Adaptive irrigation infrastructure — linking insights from human-water interactions and adaptive pathways

• Published in: Current opinion in environmental sustainability Vol. 40; pp. 37 - 42
• Main Authors: Nikkels, Melle J, Kumar, Saideepa, Meinke, Holger
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.10.2019
• ISSN: 1877-3435; 1877-3443
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cosust.2019.09.001

•Long lasting irrigation infrastructure faces unforeseeable natural and societal unknowns.•Adaptive design approaches need to incorporate the coupled nature of human-water interactions.•Adaptive design is a process of ongoing social learning. Irrigation systems face unforeseeable changes in climate, technologies, and societal preferences during their lifetime, potentially rendering them obsolete or inadequate. To remain functional, irrigation systems need to be adaptive to changes as the future unfolds. Past approaches to irrigation system design were largely informed by engineering or economic criteria. This is increasingly recognised as insufficient. We provide examples of contemporary irrigation systems in Australia to highlight the need for planning and design approaches that recognise the complex interactions between human and water systems and embrace unknowns. We review literature on hydro-social interactions and dynamic adaptive pathways to provide insights for the development of adaptive irrigation systems.