arid with dry and hot summers, cold, and snowy winters. According
to the long-term data, the total annual precipitation of the Konya
Plain is 323mm (Yavuz et al., 2012). Rainfall is extremely irregular
and it is concentrated during winter, reducing thus the choice of
annual summer crops to a very few. During the growing season,
at some time-points, the temperatures and evaporation rates may
go very high. In summer, temperatures may reach up to 40 ◦C and
evaporation may reach up to 12mm per day. Irrigation is essential
during this period, and most of the water is drawn from the aquifers
in the Konya Plain. This resulted in an excessive pumping of aquifer
water, and the situation became so alarming that within a span of
33 years (1974–2007), the aquifer water level depleted by 14–15m
(WWF, 2008). In recent years, however, this depletion is estimated
to be more due to excessive irrigation in the Konya Plain. Due to the
lack of irrigation water, only one-third of the agricultural land in
the Konya Plain can be irrigated. The increasing pumping costs and