IGRA. A tool for applying the benchmarking initiative to irrigated areas

Water is an essential and yet scarce good whose rational use has come to be of key concern in today's world. Irrigation is one of the activities involving highest water consumption, hence the importance that it be performed correctly. Irrigation performance indicators are useful tools for improving irrigation management and making its optimisation possible. In order to facilitate the use of these indicators, a computer application called IGRA (Irrigation Performance Indicators Application) is developed. This application facilitates the calculation of indicators and defines them using a wide range of zone descriptors and irrigation year variables. By means of a database incorporated into the program, data can be visualised in the form of records, tables and charts, allowing comparisons to be made between different zones and irrigation years. IGRA also takes into account certain phases of the benchmarking procedure (comparison with a reference model). The indicators selected for the application correspond to those established by IPTRID. They are divided into four different groups: system operation, financial performance, productive efficiency and environmental performance. IGRA has been used to calculate and compare the performance indicators of several irrigation zones located in Andalusia, permitting differences in irrigation performance levels between zones to be studied in depth. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.