{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.016332590942835932, 'fraction_numerical': 0.005939123979213066, 'mean_word_length': 5.269767441860465, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Managing irrigation demand to improve seasonality of river flows

Human interventions often lead to unsustainable river systems. There is always a trade‐off between level of socio‐economic gains from consumptive use in the river system and the need to maintain the natural seasonality of river flows supporting the ecosystem function. In the case of the Murrumbidgee River, Australia, irrigation demand is concentrated in the summer season while natural inflows to the river occur during the winter season. The summer‐dominated irrigation water demand has created environmental and supply problems by altering the natural flow regime. This paper presents a hydrologic assessment of a range of irrigation demand management options for improving the natural seasonality of the river flow. Among the possible alternatives, change of cropping pattern by achieving a better mix of summer and winter crops is recommended as the most feasible alternative, which can also save up to 211 million m3 of water yearly. This water can then be released during the winter time to augment the environmental flows of the river. Other irrigation demand management options explored in this paper include aquifer storage and recovery, on‐farm and off‐farm water savings and construction of intermediate surface water storages. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.