During the three-year period 2024-2026, this applied research will analyse the effects of reclaimed water on crop production and quality, in order to move towards a 4.0 and circular agriculture.
ICT will play an important role in the 15 pilot actions to be developed in 13 woody crops (olive groves, vineyards, hops and almond trees) and 2 horticultural crops (tomato and lettuce) in Spain, France and Portugal.
The Transnational Strategy for the use of reclaimed water will establish guidelines for its proper use in irrigation, including aspects related to traceability control and food safety.
Lugo, 20 February 2024 – The project ‘I-ReWater. Sustainable management of water resources in irrigated agriculture in the Sudoe area’ has officially started this week with the face-to-face meeting attended, since Monday afternoon and until tomorrow at noon, by representatives of the multidisciplinary consortium formed by 16 partners, as well as several of the 39 collaborating entities. For two days, the technicians who will participate in the implementation of this ambitious project have outlined and reviewed in person the work plan to achieve the milestones set until 2026.
The presentation was attended this afternoon by the Vice-Rector for Academic Organisation and the Lugo Campus of the University of Santiago de Compostela, Francisco Fraga; the director of the Lugo Campus Polytechnic School of Engineering, Rosa Romero; the mayoress of Lugo, Paula Alvarellos; the president of the Miño-Sil Hydrographic Confederation, Francisco Marín, and the coordinator of the Research Group: Projects and Planning, Manuel F. Marey.
The I-ReWater consortium is made up of 16 leading entities in their sector in the Sudoe area, as the region formed by the Iberian Peninsula, the Principality of Andorra and the South of France is called. The Escuela Politécnica Superior de Ingeniería del Campus Terra of the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (USC), leads the project, in which also participate the Fundación Juana de Vega, HOPEN – Terre de Houblon, Instituto de Ciencias de la Vid y el Vino (ICVV), Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária, IP (INIAV, IP), Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, IRTA (Instituto de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentarias), University of Córdoba (UCO), Águas do Norte, S. A., INRAE, Agencia de Medio Ambiente y Agua de Andalucía (AMAYA), Gestagua, Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona (AMB), Oficina del Regant del Departament d’Acció Climàtica i Agenda Rural de la Generalitat de Catalunya (OdR) and the Government of Andorra. The coordinator is Javier J. Cancela Barrio, professor at the EPS of Engineering and researcher of the Projects and Planning group (PROePLA) of the USC.
The main objective of I-ReWater is to improve the management of water resources in agriculture, integrating the use of reclaimed urban water in agricultural crops and contemplating environmental aspects that ensure its good use due to the current climate crisis. It was approved during the last Interreg Sudoe 2021-2027 call for proposals and has a budget of more than €2.2M, 75% financed by the ERDF Fund.
Solutions to water scarcity problems
Bearing in mind that agriculture consumes more than 50% of freshwater, the results of this research would make it possible to reduce extractions from natural habitats (surface and underground) and solve the problems of scarcity in a sustainable way without reducing the quality of crops. It would even reduce the need for inputs, as reclaimed water from WWTPs is enriched with nitrogen and phosphorus, as well as other components with fertilising properties, which are of interest to crops.
The possibilities opened up by this research,’ explains Javier J. Cancela Barrio, professor and researcher of the PROePLA group and coordinator of I-ReWater, ’are multiple, given that, according to initial estimates, the use of reclaimed water in irrigated agriculture could lead to a saving of 10%. With this applied research, Cancela continues, we will also contribute to making Europe a world leader in the implementation of actions in the field of water resources to mitigate and adapt to climate change and environmental degradation, with the aim of becoming the first climate-neutral continent. According to the European Green Pact, the EU’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Circular Economy Action, currently only 2.4% of treated wastewater is reused in Europe, while there is potential to increase the volume six-fold.
Digitalisation of fertigation and agriculture 4.0
ICTs will play an important role in this analysis of the potential use of reclaimed water in irrigated agriculture in the SUDOE area. In the 15 pilot actions that will be developed in 13 woody crops (olive groves, vineyards, hops and almond trees) and 2 horticultural crops (tomato and lettuce). All irrigation systems will incorporate low-cost sensors at soil and plant level that will allow real-time interpretation of parameters such as weather conditions, temperature, water quantity and nutrients. In some cases, there will even be drone flights with thermal or multispectral cameras to acquire images to improve the information obtained and regulate the fertigation model implemented in each pilot.
Once validated, this decision support system could be easily replicated at user level and will provide data to the farmer to warn him when to irrigate. The development of a more efficient agriculture will allow for a more sustainable and circular use of a basic but, unfortunately, increasingly scarce resource,’ the partners emphasised.
In addition, awareness-raising and open days will be organised in all the pilots, among other dissemination actions, to promote first-hand knowledge of the experiences carried out in I-ReWater, valuing the importance of a sustainable use of water resources in the generation of food.
Future Transnational Strategy for reclaimed water use
In parallel to the implementation of the pilot actions, the current state of water resources in the SUDOE area will be analysed, with a special focus on the use of reclaimed water in irrigated agriculture, as well as the effects on crop production and quality, in order to promote resilience and water security.
In the final part of this research, the results obtained will be the basis for drawing up a Transnational Strategy for the use of reclaimed water in the SUDOE area, which will serve to define the different stages to be followed in the progressive process of incorporation into all available water resources for irrigation.
15 experiences of the two pilot actions
Spain. They will be carried out in Carrión de los Céspedes (Seville) (x2), Baix Llobregat (Barcelona), Les Garrigues (Lleida), La Grajera (Logroño), Abegondo (A Coruña), and Ribera del Órbigo (León). The reclaimed water for irrigation will come from tertiary treatment in WWTPs, or from wineries and ICVV facilities, and will be stored in reservoirs or ponds near the pilots.
France. Experiments will be carried out in the pilot action referring to woody crops, or assimilable crops (hops) in Guissan (Aude), 80 ha, using reclaimed water from WWTPs; Lot and Garonne (x2) and in Pyrénées-Atlantiques, where the reuse of water from the nearby agri-food industry, fruit and breweries will be included.
Portugal. The experiences of the pilot actions are located in: Herdade do Esporão (Évora), using reclaimed water from the winery; Algarve (Faro), also using reclaimed water from the winery. In the case of Alfândega da Fé (Bragança), and Mirandela (Bragança), the reclaimed water will come from WWTPs provided by ADN.