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Agriculture
Volume 15
Issue 23
10.3390/agriculture15232505
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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

Life Cycle Assessment of Reclaimed Water Irrigation in Organic Vineyards: Environmental Impacts and Water Stress Implications in La Rioja, Spain

by
Adrián Agraso-Otero
1,
Mar Vilanova de la Torre
2,3,
María Malia Molleda
3,
Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva
4 and
Sara González-García
1,2,*
1
CRETUS, Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
2
CropQuality: Crop Stresses and Their Effects on Quality (USC), Associate Unit of Instituto de Ciencias de la Vid y del Vino (ICVV-CSIC), 27002 Lugo, Spain
3
Instituto de Ciencias de la Vid y del Vino-ICVV (CSIC, UR, GR), Finca La Grajera, 26007 Logroño, Spain
4
Department of Computing and Industries, Faculty of Engineering Sciences, Universidad Católica del Maule, Av. San Miguel 3605, Talca 3460000, Chile
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Agriculture 2025, 15(23), 2505; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15232505 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 29 October 2025 / Revised: 25 November 2025 / Accepted: 28 November 2025 / Published: 1 December 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sustainable Viticulture)
Versions Notes

Abstract

Agriculture puts significant pressure on freshwater sources, which motivates the use of reclaimed water for irrigation as a promising alternative to reduce freshwater demand while also providing nutrients. This study applies Life Cycle Assessment to determine the environmental impacts of irrigating a DOCa La Rioja vineyard with reclaimed water in the cultivation of organic grapes (scenario A) and compares it with an irrigation practice that uses canal water combined with organic extra-fertilisation (scenario B), accounting for differences in wastewater treatment processes. Results show that scenario A reduces impacts in categories such as global warming (16.2%) and freshwater eutrophication (25.6%) compared with scenario B, primarily due to the lower emissions associated with reclaimed water treatment. Additionally, a water balance was performed for the plot, which indicated that current inputs currently exceed losses in the region, so water stress is not observed; however, this situation may change in the near future due to population growth and climate change. These findings underscore the need to enhance the efficiency of the reclaimed water production, primarily by optimising its energy requirements, to support sustainable water use in agricultural systems.
Keywords: agriculture; circular economy; grapes; irrigation; life cycle assessment; wastewater treatment agriculture; circular economy; grapes; irrigation; life cycle assessment; wastewater treatment

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Agraso-Otero, A.; Vilanova de la Torre, M.; Malia Molleda, M.; Rebolledo-Leiva, R.; González-García, S. Life Cycle Assessment of Reclaimed Water Irrigation in Organic Vineyards: Environmental Impacts and Water Stress Implications in La Rioja, Spain. Agriculture 2025, 15, 2505. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15232505

AMA Style

Agraso-Otero A, Vilanova de la Torre M, Malia Molleda M, Rebolledo-Leiva R, González-García S. Life Cycle Assessment of Reclaimed Water Irrigation in Organic Vineyards: Environmental Impacts and Water Stress Implications in La Rioja, Spain. Agriculture. 2025; 15(23):2505. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15232505

Chicago/Turabian Style

Agraso-Otero, Adrián, Mar Vilanova de la Torre, María Malia Molleda, Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva, and Sara González-García. 2025. "Life Cycle Assessment of Reclaimed Water Irrigation in Organic Vineyards: Environmental Impacts and Water Stress Implications in La Rioja, Spain" Agriculture 15, no. 23: 2505. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15232505

APA Style

Agraso-Otero, A., Vilanova de la Torre, M., Malia Molleda, M., Rebolledo-Leiva, R., & González-García, S. (2025). Life Cycle Assessment of Reclaimed Water Irrigation in Organic Vineyards: Environmental Impacts and Water Stress Implications in La Rioja, Spain. Agriculture, 15(23), 2505. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15232505

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