Farming accounts for approximately 70 percent of freshwater withdrawals worldwide, and it often constitutes the lowest value use of freshwater. Where water is scarce, advanced irrigation technologies such as drip and piped delivery systems have been promoted as “water conservation technologies” (WCTs) that reduce agricultural water consumption, thus releasing water to alternative uses (e.g., the environment). This article examines whether this is true, discussing how WCTs contribute, in theory and practice, to water conservation. Based on an extensive review of more than 230 theoretical and empirical papers, we argue that WCTs should not be viewed as a tool for achieving water conservation, but rather as a means for stabilizing and increasing agricultural water productivity and farmers’ income in places where water is scarce. We conclude that, if the ultimate objective is water conservation, it is essential to adopt water conservation policies—that is, governance instruments aimed at reallocating available resources among uses (e.g., from irrigation to the environment)

中文翻译：

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灌溉技术与节水：理论与实证研究述评

在全球淡水取水量中，养殖约占70％，这通常是淡水的最低利用价值。在缺水的地方，已将诸如滴灌和管道输送系统之类的先进灌溉技术推广为“节水技术”（WCT），以减少农业用水量，从而将水释放给其他用途（例如环境）。本文探讨了这是否成立，并讨论了WCT在理论和实践上如何促进节水。基于对230多个理论和经验论文的广泛审查，我们认为WCT不应被视为实现节水的工具，而应被视为稳定和增加水源地农业水生产率和农民收入的手段稀缺。我们得出结论，