Usefulness of Surface Water
Retention Reservoirs Inspired
by ‘Permaculture Design’: A Case
Study in Southern Spain Using
Bucket Modelling
Immo Fiebrig and Marco Van De Wiel
Abstract
Water harvesting (WH) techniques have experienced a renaissance within a grassroots
sustainability concept and movement called
‘permaculture’. Over the past decade, there
has been a growing interest in the uptake of
permaculture inspired solutions designed to
restore the water cycle at a landscape level and
to facilitate the delivery of ecosystem services
as part of a holistic farming approach. In this
study, we assessed four reservoirs built on a
fruit farm in southern Spain in terms of
usefulness. A simple hydrological model was
developed utilising on-site data and two free
calibration parameters, infiltration and evapotranspiration. The model matches the observations on the ground well, but indicates
limited potential of WH within the boundaries
of this particular farm. As the decade preceding the reservoir’s inception received more
rain (2000–2010), this may have led to a
misjudgement for on-farm water harvesting
potential in the planning phase. We conclude
that the design of WH reservoirs or water
landscapes as a contribution to reversing
desertification processes and mitigating climate change would benefit from long-term
studies
on
the
ground.
Moreover,
modelling-based scenario analyses can help
better understand the dynamics and extent of
its potential in establishing an effective and
economically viable land restoration process
for the region, taking into account climate
change projections of increasing desertification in the Mediterranean basin, thereby
contributing to the water-soil-food nexus,
addressing sustainable development goals
(SDGs) related to food (2), water (6), responsible consumption and production (12), climate action (13) and life on land (15).
Keywords
Water harvesting Á Water-soil nexus Á
Scenario analysis Á Land restoration Á
Agroecology
1 Introduction
Land degradation is resulting in depletion of
natural resources such as degradation of soil,
reduction in vegetation and damage to water
cycles on a global scale, thus putting world food
I. Fiebrig (&)
NCMH, School of Biosciences, University of
Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus,
Loughborough L12 5RD, UK
e-mail: immo.fiebrig@nottingham.ac.uk
M. Van De Wiel
Centre of Agroecology, Water and Resilience,
Coventry University, Wolston Lane, Garden
Organic, Ryton-on-Dunsmore CV8 3LG, UK
e-mail: marco.vandewiel@coventry.ac.uk
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
S. Hülsmann and M. Jampani (eds.), A Nexus Approach for Sustainable Development,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57530-4_5
57
Retention Reservoirs Inspired
by ‘Permaculture Design’: A Case
Study in Southern Spain Using
Bucket Modelling
Immo Fiebrig and Marco Van De Wiel
Abstract
Water harvesting (WH) techniques have experienced a renaissance within a grassroots
sustainability concept and movement called
‘permaculture’. Over the past decade, there
has been a growing interest in the uptake of
permaculture inspired solutions designed to
restore the water cycle at a landscape level and
to facilitate the delivery of ecosystem services
as part of a holistic farming approach. In this
study, we assessed four reservoirs built on a
fruit farm in southern Spain in terms of
usefulness. A simple hydrological model was
developed utilising on-site data and two free
calibration parameters, infiltration and evapotranspiration. The model matches the observations on the ground well, but indicates
limited potential of WH within the boundaries
of this particular farm. As the decade preceding the reservoir’s inception received more
rain (2000–2010), this may have led to a
misjudgement for on-farm water harvesting
potential in the planning phase. We conclude
that the design of WH reservoirs or water
landscapes as a contribution to reversing
desertification processes and mitigating climate change would benefit from long-term
studies
on
the
ground.
Moreover,
modelling-based scenario analyses can help
better understand the dynamics and extent of
its potential in establishing an effective and
economically viable land restoration process
for the region, taking into account climate
change projections of increasing desertification in the Mediterranean basin, thereby
contributing to the water-soil-food nexus,
addressing sustainable development goals
(SDGs) related to food (2), water (6), responsible consumption and production (12), climate action (13) and life on land (15).
Keywords
Water harvesting Á Water-soil nexus Á
Scenario analysis Á Land restoration Á
Agroecology
1 Introduction
Land degradation is resulting in depletion of
natural resources such as degradation of soil,
reduction in vegetation and damage to water
cycles on a global scale, thus putting world food
I. Fiebrig (&)
NCMH, School of Biosciences, University of
Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus,
Loughborough L12 5RD, UK
e-mail: immo.fiebrig@nottingham.ac.uk
M. Van De Wiel
Centre of Agroecology, Water and Resilience,
Coventry University, Wolston Lane, Garden
Organic, Ryton-on-Dunsmore CV8 3LG, UK
e-mail: marco.vandewiel@coventry.ac.uk
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
S. Hülsmann and M. Jampani (eds.), A Nexus Approach for Sustainable Development,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57530-4_5
57