Water reuse in agriculture: a case study in Konya Closed Basin

Abstract

Abstract Konya Closed Basin (KCB) is one of the hotspots in Turkiye due to intense agricultural activities and high demand for irrigation. Over 90% of the total available water is consumed for irrigation of which is predominantly met from groundwater bodies. Therefore, current agricultural practices need to be revisited and water reuse should be taken into consideration to sustain water resources and the ecosystem of the basin. To this end, a case study has been carried out in KCB on reclaimed water (RW) use for sugar beet and corn production. The first-term results revealed no adverse impacts on soil conditions irrigated with RW. Corn production increased by 7% with RW irrigation. Although a drop of 9% was observed in sugar beet yield with RW, the overall results obtained for the first-term period, both for corn and sugar beet, indicate that better yields could be attained through RW in addition to providing an alternative water resource, particularly in water-scarce regions.