This research report chronicles the evolution of thinking on water productivity in the research agenda of IWMI and in the broader irrigation literature over the past 20 years.

The impacts of climate change on the global hydrological cycle are expected to vary the patterns of demand and supply of water for agriculture – the dominant user of freshwater. This report summarizes current knowledge of the anticipated impacts of climate change on water availability for agriculture and examines the implications for local and national food security.

This paper shows that, while total water available in the Lower Krishna Basin is decreasing, changes in the waterscape of the basin are being shaped, to a large extent, by local users. This study underlines that it is not only the availability of the physical resource that is crucial in explaining the evolution of water use but, as water has become a disputed and highly politicized object, waterscapes are also strongly shaped by the social and political conditions of a region (a state for example), the boundaries of which often exceed the area where water is effectively used.