Daniel Heuclin / Coachella canal, water from Colorado river, California, USA

Ernie Janes / Potato (Solanum tuberosum) crop irrigation, Norfolk, UK, July 2011

Jenny E. Ross / A Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) plantation in the Coachella Valley near the Salton Sea. More than 90 percent of the dates produced in the United States are grown in this region, using Colorado River...

Jenny E. Ross / Sprinkler irrigation of a crop in California's Imperial Valley, using Colorado River water. California, USA December 2008

Laurie Campbell / Water spray irrigating arable field, Berwickshire, Scotland, UK, May

Jabruson / Agriculture on the edge of the rainforest, irrigation on the edge of the Obe National Park, near Bom Sucesso Botanic Gardens, Sao Tome, Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Gulf of Guinea

Jean E. Roche / Aerial view of land used to produce turf for grass surfaces for football pitches etc, with irrigation bar in place, Mas St Sauveur, Petite Camargue, Southern France, June 2009

Jean E. Roche / Aerial view of land used to produce turf for grass surfaces for football pitches etc, with irrigation bar in place, Mas St Sauveur, Petite Camargue, Southern France, June 2009

Daniel Heuclin / Desert irrigation with use of sprinklers on machinery, near Elfrida, Arizona, USA

Luis Quinta / Man walking along levada, irrigation channel, through Laurisilva Forest, Madeira Island, October 2011.

Luis Quinta / Man walking along levada, irrigation channel, through Laurisilva Forest, Madeira Island, October 2011.

Terry Whittaker / 2020VISION / Modern pump used to keep fen wet by pumping water from Wicken Lode, Wicken Fen, Cambridgeshire, UK, June 2011

Ernie Janes / Irrigation boom watering seedling Cabbages, Norfolk, UK, August

Ernie Janes / Irrigation boom watering seedling Cabbages, Norfolk, UK, August

Philippe Clement / Apple tree orchard with sprinklers irrigating, Val di Non, Dolomites, Italy, July 2010.

Juergen Freund / Water pouring into rice fields (Oriza sp), saturating the topsoil to create a 5-10 cm water layer. Water runs off the barren deforested mountains, and due to climate change it is uncertain how long th...

Charlie Summers / Greater Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis tabida) foraging in a steamy irrigation ditch. Bosque del Apache, New Mexico, USA, February.

Jenny E. Ross / Large sign on Interstate 5 in California's Central Valley agricultural region, reminding the public that much of California would be a desert or semi-desert, incapable of growing crops to feed America...

David Woodfall / Woman pumping water at new well to obtain clean freshwater, shrimp monoculture has lead to salinisation of the original water sources, Ganges delta, Bangladesh, November 2008

Inaki Relanzon / Aerial view of patchwork pattern of rice fields, near Tana, Madagascar. November 2008

Inaki Relanzon / Aerial view of patchwork pattern of rice fields, near Tana, Madagascar. November 2008

Inaki Relanzon / Aerial view of patchwork pattern of rice fields, near Tana, Madagascar. November 2008

Doug Wechsler / Aerial view of temporary lake (playa) in irrigation circle of crop field, high plains of Texas, USA

Doug Wechsler / Irrigation pump, cotton fields, Llano, Texas

Kristel Richard / Black backed jackal (Canis mesomelas) and four Ostriches (Struthio camelus) come to drink at the man-made waterhole next to four wild Namib horses and a colt, Namib Nakluft National Park, Namib Desert...

Kristel Richard / Two Oryx (Oryx gazella) come to drink at the man-made waterhole next to two wild Namib horses and a colt, Namib Nakluft National Park, Namib Desert, Namibia, October 2009

Laurie Campbell / Water spray irrigating arable field, Berwickshire, Scotland, UK, May

Gary K. Smith / Commercial Potato irrigation, showing reel of water pipe and irrigator, Norfolk, UK, June

Hanne & Jens Eriksen / Falaj, water irrigation channel / system during Spring in the mountain village of Wukan, Ghubrah Bowl, Jebel Al Akhdar, Oman, March 2008

Tim Laman / Canal just outside Everglades National Park disrupts historic water flow, Florida, USA.

Juergen Freund / Close-up of water running off drainage pipe into rice paddy field (Oryza sp.), Banaue Rice Terraces, Philippines. UNESCO World Heritage Site 2008

Juergen Freund / Water running between rice paddy fields (Oryza sp.), Banaue Rice Terraces, Philippines. UNESCO World Heritage Site 2008

Juergen Freund / Child playing with water pipe amongst rice paddy fields (Oryza sp.) on Banaue Rice Terraces, Philippines. UNESCO World Heritage Site 2008

Oriol Alamany / Old water well with Common Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) bushes in bloom in Villareal de San Carlos, Monfrague National Park, Caceres, Extremadura, Spain

Suzi Eszterhas / Water storage tank at the Headquarters of the West Gate Conservancy, Northern Rangelands Trust, Kenya

Bernard Castelein / Watermill driven by oxen, north of Udaipur, Rajasthan, India

Bernard Castelein / Watermill driven by oxen, north of Udaipur, Rajasthan, India

Shattil & Rozinski / Irrigation of field using center pivot sprinkler, Colorado, USA

Jerry Monkman / Irrigating a field of turf, Gold Star Farm, Canterbury, New Hampshire, USA

Solvin Zankl / Fog harvesting nets at the Gobabeb training and research centre, Namib Desert, Namibia. Fog in the Namib Desert is a regular and predictable event occurring over 200 days per year. The product of the...

Solvin Zankl / Silhouette of fog harvesting nets in local Fog Collection Project for harvesting water from the fog, Gobabeb, Namib Desert, Namibia 2007

Solvin Zankl / Fog harvesting nets at the Gobabeb training and research centre, Namib Desert, Namibia. Fog in the Namib Desert is a regular and predictable event occurring over 200 days per year. The product of the...

Gary K. Smith / Succulents in a garden corner with traditional watering cans and water butt, Norfolk, UK, July

George Chan / Man-made underground water channels, called Karez, stretch for thousands of kilometres through China's deserts, bringing water from distant mountains to desert towns like Turpan City, Xinjiang Provinc...

George Chan / Man-made underground water channels, called Karez, stretch for thousands of kilometres through China's deserts, bringing water from distant mountains to desert towns like Turpan City, Xinjiang Provinc...

George Chan / Underground water channels, called Karez, near Turpan city in Xinjiang Province, North-west China. These channels stretch for thousands of kilometres underneath China's deserts, bringing water from di...

Tom Gilks / Muslim woman watering vegetable crop, Bakau fields, the Gambia 2007

Tom Gilks / Women watering her vegetable crop, Bakau fields, Gambia 2007

Luciano Candisani / Mechanized farming equipment spraying water for cattle pasture, Brazil

Pete Oxford / Rabari woman of the Sorathi subgroup found in and around the Gir Forest National Park, Gujarat, India. 2006, drawing water from the village well.

Pete Oxford / Waterwheel driven by two oxen. As the water level drops more metal buckets are added to reach the water, Rajasthan, India, 2006

Pete Oxford / Waterwheel driven by two oxen. As the water level drops more metal buckets are added to reach the water, Rajasthan, India, 2006

Pete Oxford / Rabari woman of the Sorathi subgroup found in and around the Gir Forest National Park, Gujarat, India. 2006, carrying water drawn from the village well.

Pete Oxford / Waterwheel driven by two oxen. Rajasthan, India, 2006

Pete Oxford / Waterwheel driven by two oxen. Rajasthan, India, 2006

Pete Oxford / Rice terraces of the Ailao Mountains between the Red River and Vietnam. Honghe Prefecture, Yuanyang, Yunnan Province, China 2006

David Noton / Woman watering a garden, Dorset, England, UK

David Noton / Children watering garden, Dorset, England, UK

David Noton / Child watering garden, Dorset, England, UK

David Noton / Water hole, nr Brachina Gorge, Flinders Ranges, South Australia, Australia

Juan Manuel Borrero / Ancient Inca water fountains, Tipón, Peru 2006.

Juan Manuel Borrero / Ancient Inca water fountains, Tipón. Peru 2006.

Adrian Davies / Wind powered irrigation pumps on Lasithi plateau, Eastern Crete, Greece

Anup Shah / Aerial view of irrigation circle for growing vegetable crops and cultivated flowers alongside Lake Naivasha, Kenya

Pete Oxford / Leopard {Panthera pardus} at wind pumped waterhole, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa

Mike Potts / Crop irrigation by pump trucks reduces local water table, Everglades NP, Florida, USA

Jose B. Ruiz / Aerial view of fields for cultivation and reservoirs, Jumilla, Murcia, Spain

Juergen Freund / Irrigating crops from pump trucks, Florida, USA

Juergen Freund / Irrigating crops from pump trucks, Florida, USA

Pete Oxford / Manual irrigation system, Madhya Pradesh, India

Jose B. Ruiz / Irrigation of cereal crops, Ciudad Real, Spain

Jose B. Ruiz / Aerial view of reservoirs for irrigation, Alicante, Spain

Jose B. Ruiz / Irrigation sprinkler on a cereals field, Spain.

Jose B. Ruiz / Irrigation sprinkler on a cereal field, Spain.

Jose B. Ruiz / Irrigation sprinkler on a cereals field, Spain.

Doug Wechsler / Intensive livestock rearing with playa lake polluted by manure, Texas, USA.

Staffan Widstrand / Irrigation Pump worker Egypt, Middle East

Toby Sinclair / Villagers pumping water, Sirohi district, Rajasthan, India

Doug Wechsler / View of crops in an irrigation circle, Panhandle, Texas, USA.

Flip Nicklin / Amazon River Dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) rescued from drying irrigation ditch off the Orinoco River, Lago De Prata, Brazil

Flip Nicklin / Amazon River Dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) rescued from drying irrigation ditch off the Orinoco River, Lago De Prata, Brazil

Flip Nicklin / Amazon River Dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) male and female rescued from a drying irrigation ditch off of the Orinoco River and moved to the man-made Silver Lake in the town of Lagoa da Prata, Brazil

Pete Oxford / Manual irrigation system pumping water to rice paddy fields, Assam, India

Jose B. Ruiz / Irrigation of cereal crops, Ciudad Real, Spain

Jose B. Ruiz / 11th century aquaduct, Morella, Castellon, Spain, Europe.

Staffan Widstrand / Egyptian man praying, irrigation methods and pyramid in background, Egypt.

Mark Payne-Gill / Falaj irrigation system taking water to Wakken oasis, Oman, Arabia