Tackling water scarcity in Western Turkey
This case study conducted by the SMART project focuses on the region of Western Anatolia along the Aegean Sea. Water scarcity is a significant problem which has institutional, legal, social and economic implications for the region, adding to the existing water allocation and environmental pollution problems. Focusing on the cases of Izmir Bay and the Gediz River Basin, the study highlights the issues concerning the management of land and water resources. The two areas, the study found, are closely interdependent, as the inland practices of Gediz Basin lead to coastal problems in Izmir Bay. Izmir Bay was studied using the TELEMAC model and results showed that pollution from the Gediz river tends to move along the coast line toward the entrance of the inner bay. However, the source of pollution from the discharge points tends to cover the biggest part of the inner bay in the east-west direction. The study of the Gediz Basin utilised Waterware, the SMART analytical tool. The study found that improvement of the irrigation schemes, either in conveyance systems or in the method of field irrigation, is positively reflected in the water budget of the basin. The study concluded that if the situation in the Gediz Basin is evaluated on the basis of water budget only, the first steps to be taken for better management of the basin would be to improve the current status of the irrigation schemes. This could be done by reverting to conveyance systems and field irrigation methods that minimise water losses. From these available scenarios, researchers recommend that further research is done into water allocation, which could be analysed in terms of water quantity, the data on which is available. The basic limitation to research on this issue, it is stated in the report, is that there is a lack of systematic data on groundwater levels and groundwater consumption.
