Evolution and sustainability of groundwater use from the Ica aquifers for the most profitable agriculture in Peru

The Ica area of south-eastern Peru has evolved rapidly since the late 1990s into the most advanced agricultural development in the country. The intensive use of waterwells for year-round irrigation, primarily of asparagus, is the basis for an export industry worth about US$ 6,000 M/a, but one which is threatened by serious groundwater sustainability concerns. The public water-resource administration and private agricultural developers are beginning to confront the problem, which has already had a significant social cost, through developing measures to improve the groundwater balance whilst assuring agricultural production. This report presents the long-term evolution of land management and groundwater use in the area, and considers the feasibility of applying an adaptive and integrated water resources management (IWRM) approach to the system, with particular attention to managed aquifer recharge techniques.