Assessing the environmental performance of irrigation planning scenarios in the context of climate change - Contributions of territorial life cycle assessment

Abstract

Irrigation is one of the adaptation strategies put forward in the face of climate change, but it relies on infrastructures that can generate significant environmental impacts. Territorial Life Cycle Assessment (T-LCA) can be used to assess the environmental performance of agricultural planning scenarios by quantifying their eco-efficiency, i.e. the ratios between services provided and impacts generated. A theoretical study of an agricultural area in France highlights the value of this method in providing objective information on the environmental performance of scenarios with or without irrigation (by also integrating the impacts of agricultural production).T- LCA allows to identify the best-performing scenario and potential pollution transfers between services provided and environmental impacts. Going a step further, the AquaCrop model has been coupled with T-LCA to consider the effects of climate change on environmental performance over the medium to long term. This prospective assessment approach is necessary to make informed decisions about infrastructures with a long lifespan.