Half the expansion of irrigation this millenium has been unsustainable

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-03-08 21:00

Australia; International

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Half the expansion of irrigation across the world since the year 2000 has been unsustainable due to the water stress in the land chosen, according to international research. The team combined official statistics on irrigation to map changes in areas equipped for irrigation up to 2015, and they say there was an overall increase of 11% over that period. Looking at the level of water stress experienced in the regions that saw irrigation expansion, the researchers say about 50% of expansion has been unsustainable. In Australia, they say irrigation has expanded by 41%, and 57% of that expansion has been unsustainable. The researchers say while expanding irrigation is important to shore up food supplies as the climate becomes less predictable, we need to be careful about risking our long-term access to water.