Need idea on how to go about this research "Evaluation of water use sustainability in irrigation as an adaptive response to climate change".

thank you James, yes with climate change there's increase in rainfall intensity but not enough to sustain irrigation.

Meryl,
I am pursuing an alternative design of r.o. membrane desalination. One thing I am concerned about is the depletion of ground water. One reason for this is that water attracts water and it can be shown in the past that when ground water has been depleted, the land itself can become arid.
Whether it's in Australia, the Middle East or the U.S., a solution to lowering the cost of desalination could allow for water over time to be pumped back into the ground.
I am going to be doing some math which would help to explain why I think using 40 to 80 bars of pressure to desalinize water is not necessary.
Then if costs can be lowered sufficiently, a proper land/water management can be achieved. As for sustainability, when a net water balance is able to be maintained, the future population growth (if it happens) would not be a burden to a system that is already stressed.

thank you Meryl, most of the work i have viewed too are from Australia and Indonesia, haven't come across much research in that context in Africa. But my thought is sustainable water use should encompass both efficiency and conservation except if its too broad.