Environmental and Socioeconomic Interactions in the Evolution of Traditional Irrigated Lands: A Dynamic System Model

The Huerta de Murcia is a traditionally irrigated land located in the middle lowland area of the Segura River around the city of Murcia, Southeast Spain. During the twentieth century several factors, such as the creation of new irrigated lands and the urbanization of traditionally irrigated lands, have changed the use of natural resources, giving rise to a growing imbalance between water resources and irrigation demands and a loss of fertile soil and other environmental and cultural values of this traditionally agricultural area. Such factors constitute environmental problems that will need to be controlled if more sustainable conditions for agriculture are to be achieved. The objectives of the present work are to develop a dynamic system model containing the main social, economic, and environmental and to use this model to explore the long-term effects of several policies designed to promote the sustainability of this agrolandscape. Some preliminary conclusions suggest that regulation and agricultural policy are not enough to stop the loss of traditionally irrigated lands and that additional water management and environmental policies are necessary.