NEWS in brief
FAOs’ AquaCrop Version 6.0 is now available
Global Highlights
The water sector, and the UK overall, is facing a wide
range of enormous and complex challenges and is working
to secure the long-term resilience of water and sewerage
supplies and services.
Climate change is bringing more volatile and extreme
weather patterns. In just the past few years we have seen
severe droughts, floods, and extremes of rainfall and cold
weather. This has led to shortages and to too much water,
sometimes both at once.
At the same time, environmental standards are getting
even tougher, particularly around the quality of our rivers
and bathing waters. This requires, for example, the highest
standards of water treatment and well-maintained sewer
networks.
Version 6.0 of AquaCrop, the crop-water productivity
model developed by FAO to address food security and
assess the effect of the environment and management on
crop production, has now been released on the AquaCrop
website.
The new features of version 6.0 are:
• It enhances simulation of crop performance in very
dry environments.
• It allows to consider the presence of gravel as an
extra soil profile.
• It simulates the effect of weed infestation on crop
production.
• The water thresholds for stomatal closure of some
crops have been improved in the crop data base.
• Dry beans have been calibrated and added as a new
crop in the crop data base.
Another big challenge facing many water companies is
dealing with growth in population and housing. The UK’s
population is expected to rise by 10 million by the 2030s
and another 10 million by around 2050.
Water UK has united industry knowledge in two key
sector-wide projects, the Long Term Water Resources
Planning Framework and the 21st Century Drainage
Programme. These projects are helping the water sector
to resolutely tackle these issues, and looking