Perception of Drought and Local Responses by Farmers: A Perspective from the Jucar River Basin, Spain

Abstract

Farmers play a key role in water management at all levels and their role becomes even more relevant during droughts, when water systems are under increased pressure. This paper presents a study based on interviews to farmers in eastern Spain using different types of water sources, to explore how that factor influences perceptions and actions during droughts. Results show that farmers often perceive droughts through non-climatic factors, e.g. the volume of water stored in the reservoirs or water restrictions, rather than through meteorological parameters. The type of water source highly influences farmers' perception of drought and the type of strategies implemented to face it, confirming the key role of groundwater in buffering brought. In areas using surface water, practices to mitigate impacts include temporary changes in cropping practices, temporary modification of water distribution shifts or the use of emergency wells. In areas irrigated with different water sources – groundwater, reclaimed water – farmers' actions address mainly permanent water scarcity problems and their concerns are focused on the long term viability of their activity – in terms of cost of water or water quality – rather than on variability of rainfall. Both in surface and groundwater-based irrigation areas, local responses often require close cooperation among users, as they may involve redistributing the available resources, sharing extra costs, or combining water from different sources to achieve the desired water quality.