Background The European IRENA programme, coordinated by the European Environment Agency, identified the agriculture sector as having the highest water consumption (50%) in Southern European countries. Spain has the biggest irrigation area in the EU and 68% of available water is consumed by the agricultural sector. However, there is a high percentage of inefficient irrigation infrastructure and low levels of deployment of new technologies to improve irrigation efficiency. The high energy required to move water for irrigation is an additional environmental problem. According to the National Irrigation Plan, electricity use for primary agriculture and irrigation in Spain increased by 759 GWh between 1995 and 2008. The LIFE OPTIMIZAGUA project (LIFE03 ENV/E/000164) looked at how to save irrigation water in Spain through a model for water management. Objectives The main objective of the POWER project was to implement additional monitoring devices to improve the water savings demonstrated by the LIFE OPTIMIZAGUA project in Spain. It aimed to do this by applying leak detectors with probes at various soil depths, as well as using new methods to calculate water needs relating to climate conditions. The project also aimed to demonstrate and quantify the potential energy savings derived from the use of efficient water management models and the use of renewable energy-based devices applied to water pumping systems. In addition, the project aimed to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with moving water sprinklers for irrigation, and to optimise the transferability of the project’s models and methodology to other EU countries. Results The POWER project represented a qualitative and quantitative step forward with respect to the previous LIFE OPTIMIZAGUA project, which focused exclusively on efficient water management. In addition to furthering water efficiency, the POWER project introduced a second component to make energy savings on the moving of water sprinklers for irrigation. The project moved toward its goals by defining two ‘good water governance’ models. The first was a model for agriculture, with the aim of improving crop irrigation efficiency. This action was managed by the associated beneficiary Montesnegros Irrigation Community (Comunidad de Regantes Montesnegros) in La Almolda, Bujaraloz (Zaragoza). The project team selected a small (1 ha) plot of corn within this farmland area to experiment with and demonstrate water-efficient sprinkler irrigation, and a larger (3 ha) pilot corn plot for a drip irrigation system. The second model was for irrigation in urban green areas. Actions aimed at improving the efficiency of irrigation and water use in cities and towns were led by the Aragonese Agri-Environmental Management Company (Sociedad Aragone­sa de Gestión Agroambiental - SARGA), at the Municipal Sports Centre in Calatayud (Zaragoza). The project validated both ‘good water governance’ models, which combined principles of water and energy efficiency with applications based on renewable energy for the eco-management of water. The methods included water re-use and the utilisation of solar-thermal power, micro-wind and biomass energy to pump water. Water savings obtained represented an 86% overall improvement in terms of water consumption and 46% savings by ‘irrigation efficiency’. The results recorded 83 262 m3 of ‘recovered water’ for irrigation, 233 640 m3 of water loss avoided in due to faults (e.g. leaks), and a 7% improvement of ‘drip corn productivity’. Energy savings arising from irrigation water movement were calculated in terms of around a 74% overall improvement in ‘energy efficiency’ (85% improvement in agriculture and 59% in urban green spaces). Fossil fuel savings in energy generation of over 60% in urban green areas amounted to an accumulated equivalent of 100 tonne of oil equivalent (toe) per year. Reductions of more than 200 tons of GHG emissions were calculated, as a consequence of the experimental implementation of the two models. The project identified 135 sites in Spain and in Turin (Italy), where its findings could be replicated. These were incorporated in a GIS database, along with calculated carbon dioxide emission reduction potentials that totalled over 12 000 CO2 tonnes/year. This information is available on the project website (www.lifepowerproject.eu), along with a publically-available ‘Stop CO2‘ calculator and information on other project outcomes. Key to the POWER project’s success was its dissemination strategy, via media, its documentary film and website, publications, international conference, meetings and events. This is reflected in the number of stakeholders taking up the initiatives developed in the project’s ‘good water governance’ models, including local authorities, technology-based companies and other private or public entities. These stakeholders committed to the objectives of reducing energy consumption and GHG emissions derived from irrigation tasks. A total of ten irrigation communities have adhered to the project, including the national association of irrigation communities, while 46 cities and towns have committed to making water and energy savings, and to reducing GHG emissions, by applying the techniques produced and tested in the project’s models for efficient irrigation management in agriculture and urban green areas. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Communication Plan (see "Read more" section).