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The Upper Guadiana catchment has experienced a change from wetlands to dry lands induced by human action. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool model, a soil water budget simulator for agricultural watersheds, was applied to this catchment. The ability of the model to represent the impact of groundwater withdrawals on the hydrological behaviour of the basin has been demonstrated, even if the details of some processes are not well represented from one year to another. This is probably due to a lack of sufficient rainfall data or information to model the influence of the reservoirs. An analysis of alternative scenarios has demonstrated the usefulness of the model for decision-making and the relevance of growing vines under semi-arid conditions instead of high water consumption crops to reduce water demand. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.