Irrigation performance assessment is an important step in ensuring sustainable agricultural development and improving the capacity of irrigation water management. In this paper, we examined irrigation water management in the Jiamakou Irrigation Scheme in the province of Shanxi (China) using four typical indicators, namely adequacy, efficiency, dependability, and equity. These indicators were calculated both globally and by grouping the data according to different irrigation processes (water allocation and water delivery). Results show that water was poorly allocated, and crop water requirements calculated through the FAO56 Penman-Monteith method was not met timely by scheduled water. They indicate that the overall performance of the scheme was relatively poor, owing to dismal water allocation. Nevertheless, water delivery performance was good, indicating that the scheme was able to deliver adequate and dependable water in an equitable and efficient manner. Our findings suggest that farmers should be trained in allocating irrigation water. The study provides insights into the current behavior of the irrigation scheme and may be used as a base for improvement of irrigation performance.

Inefficient and non-environmentally friendly absorbent production can lead to much resource waste and go against low carbon and sustainable development. A novel and efficient Mg-Fe-Ce (MFC) complex metal oxide absorbent of fluoride ion (F⁻) removal was proposed for safe, environmentally friendly, and sustainable drinking water management. A series of optimization and preparation processes for the adsorbent and batch experiments (e.g., effects of solution pH, adsorption kinetics, adsorption isotherms, effects of coexisting anions, as well as surface properties tests) were carried out to analyze the characteristics of the adsorbent. The results indicated that optimum removal of F⁻ occurred in a pH range of 4–5.5, and higher adsorption performances also happened under neutral pH conditions. The kinetic data under 10 and 50 mg·g⁻¹ were found to be suitable for the pseudo-second-order adsorption rate model, and the two-site Langmuir model was ideal for adsorption isotherm data as compared to the one-site Langmuir model. According to the two-site Langmuir model, the maximum adsorption capacity calculated at pH 7.0 ± 0.2 was 204 mg·g⁻¹. The adsorption of F⁻ was not affected by the presence of sulfate (SO₄²⁻), nitrate (NO₃⁻), and chloride (Cl⁻), which was suitable for practical applications in drinking water with high F⁻ concentration. The MFC adsorbent has an amorphous structure, and there was an exchange reaction between OH⁻ and F⁻. The novel MFC adsorbent was proven to have higher efficiency, better economy, and environmental sustainability, and be more environmentally friendly.

Water shortage and soil salinization are the main issues threatening the sustainable development of agriculture and ecology in the Hetao Irrigation District (HID). The application of water-saving practices is required for sustainable agricultural development. However, further study is required to assess the effects of these practices on water and salt dynamics in the long term. In this study, the impacts of different water-saving practices on water and salt dynamics were investigated in the HID, Northwest China. The SAHYSMOD (integrated spatial agro-hydro-salinity model) was used to analyze the water and salt dynamics for different water-saving irrigation scenarios. The results indicate that the SAHYSMOD model shows a good performance after successful calibration (2007–2012) and validation (2013–2016). The soil salinity of cultivated land in the middle and upper reaches of the irrigation district decreased slightly, while that in the lower reaches increased significantly over the next 10 years under current irrigation and drainage conditions. It is predicted that if the amount of water diverted is reduced by up to 15%, the maximum water-saving volume could reach 650 million m³ yr^–1. For the fixed reduction rate of total water diversion, the prioritized measure should be given to reduce the amount of field irrigation quota, and then to improve the water efficiency of the canal system. Although a certain amount of water can be saved through various measures, the effect of water saving in the irrigation district should be analyzed comprehensively, and the optimal water management scheme should be determined by considering the ecological water requirement in the HID.