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Les agriculteurs utilisant les eaux des khettaras, galeries souterraines drainant la nappe phréatique et donnant un accès collectif à l’eau souterraine dans les oasis, font aujourd’hui face à un dilemme. Les khettaras se tarissent sous l’effet conjugué du pompage pour l’eau potable et de l’irrigation des exploitations agricoles des nouvelles extensions, et d’une recharge décroissante de la nappe. Leurs khettaras menacées de disparition, certains collectifs ont choisi d’installer des puits ou des forages alimentés par l’énergie solaire. Cela permet de renforcer le débit des khettaras et ainsi de maintenir l’accès collectif à l’eau souterraine, mais ces installations contribuent aussi à sa surexploitation. Dans cet article, nous mettons en discussion ce choix cornélien des communautés oasiennes dans le sud du Maroc. Des observations de terrain, l’analyse des images satellites, et des enquêtes avec les agriculteurs ont permis de comprendre le contexte d’émergence d’un dispositif associant la khettara au pompage par énergie solaire, d’analyser sa conception technique et de mettre en évidence la capacité des oasiens à intervenir sur les règles de gestion pour superposer ce dispositif technique et institutionnel nouveau au système traditionnel des khettaras. Cet article contribue à une réflexion sur la durabilité de l’accès à l’eau souterraine dans ce contexte présaharien.

International audience; Highlights:This paper reviews ways to improve water use efficiency beyond the plant level, across time and space scales, from cells, organs, and plants, to field, farm, and landscape.Abstract:Water scarcity will be one of the main issues of the 21 st century, because of competing needs between civil, industrial, and agriculture use. While agriculture is the largest user of water, its share is bound to decrease as societies develop. Clearly, agriculture needs to become more water efficient. Improving water use efficiency (WUE) at the plant level is important although there is a long way into translating this at the farm/landscape level. As we move up from a cell/organ/plant scale to more integrated scales such as plot, field, farm system, and landscape, other factors need to be considered, including trade-offs, to possibly improve WUE. These include choices of crop variety/species, farm management, landscape design, infrastructure development, ecosystem functions, where human decisions matter. This review is a cross-disciplinary attempt to analyze ways to address WUE at these different scales where metrics of analysis are defined and trade-offs considered. The equations in this perspective paper use similar metrics across scales for an easier connection and are developed to highlight which levers, at different scales, can improve WUE. We also refer to models operating at these different scales to assess WUE. While our entry point is plants and crops, we scale up the analysis of WUE to farm systems and landscapes.

International audience; Coffee is deemed to be a high-risk crop in light of upcoming climate changes. Agroforestry practices have been proposed as a nature-based strategy for coffee farmers to mitigate and adapt to future climates. However, with agroforestry systems comes shade, a highly contentious factor for coffee production in terms of potential yield reduction, as well as additional management needs and interactions between shade trees and pest and disease. In this review, we summarize recent research relating to the effects of shade on (i) farmers' use and perceptions, (ii) the coffee microenvironment, (iii) pest and disease incidence, (iv) carbon assimilation and phenology of coffee plants, (v) coffee quality attributes (evaluated by coffee bean size, biochemical compounds, and cup quality tests), (vi) breeding of new Arabica coffee F1 hybrids and Robusta clones for future agroforestry systems, and (vii) coffee production under climate change. Through this work, we begin to decipher whether shaded systems are a feasible strategy to improve the coffee crop sustainability in anticipation of challenging climate conditions. Further research is proposed for developing new coffee varieties adapted to agroforestry systems (exhibiting traits suitable for climate stressors), refining extension tools by selecting locally-adapted shade trees species and developing policy and economic incentives enabling the adoption of sustainable agroforestry practices.

Global environmental degradation, and the diverse and intense interactions between irrigation and the environment, are prompting the sector to play a more active role towards sustainability. This paper builds on ICID's 2030 vision on a more sustainable irrigation sector. It recaps the various environmental impacts of irrigation systems and calls for a threefold paradigm shift: the objectives of irrigation, its practices, and the ways to assess its impacts must evolve. The paper critically analyses the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs') framework, which provides a prompting set of orientations, yet with little consideration of the systemic nature of irrigation. The paper promotes more operational frameworks: nexus thinking and the ecosystem services' framework, since both allow for systemic approaches, and for developing trade‐offs. The paper also discusses the merits of life cycle analysis (LCA) for environmental impact assessment. The benefits gained through these alternative approaches are illustrated in two cases of environmental impacts: return flow and salinization. Finally, the paper suggests combining these approaches with three principles for fostering a true paradigm shift in agricultural water use: developing and using suitable metrics, combining models to reconnect economic concerns with environmental ones, and considering larger territories and ecosystems to cater for interactions with the environment.

Une production de raisin et de vin plus durable dépend d’une utilisation et d’une gestion plus efficaces du sol et de l’eau. Ceci est particulièrement pertinent pour les pays d’Europe du Sud, comme le Portugal, caractérisés par des sols appauvris, des ressources en eau limitées et une augmentation de la surface irriguée en pour atténuer les impacts climatiques sur le rendement et la composition des baies et minimiser les risques. Une meilleure compréhension de la physiologie associée au stress de la vigne et du comportement variétal favorisera l’utilisation de plants de vigne mieux adaptés à la sécheresse et à la chaleur. À leur tour, les capteurs, au niveau du sol, de la plante et de l’atmosphère, sont des éléments clés de la viticulture numérique et des vignobles (et caves) sensoriels et permettront une utilisation plus précise des intrants comme l’eau. Les capteurs permettent d’obtenir des données en temps réel et fournir des informations qui supportent les décisions de gestion des sols et des cultures. Cependant, l’utilisation efficace des capteurs n’est pas une question simple. En fait, cela implique également des problèmes liés aux compétences pour une installation et une maintenance correcte des capteurs, un réseau de communication pour les données en temps réel et, finalement, la capacité des utilisateurs à évaluer la qualité des données et à tirer parti des informations. Nous nous concentrerons sur les principales vulnérabilités et opportunités de la viticulture portugaise concernant les problèmes de sol et d’eau en mettant l’accent sur l’utilisation de capteurs, et notamment, les avantages et les coûts associés. En outre, l’avenir de l’irrigation de précision dans la viticulture portugaise sera également brièvement discuté. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Increasing pressures on water resources are causing many countries in Mediterranean to (re)consider various mechanisms to improve water use efficiency for agricultural like Tunisia country. The price mechanism remains the most appropriate instrument to allocate this water resource, but the search for the optimal price of water that reconciles different aspects economic and environmental is the most important issue to rise. In this paper, we will show that the search for a compromise between farm income and water consumption is possible through an optimal price applying both the entropy maximization approach and the multiobjective optimization. The results show that the use of Generalised Maximum Entropy (GME) approach is able to calibrate the model. Once the model is calibrated, a Multi-Objective Programming (MOP) was used to determine the optimal price using the compromise method. This optimal price determined has resulted to a slight economic decline in agricultural income against an immediate environmental gain of water saving. This compromise is a way to ensure the sustainability of irrigated agriculture and the preservation of water resources in Tunisia.

International audience; If the success of agricultural intensification continues to rely on the depletion of aquifers and exploitation of (female) labour, transformations to groundwater sustainability will be impossible to achieve. Hence, the development of new groundwater imaginaries, based on alternative ways of organizing society-water relations is highly important. This paper argues that a comparative documentation of grass-roots initiatives to care for, share or recharge aquifers in places with acute resource pressures provides an important source of inspiration. Using a grounded anti-colonial and feminist approach, we combine an ethnographic documentation of groundwater practices with hydrogeological and engineering insights to enunciate, normatively assess and jointly learn from the knowledges, technologies and institutions that characterize such initiatives. Doing this usefully shifts the focus of planned efforts to regulate and govern groundwater away from government efforts to control individual pumping behaviours, to the identification of possibilities to anchor transformations to sustainability in collective action.

Fulfilling both “Water and soil conservation” and “Integrated rural development” objectives, hillside reservoirs are very popular components of water and/or rural management strategies. In Central Tunisia, more than 800 reservoirs have been built since the 1950s. These have been the subject of an abundant literature by both social and physical scientists. However, this literature, which is highly segmented and often centred on the technical and economic assessment of development programs, does not help understand the different logics at work in the appropriation of these technical objects by the different actors involved. To achieve this goal, our research based on a "sociohydrological negotiation", articulates the methods and research questions of hydrology and anthropology on a same case study in Central Tunisia. An initial survey of water use and management practices around hillside reservoirs in the Merguellil Catchment revealed the wide variety of the infrastructures and the multiple functions they fulfil. These initial observations underpinned the process of negotiating an interdisciplinary framework to analyze the social, physical and technical dimensions of hillside reservoirs. To trace the history of watershed development policies implemented in the Merguellil Catchment, we first examined the multiple embedded logics underlying Tunisian hillside reservoir planning. This led to the production of “sociohydrological narratives” for four hillside reservoirs that both combined and enabled us to analyze the inhabitants’ own accounts of their reservoir history. This ethnographical material was then examined through the lense of a “resource making process”. Considering the way in which hydraulic objects function in a landscape that is both socio-political and hydrological enabled us to analyze the different aspects of this resource making process, from water valuation to the production of “hydraulic localities”.

To improve the resource utilization, reduce the pollution generation, and increase the economic benefits of enterprises, a cleaner process to produce cassava starch was proposed based on potato starch processing, and it was applied to the transformation of a traditional cassava starch processing factory in the Guangxi Province in China. The transformation involves the implementation of several new techniques/facilities, including a rasper, horizontal centrifuge, and hydrocyclone. Based on the transformation, typical cassava starch factories in Guangxi were evaluated. The results show that, through the application of a series of cleaner techniques/facilities, the starch recovery rate increased to 84.5%. The water consumption, wastewater generation, and chemical oxygen demand generation decreased by 53.8%, 49.0%, and 20.7%, respectively. Based on the cleaner process, the wastewater can be treated to meet the national discharge standard by using common wastewater treatment technology.

En réponse à une demande des gestionnaires publics du fleuve Niger au Mali, une expertise collégiale avait été réalisée en 2007 par l'Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) et l'Institut malien d'Economie Rurale (IER). Cette expertise avait pour objectif principal de déterminer comment garantir un partage équitable des ressources en eau du fleuve vis-à-vis des usagers, respectueux de l'environnement et favorable au développement des responsabilités locales. Une décennie après cette première expertise, où en sont les préoccupations initiales des gestionnaires publics du fleuve Niger ? Les recommandations formulées par les experts en 2007 ont-elles été suivies d'effet ? Quelles nouvelles connaissances scientifiques, quels nouveaux aménagements de taille conséquente et quelles nouvelles activités anthropiques concernant le fleuve Niger doivent être prises en compte aujourd'hui pour actualiser les résultats de l'expertise de 2007 ? C'est dans ce contexte que l'Agence Française pour le Développement (AFD) a identifié la nécessité d'actualiser les analyses et recommandations de l'expertise collégiale de 2007, et commandité cette étude aux unités de recherche HSM et G-Eau de l'IRD. Cette étude porte sur le fleuve Niger dans sa partie malienne, tout en soulignant la nécessité d'avoir également des connaissances sur ce qu'il se passe en Guinée où prend naissance le fleuve, puisque tout ce qui s'y fera aura un impact en aval : infrastructures hydrauliques (barrages) et occupation des sols. L'étude concerne non seulement le fleuve lui-même mais également le socio-écosystème que constituent le fleuve et son bassin. Elle s'efforce, à travers des éléments pertinents relatifs aux évolutions récentes du contexte du fleuve, d'apporter un éclairage sur les réalités actuelles du fleuve et de son avenir à court et moyen termes. Le fleuve Niger est une "artère vitale" du Mali, mais il est de morphologie multiple par ses caractéristiques morphodynamiques et hydroclimatiques, par ses usages qui évoluent le long de son cours, et par les populations qui habitent sur ses rives et l'exploitent. Il concentre au Mali des questions de développement qui se posent dans toute l'Afrique de l'Ouest et qui requièrent de plus en plus l'intervention de multiples disciplines, des sciences dites exactes et des sciences humaines et sociales.

International audience; In Tunisia, the development of the irrigation within the water scarcity context, remains one of the crucial issues of agricultural activity. The phenomenon of climate change is likely to make the problematic while threatening the country's food security. Thus, water use efficiency is essential to overcome these constraints and to preserve productive and sustainable agricultural activity. This work aims to optimize the water irrigation use and to increase the production of the durum wheat (DW) through improving irrigation practices. For this, a field survey was carried out with a sample of 43 farms from the Siliana region. In order to collect the required data, we have focused on the DW activity during the agricultural compain of 2015 in terms of the applied doses of water and fertilisers as well as the crop rotation. . Using CROPSYST, a crop model has been developed. The model was calibrated and validated to replicate the DW activity during three consecutive crop years 2015, 2016 and 2017. Three strategies of varied mix in terms water irrigation and fertilizers doses were simulated, The results showed the improvement of the yield by 9% that allowed an improvement of the water productivity up to 8.2 kgha-1mm-1. Given these results the Gross Margin may increase by 3% up to 11%.

Agriculture greatly impacts water resources due to the high volumes of irrigation water consumed in crop production. Additionally, agricultural activities affect hydrological cycles through land-use changes and soil modifications, which may lead to pollution of water bodies. On a local level, these impacts and specific improvement options can be assessed by risk assessment and integrated water resource management. Modelling the impacts of agriculture on freshwater comprehensively is a difficult task as freshwater can be impacted by water consumption and also by water pollution. These are influenced by direct agricultural activities (e.g. irrigation) as well as by indirect activities for the production of agricultural inputs (e.g. fertilizers, agrochemicals). This chapter looks at modelling the impacts of agriculture on freshwater. Following an introduction, the authors go on to look at modelling in relation to water consumption, water quality and salinization. The chapter also covers soil quality, land use and both geographical and temporal variation. Case studies are also included.

Financing of multiple use (i.e. domestic and productive) water services was identified as an important ingredient to ensure improved water access for rural poor and broaden livelihood options in South Africa. Following the principles of integrated water resource management (IWRM), efficient, equitable and sustainable investments in improved water services should be based on a thorough understanding of actual demand by consumers. Comprehensive studies looking at multiple use water services are not common in South African rural areas, where most of the economic analyses focus on either domestic or irrigation water demand. This study aims at filling this gap by assessing the household demand for multiple use water services in Sekororo-Letsoalo area in the Limpopo Province. Choice modelling is the approach used to identify the attributes determining demand for water services and quantify their relative importance. Results show that households in rural areas are willing to pay for improvements in water services. Due to the current poor level of water services in the area, users are primarily concerned with basic domestic uses and, consequently, demand for productive uses is low. Only households already relatively well served are interested in engaging in multiple water uses.Keywords: choice modelling, multiple water uses, domestic water demand, water services, willingness to pay

This chapter presents an introductory description of political, technological and institutional change in the field of irrigated agriculture in the Mediterranean area. After a brief description of the main characteristics of irrigation in this world region, the chapter introduces the eight national chapters : the cases of Tunisia and Morocco in the Maghreb ; Spain, France and Italy in the European Union ; and Turkey, Israel and Egypt on the oriental shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

Natural selection driven by water availability has resulted in considerable variation for traits associated with drought tolerance and leaf‐level water‐use efficiency (WUE). In Arabidopsis, little is known about the variation of whole‐plant water use (PWU) and whole‐plant WUE (transpiration efficiency). To investigate the genetic basis of PWU, we developed a novel proxy trait by combining flowering time and rosette water use to estimate lifetime PWU. We validated its usefulness for large‐scale screening of mapping populations in a subset of ecotypes. This parameter subsequently facilitated the screening of water use and drought tolerance traits in a recombinant inbred line population derived from two Arabidopsis accessions with distinct water‐use strategies, namely, C24 (low PWU) and Col‐0 (high PWU). Subsequent quantitative trait loci mapping and validation through near‐isogenic lines identified two causal quantitative trait loci, which showed that a combination of weak and nonfunctional alleles of the FRIGIDA (FRI) and FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) genes substantially reduced plant water use due to their control of flowering time. Crucially, we observed that reducing flowering time and consequently water use did not penalize reproductive performance, as such water productivity (seed produced per unit of water transpired) improved. Natural polymorphisms of FRI and FLC have previously been elucidated as key determinants of natural variation in intrinsic WUE (δ13C). However, in the genetic backgrounds tested here, drought tolerance traits, stomatal conductance, δ13C. and rosette water use were independent of allelic variation at FRI and FLC, suggesting that flowering is critical in determining lifetime PWU but not always leaf‐level traits., Accelerated flowering time achieved through nonfunctional and weak alleles of flowering time genes FRIGIDA (FRI) and FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) reduce water use in Arabidopsis thaliana without detrimentally impacting reproductive output.

International audience; Grasslands provide numerous ecosystem services but their sustainability is threatened by climate change. As plant functional diversity is expected to stabilize ecosystem functions, we tested whether mixing species with contrasting root systems could improve the resilience of Mediterranean grasslands under increasing aridity. We hypothesized that root functional identity (RFI) and diversity (RFD) respectively determines and improves soil water uptake capacity, aboveground biomass (AGB) production and resilience after drought stress (=post-stress AGB/pre-stress AGB). Monocultures, two- and three species mixtures of two groups of perennial grasses (cultivars and native species) were compared in a twin 3-years field experiment under two levels of summer drought in southern France. RFI and RFD were assessed as the mean and variance of multiple root traits (rooting depth, deep root mass fraction, root tissue density, root diameter and specific root length) measured in species monocultures. AGB and resilience were assessed from annual harvests; total transpirable soil water (TTSW) and evapotranspiration in summer (ET_sum) were assessed through the monitoring of soil water content. For both groups of species, RFI was a major predictor of TTSW and resilience, but not of AGB or ET_sum. Greater water uptake, especially from deep soil layers, increased resilience. Rooting depth distribution determined the potential depth of water uptake while root morphology influenced the precision of water uptake along the soil profile. However, RFD only marginally improved AGB production and resilience, although long-term effects of RFD should be tested. Designing artificial plant communities under water-limited conditions should therefore prioritize the maximization of rooting depth and root distribution along the soil profile. Diversifying root morphological traits associated with resource acquisition could also have a positive impact. The similarity of results between cultivars and native species suggests that agro-ecological guidelines for species assembly can be based on advances of functional ecology in natural ecosystems.

This issue of Plan Canada is devoted to as full an accounting as possible of the proceedings of this unexpectedly important conference. Almost all sessions have been covered to some extent, with leads provided for those seeking more information from the presenters., Le présent numéro de Plan Canada est un compte rendu de cet important congrès, résumant presque toutes les sessions qui ont eu lieu et offrant des liens vers de plus amples renseignements concernant le sujet traité et le conférencier., Text in English and French., From the editor, Le mot du rédacteur principal, https://viurrspace.ca/bitstream/handle/10613/6357/Wight.pdf?sequence=3

International audience

International audience; The ability of plants to acquire and use water is critical in determining life‐history traits such as growth, flowering, and allocation of biomass into reproduction. In this context, a combination of functionally linked traits is essential for plants to respond to environmental changes in a coordinated fashion to maximize resource use efficiency. We analyzed different water‐use traits in Arabidopsis ecotypes to identify functionally linked traits that determine water use and plant growth performance. Water‐use traits measured were (i) leaf‐level water‐use efficiency (WUEi) to evaluate the amount of CO2 fixed relative to water loss per leaf area and (ii) short‐term plant water use at the vegetative stage (VWU) as a measure of whole‐plant transpiration. Previously observed phenotypic variance in VWU, WUEi and life‐history parameters, highlighted C24 as a valuable ecotype that combined drought tolerance, preferential reproductive biomass allocation, high WUEi, and reduced water use. We therefore screened 35 Arabidopsis ecotypes for these parameters, in order to assess whether the phenotypic combinations observed in C24 existed more widely within Arabidopsis ecotypes. All parameters were measured on a short dehydration cycle. A segmented regression analysis was carried out to evaluate the plasticity of the drought response and identified the breakpoint as a reliable measure of drought sensitivity. VWU was largely dependent on rosette area, but importantly the drought sensitivity and plasticity measures were independent of the transpiring leaf surface. A breakpoint at high rSWC indicated a more drought‐sensitive plant that closed stomata early during the dehydration cycle and consequently showed stronger plasticity in leaf‐level WUEi parameters. None of the sensitivity, plasticity, or water‐use measurements were able to predict the overall growth performance; however, there was a general trade‐off between vegetative and reproductive biomass. PCA and hierarchical clustering revealed that C24 was unique among the 35 ecotypes in uniting all the beneficial water use and stress tolerance traits, while also maintaining above average plant growth. We propose that a short dehydration cycle, measuring drought sensitivity and VWU is a fast and reliable screen for plant water use and drought response strategies.

International audience; Water utilities draw different water sources (surface and groundwater), including increased use of alternative sources (e.g. desalinated water, reused water, inter-basin water transfers) to supply freshwater to different users (domestic, agriculture, etc.). The combination of water sources and technologies (including infrastructures and energy) results in a regional water supply mix (WSmix) for each specific use. Existing Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) databases used in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), do not include these mixes when modelling processes, leading to a poor representation of water supply systems and related environmental impacts. To fill this gap, this paper proposes a consistent framework for modelling a regional WSmix at worldwide scale. The WSmix framework includes the scope and system boundaries definition as well as a standardisation of terminology and classification of water sources and users. To facilitate implementation of theWSmix, this paper provides a worldwide database of water source mixes per user and a technology matrix linking water sources to water production technologies, including the connection with the local electricity mix. The relevance of including the WSmix in LCI databases for proper water-use impact assessment is demonstrated with an illustrative case study. The paper finally concludes on the need of using the regionalized WSmix in routine LCA, which is just as straightforward as the use of the regionalized electricity supply mix. Besides, the developed WSmix provides interesting insights beyond the LCA scope to support the strategic management of water sources at various scales including the global scale.

International audience; Irrigation water is a crucial resource for economic and social development in Tunisia. In a context of decentralization and State devolution, the local associations for agricultural development or 'Groupements de Développement Agricole (GDA)' manage today a large share of irrigation water in the country. However, these institutions are experiencing a lack of acknowledgment by water users, resulting in a low willingness to pay (WTP) for water. In this article, we study to what extent information provided to users on the functioning of the system (« institutional » information) and/or on the decisions taken by other users (« social » information) can affect their WTP. Our analysis is twofold. A field survey first revealed the farmers' demand for better information provision. A laboratory experiment allowed then to isolate the impact of the two types of information on subjects' decisions through a game with similar properties to those observed in the field. Data collected in the lab confirm the existence of a causality relation between information provided to users and their WTP for a common resource such as irrigation water.; L'eau d'irrigation est une ressource cruciale pour le développement économique et social en Tunisie. Dans un contexte de décentralisation et de délégation du rôle de l'État, une part importante de la gestion de cette eau d'irrigation a été confiée aux groupements de développement agricole (GDA). Ces groupements souffrent cependant d'un manque de reconnaissance de la part des usagers, qui se manifeste essentiellement par un faible consentement de leur part à payer les redevances. Dans cet article nous nous demandons dans quelle mesure l'information fournie aux usagers sur le fonctionnement du système (information « institutionnelle ») et/ou sur les décisions prises par les autres usagers (information « sociale ») peut influencer leur consentement à payer. Notre analyse s'est faite en deux temps. Nous avons commencé par une enquête sur le terrain, laquelle révèle effectivement une demande des irrigants en matière de diffusion d'informations. Nous avons ensuite élaboré une expérience permettant d'isoler l'impact de différents types d'information sur les décisions prises par les individus dans le cadre d'un jeu qui a des propriétés proches de la situation de terrain. Les données collectées en laboratoire confirment l'existence d'une relation de causalité entre l'information fournie aux usagers et leur consentement à payer pour une ressource commune comme l'eau d'irrigation.

The objective of this study was to assess the consumption and the multiplier effect of the use of energy and irrigation water for rainfed and irrigated agriculture at the national level in Morocco. Using a social accounting matrix, the direct and indirect economic effects of subsidizing energy used by agriculture were identified. The results show that irrigation water policy in Morocco, which targets 'water-saving' techniques, has increased the use of subsidized energy and that indirect effects, through energy subsidies, exceed the direct effects of agricultural subsidies. A social accounting matrix can help decision makers make the necessary trade-offs between irrigated and rainfed agriculture.

A cascading multiple-use water system in the Konto River Basin, Indonesia, has been examined to assess the cumulative benefits of water uses where water is sequentially used in three hydropower plants and then in an irrigation system from an upstream reservoir. Using a hydro-economic modeling, optimal water allocation among the users was explored, considering appropriate environmental flows (EFs) as well. Tradeoffs between benefit maximization and environmental protection at the basin scale benefits due to different provisions of EFs were examined. Estimates indicate that the current operation mode, not considering EF in the mainstream of the Konto, generates an annual maximum benefit of US$ 16.281 million from the perspective of direct water uses; however, ensuring environmental water requirements in the current operation mode will cost about US$ 1.067 million annually. Such analyses will help in running the Konto system in a sustainable pattern and in other places with similar conditions.