Resilience to Drought-Affected Areas in a Semi-Arid Agricultural Watershed by Climate Risk: Practical Implications for Sub-Basin Scale Case

Abstract

T & uuml;rkiye is threatened with drought due to climate risk since it is vulnerable to water resources derived from rainfall. This paper was generally carried out in drought-affected areas in a semi-arid agricultural watershed in the provinces of The Western Black Sea Basin, including D & uuml;zce, Bolu, Zonguldak, & Ccedil;ank & imath;r & imath;, Karab & uuml;k, Bart & imath;n, Kastamonu, and Sinop. It was aimed to meet the need for a coordinated examination of agricultural areas across different basins with hydrological and meteorological data. Life-touching results were revealed by overlay mapping the flow observation station data analysis results and irrigation areas. The importance of agriculture in the world economy, which is in a bottleneck regarding food needs and access to food, is understood better daily. This study evaluated future risks and opportunities in agricultural production in the basin. A better understanding of the future state of water throughout the basin is essential in protecting and improving the basin's economic, social, and demographic structure. The irrigation areas of 43% are currently in operation, and with the addition of the areas under construction, 60% of the currently identified areas will become irrigable. It was observed that land principally occupied by agricultural areas increased by 26.54% with the transformation of irrigated and non-irrigated lands in the basin between 1990-2008 according to CORINE database. Considering the irrigation areas included in the preliminary examination and master plan, planning, and project stages, irrigated agriculture in the basin is not yet at the desired level. By implementing better agricultural policies, the welfare level of the people of the region and the development level of the basin can be increased in general. One of the primary purposes of the study is to shed light on decision-makers. The results were designed to form the basis for basin-wide planning studies.