DAWN proposes to bring these uncertainties to the fore as a step towards a more robust understanding of irrigation water use.
DAWN is a Frontier Research Grant project funded by the UKRI Horizon Europe Funding Guarantee (EP/Y02463X/1).
Photo: Irrigation channel in the Oasis of Hassilabied, Morocco. Photo taken by Arnald Puy.