TO BE EFFECTIVE, COMMITMENTS TO ACTION MUST BE IMPLEMENTED AND ENFORCED. THE IMPLEMENTATION OF POLICIES AND INTERVENTIONS DEPENDS on converting political commitment to practical action. How are governments and other stakeholders doing in implementing policies and interventions that reflect commitment?

Reference evapotranspiration (ETo) is an essential component of irrigation water management due to it being a basic input for estimating crop water requirements. A new alternative approach called MA + LSE based on the Makkink-Advection (MAK-Adv) equation in combination with remotely sensed solar radiation and a numerical weather forecast of near surface air temperature has provided good estimates of ETo under different weather conditions in a semi-arid region located in Southern Spain, without requiring local meteorological data.

This paper assessed the economics of investing in suspended shade-cloth covers (SSCCs) in agricultural water reservoirs (AWRs) to reduce evaporation losses and save water for irrigation in arid and semi-arid areas. In particular, authors examine the use of SSCCs in the Segura River Basin (southeastern Spain). The decision to install a cover depends on the potential evaporation losses, reservoir characteristics, cover effectiveness, the value of water, filtration requirements, water salinity, government subsidies and the installation, operation and maintenance costs.