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Is the Rebound Effect or Jevons Paradox a Useful Concept for better Management of Water Resources? Insights from the Irrigation Modernisation Process in Spain
Open accessAbstract
Improving the efficiency of water use is usually presented as an opportunity for large water savings, particularly in the agricultural sector. Warnings that this may not translate into reduced consumption is sometimes associated with the rebound effect or Jevons paradox, an appealing concept that can be used to analyse and prevent unde ired consequences in the rush for efficiency gains. This article, based on the energy sector, shows that the concept helps to identify possible unintended consequences of increasing efficiency and shows how efficiency gains are shared in society. However, it might be conceptually misleading when applied to water since it reinforces a myth on the consideration of water savings and efficiency, and may be also too restrictive. The recent modernisation of irrigation practices in Spain highlights that the rebound effect is only one of many possible consequences of efficiency improvements.
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“In the centuries since the concept of Jevons' paradox was developed, similar rebound effects have been observed with respect to energy [40] and water [33], as well as in domains such as road travel (where improvements to roads have been found to result in increased congestion [126]) and agriculture (where increasing the yield of a crop makes it more profitable to grow it, thereby increasing land u”
From From Efficiency Gains to Rebound Effects: The Problem of Jevons' Paradox in AI's Polarized Environmental Debate (2025) · cites this paper as [33]
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Research works printed but not linked: 16
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- Gleick, 2011, Water-use efficiency and productivity: rethinking the basin approach, Water International, 36, 784, 10.1080/02508060.2011.631873 · DOI
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- Lecina, 2010, Irrigation modernization and water conservation in Spain: the case of Riegos del Alto Aragón, Agricultural Water Management, 97, 1663, 10.1016/j.agwat.2010.05.023 · DOI
- Llop, M. (2008) Economic impact of alternative water policy scenarios in the Spanish production system: an input–output analysis. Ecological Economics 68(1-2): 288-294. · DOI
- López-Gunn, E., Mayor, B. and Dumont, A. (2012a) Implications of the modernization of irrigation systems. In Water, Agriculture and the Environment in Spain: Can We Square the Circle? (Eds. L. De Stefano and M.R. Llamas). Leiden, Netherlands: CRC Press/Balkema.
- López-Gunn, E., Zorrilla, P., Prieto, F. and Llamas, M.R. (2012b) Lost in translation? Water efficiency in Spanish agriculture. Journal of Agricultural Water Management 108: 83-95. · DOI
- Molden, 1999, Water accounting to assess use and productivity of water, International Journal of Water Resources Development, 15, 55, 10.1080/07900629948934 · DOI
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- Rodríguez-Díaz, J.A., Pérez-Urrestarazu, L., Camacho-Poyato, E. and Montesinos, P. (2011).The paradox of irrigation scheme modernization: more efficient water use linked to higher energy demand. Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research 9(4): 1000-1008. · DOI
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Luccioni, A. S., Strubell, E., & Crawford, K. (2025) · Proceedings of the 2025 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency · doi:10.1145/3715275.3732007 · Cited by 71
“In the centuries since the concept of Jevons’ paradox was developed, similar rebound effects have been observed with respect to energy [40] and water [33], as well as in domains such as road travel (where improvements to roads have been found to result in increased congestion [126]) and agriculture…”
Metadata
- Authors
- Dumont, A., Mayor, B., & López-Gunn, E.
- Affiliations
- Universidad Complutense de Madrid (ES)
- Corresponding author
- Dumont, A.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Aquatic Procedia
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2013
- Volume
- 1
- Pages
- 64-76
- ISSN
- 2214-241X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1972762149
- Cited by
- 98
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 4
- FWCI
- 10.12
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Aquatic Procedia (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Water resources management and optimization
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Irrigation Practices and Water Management
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Energy, Environment, and Transportation Policies
- Keywords
- rebound effect, Jevons paradox, water use efficiency, agricultural water management, water saving, Spain
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