DYNAMICS OF CHANGES OF IRRIGATED CROPLANDS IN THE STATE OF GUANAJUATO, MEXICO

Abstract. Irrigated agriculture requires extensive land areas and consumes high volumes of water. This study aims to determine and analyze the dynamics of irrigated croplands and their water consumption in Guanajuato State, located in the central region of Mexico. Guanajuato is among the Mexican states with the country's most considerable agricultural land extent, with more than half of its territory dedicated to agricultural activities.

The work offers an innovative approach by adding official statistical information on irrigated agriculture crops and geospatial data for a considerable period. First, land use and cover change patterns were studied using a multidate land cover cartographic database. We observed some reduction in irrigated areas due to urban expansion; nevertheless, most irrigated regions remained stable over time. After that, we computed the areal evolutions of ten main crops and their associated water consumption. We observed a slight contraction of irrigated agriculture. However, the most notorious changes in water consumption are due to changes in the types of crops and agricultural intensification can burden water scarcity.