Objetivo específico proyecto 27: SO 1.4 (...) Smart Specialisation / Industrial Transition / Entrepreneurship

Digitalizing water management in irrigation is no longer a future option, but a necessity for managing a resource that is increasingly scarce. This Smart Green Water project report stresses that technology is only useful if it adapts to the reality of those working in the field and within irrigation communities. In this sense, the key is not to collect more data, but to turn it into practical and understandable decisions.

The Adour basin is located in south‑western France, within the Aquitaine Basin, and is classified as a Water Allocation Zone (ZRE), meaning that available water resources are structurally insufficient compared to demand. The territory covers approximately 17,000 km², with around 1.08 million inhabitants and a strong presence of agricultural land, especially maize, soybean and other irrigated crops.

Andalusia faces increasingly frequent and prolonged droughts, which requires rethinking irrigation water management under criteria of efficiency, planning, and digitalization—especially in the Guadalquivir basin, where most Andalusian irrigation is concentrated. The document analyzes the institutional and legal framework, special drought plans, and a broad range of technical and digital solutions to help irrigation communities and farms reduce water use without losing economic viability.

The document shows how Alentejo is strengthening drought management by combining hydrological planning, irrigation modernization, and a strong commitment to digital tools to monitor, plan, and optimize irrigation management. It is particularly addressed to hydro-agricultural schemes and farms that need to adapt to a climate change context with less rainfall, higher temperatures, and increasingly frequent and intense droughts.

Drought is a recurring phenomenon that affects Catalonia, altering the water cycle and conditioning both natural and human uses. The severity of drought depends not only on its duration and intensity but also on the vulnerability of the affected systems, particularly the agricultural sector, which is one of the main water consumers in the region.

The Smart Green Water project, funded by the Interreg SUDOE programme, promotes a transnational mapping that identifies and highlights the main public and semi-public entities supporting the digitalisation of irrigation in south-western Europe. This initiative covers strategic regions of Portugal (Alentejo), Spain (Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Catalonia, Extremadura, and Murcia), and France (New Aquitaine and Occitania), territories where irrigation modernisation is key for agricultural sustainability and climate change adaptation.