scholarly journals Groundwater-Based Irrigation in the US – Challenges and Progress

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blessing Masasi
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Irrigation Management ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Wastewater Reuse ◽  
The United States ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
The Us ◽  
Agricultural Regions

Even though groundwater-based irrigation has increased agricultural productivity and economic activity in the United States (US), the current rate of groundwater withdrawals from major aquifers could significantly affect the sustainability of agricultural production systems in the near future. In the major agricultural regions, producers are now facing challenges to irrigate to meet full crop water needs. There is an increasing need to strategize irrigation management under various climatic and environmental conditions to optimize water use in agriculture while optimizing crop yields. This study reviews some of the major challenges facing irrigated agriculture in the US and the potential measures to ensure the sustainability of groundwater-based irrigation. Identified challenges included diminishing quantity and quality of groundwater resources, frequent droughts, low adoption rates of precision irrigation technologies, and rising energy requirements for irrigation abstractions. Irrigation efficiency improvements, shifting to high water use efficiency crops, wastewater reuse, groundwater monitoring, availing incentives, and policy changes, were identified as promising water management strategies to ensure irrigation sustainability. The success of these strategies will depend on the uptake and adoption by the producers in the affected agricultural regions.

scholarly journals Managing Water and Salt for Sustainable Agriculture in the Indus Basin of Pakistan

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 5303
Author(s):  
Asad Sarwar Qureshi ◽  
Chris Perry
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Allocation ◽  
Water Distribution ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Irrigation Management ◽  
Indus Basin ◽  
Soil Reclamation ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Fresh Groundwater

The Indus basin of Pakistan occupies about 16 million ha (Mha) of land. The Indus River and its tributaries are the primary sources of surface water. An estimated 122 km3 of surface water is diverted annually through an extensive canal system to irrigate this land. These surface water supplies are insufficient to meet the crop water requirements for the intensive cropping system practiced in the Indus basin. The shortfall in surface water is met by exploiting groundwater. Currently, about 62 km3 of groundwater is pumped annually by 1.36 million private and public tube wells. About 1.0 million tubewells are working only in the Punjab province. Small private tubewells account for about 80% of the pumped volume. Inadequate water allocation along the irrigation canals allows excessive water use by head-end farmers, resulting in waterlogging. In contrast, the less productive use of erratic supplies by tail-end farmers often results in soil salinity. The major issues faced by irrigated agriculture in Pakistan are low crop yields and water use efficiency, increasing soil salinization, water quality deterioration, and inefficient drainage effluent disposal. Currently, 4.5 Mha (about 30% of the total irrigated area) suffers from adverse salinity levels. Critical governance issues include inequitable water distribution, minimizing the extent to which salt is mobilized, controlling excessive groundwater pumping, and immediate repair and maintenance of the infrastructure. This paper suggests several options to improve governance, water and salt management to support sustainable irrigated agriculture in Pakistan. In saline groundwater areas, the rotational priorities should be reorganized to match the delivery schedules as closely as possible to crop demand, while emphasizing the reliability of irrigation schedules. Wherever possible, public tubewells should pump fresh groundwater into distributaries to increase water availability at the tail ends. Any substantial reform to make water delivery more flexible and responsive would require an amendment to the existing law and reconfiguration of the entire infrastructure, including thousands of kilometers of channels and almost 60,000 outlets to farmer groups. Within the existing political economy of Pakistan, changing the current water allocation and distribution laws without modernizing the infrastructure would be complicated. A realistic reform program should prioritize interventions that do not require amendment of the Acts or reconstruction of the entire system and are relatively inexpensive. If successful, such interventions may provide the basis for further, more substantial reforms. The present rotational water supply system should continue, with investments focusing on lining channels to ensure equitable water distribution and reduce waterlogging at the head ends. Besides that, the reuse of drainage water should be encouraged to minimize disposal volumes. The timely availability of farm inputs can improve individual farmers’ productivity. Farmers will need to have access to new information on improved irrigation management and soil reclamation approaches. Simultaneously, the government should focus more on the management of drainage and salinity.

Irrigation Management Strategies for Improving the Performance of Irrigated Agriculture

1992 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 279-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madar Samad ◽  
Doug Merrey ◽  
Doug Vermillion ◽  
Marian Fuchs-Carsch ◽  
Khalid Mohtadullah ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Irrigation Management ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Total Water ◽  
Large Share ◽  
Ice Caps ◽  
Formidable Challenge ◽  
The World ◽  
Deep Underground

Only about 3% of the world's total water supply is fresh, and most of this (87%) is locked up in ice caps or glaciers, in the atmosphere or soil, or deep underground. Mankind's primary supply of freshwater is the renewable component (precipitation minus evapotranspiration) which flows through aquifers, streams and lakes. An estimated 3,240 cubic kilometers of fresh water are withdrawn annually. About 70% is for agriculture, mainly for irrigation. Although agriculture accounts for a large share of world water use, providing adequate water in a timely and reliable manner to irrigate crops is a formidable challenge in most parts of the developing world. It will be even more challenging over the next few decades. This paper examines some significant issues that the world must address in the remaining years of this century to ensure that irrigated agriculture achieves its potential.

scholarly journals A spatially detailed blue water footprint of the United States economy

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 3007-3032 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard R. Rushforth ◽  
Benjamin L. Ruddell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
The United States ◽  
Energy Information Administration ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Consumptive Use ◽  
The Us ◽  
Per Capita

Abstract. This paper quantifies and maps a spatially detailed and economically complete blue water footprint for the United States, utilizing the National Water Economy Database version 1.1 (NWED). NWED utilizes multiple mesoscale (county-level) federal data resources from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), the US Department of Transportation (USDOT), the US Department of Energy (USDOE), and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to quantify water use, economic trade, and commodity flows to construct this water footprint. Results corroborate previous studies in both the magnitude of the US water footprint (F) and in the observed pattern of virtual water flows. Four virtual water accounting scenarios were developed with minimum (Min), median (Med), and maximum (Max) consumptive use scenarios and a withdrawal-based scenario. The median water footprint (FCUMed) of the US is 181 966 Mm3 (FWithdrawal: 400 844 Mm3; FCUMax: 222 144 Mm3; FCUMin: 61 117 Mm3) and the median per capita water footprint (FCUMed′) of the US is 589 m3 per capita (FWithdrawal′: 1298 m3 per capita; FCUMax′: 720 m3 per capita; FCUMin′: 198 m3 per capita). The US hydroeconomic network is centered on cities. Approximately 58 % of US water consumption is for direct and indirect use by cities. Further, the water footprint of agriculture and livestock is 93 % of the total US blue water footprint, and is dominated by irrigated agriculture in the western US. The water footprint of the industrial, domestic, and power economic sectors is centered on population centers, while the water footprint of the mining sector is highly dependent on the location of mineral resources. Owing to uncertainty in consumptive use coefficients alone, the mesoscale blue water footprint uncertainty ranges from 63 to over 99 % depending on location. Harmonized region-specific, economic-sector-specific consumption coefficients are necessary to reduce water footprint uncertainties and to better understand the human economy's water use impact on the hydrosphere.

Irrigation management through a coupled energy-water balance and crop growth model driven by remote sensing data

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Mancini ◽  
Chiara Corbari ◽  
Imen Ben Charfi ◽  
Ahmad Al Bitar ◽  
Drazen Skokovic ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Water Balance ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Irrigation Management ◽  
Balance Model ◽  
Soil Parameters ◽  
Area Index ◽  
Landsat 7

<p>The conflicting use of water is becoming more and more evident, also in regions that are traditionally rich in water. With the world’s population projected to increase to 8.5 billion by 2030, the simultaneous growth in income will imply a substantial increase in demand for both water and food. Climate change impacts will further stress the water availability enhancing also its conflictual use. The agricultural sector is the biggest and least efficient water user, accounts for around 24% of total water use in Europe, peaking at 80% in the southern regions.</p><p>This paper shows the implementation of a system for real-time operative irrigation water management at high spatial and temporal able to monitor the crop water needs reducing the irrigation losses and increasing the water use efficiency, according to different agronomic practices supporting different level of water users from irrigation consortia to single farmers. The system couples together satellite (land surface temperature LST and vegetation information) and ground data, with pixel wise hydrological crop soil water energy balance model. In particular, the SAFY (Simple Algorithm for Yield) crop model has been coupled with the pixel wise energy water balance FEST-EWB model, which assimilate satellite LST for its soil parameters calibration. The essence of this coupled modelling is that the SAFY provides the leaf area index (LAI) evolution in time used by the FEST-EWB for evapotranspiration computation while FEST-EWB model provides soil moisture (SM) to SAFY model for computing crop grow for assigned water content.</p><p>The FEST-EWB-SAFY has been firstly calibrated in specific fields of Chiese (maize crop) and Capitanata (tomatoes) where ground measurements of evapotranspiration, soil moisture and crop yields are available, as well as LAI from Sentinel2-Landsat 7 and 8 data. The FEST-EWB-SAFY model has then been validated also on several fields of the RICA farms database in the two Italian consortia, where the economic data are available plus the crop yield. Finally, the modelled maps of LAI have then been validated over the whole Consortium area (Chiese and Capitanata) against satellite data of LAI from Landsat 7 and 8, and Sentinel-2.</p><p>Optimized irrigation volumes are assessed based on a soil moisture thresholds criterion, allowing to reduce the passages over the field capacity threshold reducing the percolation flux with a saving of irrigation volume without affecting evapotranspiration and so that the crop production. The implemented strategy has shown a significative irrigation water saving, also in this area where a traditional careful use of water is assessed.</p><p>The activity is part of the European project RET-SIF (www.retsif.polimi.it).</p>

Using market research to understand the adoption of irrigation management strategies in the stone and pome fruit industry

2005 ◽  
Vol 45 (9) ◽  
pp. 1181 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Kaine ◽  
D. Bewsell ◽  
A. Boland ◽  
C. Linehan
Keyword(s):  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Market Research ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Irrigation Management ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Pome Fruit ◽  
Managerial Flexibility ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Extension Program

Market research was conducted to develop an extension program targeting the specific irrigation management needs of growers in the stone and pome fruit industry within the Goulburn Valley, Victoria. The process of integrating market research with extension practice proved challenging, as it required the development of an extension program that was fundamentally different from what was originally envisaged. However, it was essential to achieve this integration in order to meet the original objectives for the extension program as set by the funding body. We found, in most cases, that the motivation for stone and pome fruit growers in the Goulburn Valley to change orchard irrigation management practices was not because they needed to save water, or to increase water use efficiency. Instead, growers were changing practices in order to save time irrigating, improve the scope for managerial flexibility in the orchard, or when redeveloping their orchard to a closer planting design. These findings suggest that growers in the Goulburn Valley are more likely to respond to an extension program consistent with these motivations rather than a program promoting water use efficiency.

Modeling Irrigation Management Strategies to Maximize Cotton Lint Yield and Water Use Efficiency

2009 ◽  
Vol 101 (3) ◽  
pp. 460-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. L. Baumhardt ◽  
S. A. Staggenborg ◽  
P. H. Gowda ◽  
P. D. Colaizzi ◽  
T. A. Howell
Keyword(s):  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Irrigation Management ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Lint Yield ◽  
Cotton Lint ◽  
Cotton Lint Yield ◽  
Use Efficiency

scholarly journals A Spatially Detailed and Economically Complete Blue Water Footprint of the United States

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard R. Rushforth ◽  
Benjamin L. Ruddell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
The United States ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Energy Information Administration ◽  
United States Geological Survey ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
The U.S

Abstract. This paper quantifies and maps a spatially detailed and economically complete blue water footprint for the United States, utilizing the National Water Economy Database version 1.1 (NWED). NWED utilizes multiple mesoscale federal data resources from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE), and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to quantify water use, economic trade, and commodity flows to construct this water footprint. Results corroborate previous studies in both the magnitude of the U.S. water footprint (F) and in the observed pattern of virtual water flows. The median water footprint (FCUMed) of the U.S. is 181 966 Mm3 (FWithdrawal: 400 844 Mm3; FCUMax: 222 144 Mm3; FCUMin: 61 117 Mm3) and the median per capita water footprint (F'CUMed) of the U.S. is 589 m3 capita−1 (F'Withdrawal: 1298 m3 capita−1; F'CUMax: 720 m3 capita−1; F'CUMin: 198 m3 capita−1). The U.S. hydro-economic network is centered on cities and is dominated by the local and regional scales. Approximately (58 %) of U.S. water consumption is for the direct and indirect use by cities. Further, the water footprint of agriculture and livestock is 93 % of the total U.S. water footprint, and is dominated by irrigated agriculture in the Western U.S. The water footprint of the industrial, domestic, and power economic sectors is centered on population centers, while the water footprint of the mining sector is highly dependent on the location of mineral resources. Owing to uncertainty in consumptive use coefficients alone, the mesoscale blue water footprint uncertainty ranges from 63 % to over 99 % depending on location. Harmonized region-specific, economic sector-specific consumption coefficients are necessary to reduce water footprint uncertainties and to better understand the human economy's water use impact on the hydrosphere.

scholarly journals Peak grain forecasts for the US High Plains amid withering waters

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (42) ◽  
pp. 26145-26150
Author(s):  
Assaad Mrad ◽  
Gabriel G. Katul ◽  
Delphis F. Levia ◽  
Andrew J. Guswa ◽  
Elizabeth W. Boyer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crop Production ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
State Level ◽  
Resource Depletion ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Grain Production ◽  
Groundwater Pumping ◽  
The Us ◽  
Recharge Rates

Irrigated agriculture contributes 40% of total global food production. In the US High Plains, which produces more than 50 million tons per year of grain, as much as 90% of irrigation originates from groundwater resources, including the Ogallala aquifer. In parts of the High Plains, groundwater resources are being depleted so rapidly that they are considered nonrenewable, compromising food security. When groundwater becomes scarce, groundwater withdrawals peak, causing a subsequent peak in crop production. Previous descriptions of finite natural resource depletion have utilized the Hubbert curve. By coupling the dynamics of groundwater pumping, recharge, and crop production, Hubbert-like curves emerge, responding to the linked variations in groundwater pumping and grain production. On a state level, this approach predicted when groundwater withdrawal and grain production peaked and the lag between them. The lags increased with the adoption of efficient irrigation practices and higher recharge rates. Results indicate that, in Texas, withdrawals peaked in 1966, followed by a peak in grain production 9 y later. After better irrigation technologies were adopted, the lag increased to 15 y from 1997 to 2012. In Kansas, where these technologies were employed concurrently with the rise of irrigated grain production, this lag was predicted to be 24 y starting in 1994. In Nebraska, grain production is projected to continue rising through 2050 because of high recharge rates. While Texas and Nebraska had equal irrigated output in 1975, by 2050, it is projected that Nebraska will have almost 10 times the groundwater-based production of Texas.

Options for reducing costs of diesel pump irrigation systems in the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Foster ◽  
Roshan Adhikari ◽  
Subash Adhikari ◽  
Anton Urfels ◽  
Timothy Krupnik
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Irrigation Management ◽  
Agricultural Productivity ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Irrigation Systems ◽  
Gangetic Plains ◽  
Near Term ◽  
The Cost

<p>In many parts of South Asia, electricity for groundwater pumping has been directly or indirectly subsidised by governments to support intensification of agriculture. In contrast, farmers in large portions of the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains (EIGP) remain largely dependent on unsubsidised diesel or petrol power for irrigation pumping. Combined with a lack of comprehensive aquifer mapping, high energy costs of pumping limit the ability of farmers to utilise available groundwater resources. This increases exposure to farm production risks, in particular drought and precipitation variability.</p><p>To date, research to address these challenges has largely focused on efforts to enhance rural electrification or introduce renewable energy-based pumping systems that remain out of reach of many poor smallholders. However, there has been comparatively little focus on understanding opportunities to improve the cost-effectiveness and performance of the thousands of existing diesel-pump irrigation systems already in use in the EIGP. Here, we present findings from a recent survey of over 432 farmer households in the mid-western Terai region of Nepal – an important area of diesel-pump irrigation in the EIGP. Our survey provides information about key socio-economic, technological and behavioral aspects of diesel pump irrigation systems currently in operation, along with quantitative evidence about their impacts on agricultural productivity and profitability.</p><p>Survey results indicate that groundwater irrigation costs vary significantly between individual farmers. Farmers faced with higher costs of groundwater access irrigate their crops less frequently, which in turn results in lower crop yields and reduced overall farm profitability. Our data indicate that pumpset fuel efficiency may be a key driver of variability in irrigation costs, with large horsepower (>5 HP) Indian-made pumpsets appearing to have significantly higher fuel consumption rates (1.10 litre/hour and $18,000) and investments costs than alternative smaller horsepower (<5 HP) Chinese-made pumpsets (0.76 litre/hr and $30,000). Despite this, the majority of farmers continue to favour Indian pumpsets due to their higher reliability and well-established supply chains. Variability in access costs is also related to differences in capacity of farmers to invest in their own pumping systems. Pumpset rental rates in the region increase irrigation costs by a factor of 3-4 relative to the cost of fuel alone. Furthermore, rental rates typically are structured on a per-hourly basis, further exacerbating access costs for farmers with low yielding wells or whose irrigation management practices are less efficient.</p><p>Our findings highlight that opportunities exist to reduce costs of groundwater use in existing diesel irrigation systems through improved access to more energy efficient pumping systems. This would have positive near-term impacts on agricultural productivity and rural livelihoods, in particular helping farmers to more effectively buffer crops against monsoonal variability. Such near-term improvements in diesel pump irrigation systems would also play an important role in supporting agriculture in the EIGP to transition to more sustainable and clean sources of energy for irrigation pumping. However, efforts to enhance irrigation access must also occur alongside improvements to aquifer monitoring and governance of extraction, in order to minimise risks of future depletion such as observed in other parts of the IGP.</p>

scholarly journals Investigating the Host Range of the US-22, US-23, and US-24 Clonal Lineages of Phytophthora infestans on Solanaceous Cultivated Plants and Weeds

Plant Disease ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 98 (6) ◽  
pp. 754-760 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna C. Seidl Johnson ◽  
Amanda J. Gevens
Keyword(s):  
Late Blight ◽  
Phytophthora Infestans ◽  
Host Range ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cultivated Plants ◽  
Production Region ◽  
Black Nightshade ◽  
The Us ◽  
Bittersweet Nightshade

Phytophthora infestans causes late blight, one of the most important diseases of potato and tomato worldwide. Recently in the United States, three newly identified clonal lineages, US-22, US-23, and US-24, have become widespread. While potato and tomato are the most commonly infected solanaceous hosts for P. infestans, new lineages may have a broader or different host range. Under controlled conditions, we determined the host range of isolates representing US-22, US-23, and US-24 genotypes of P. infestans on detached tissues of cultivated solanaceous plants and solanaceous weeds common to the upper midwestern production region. None of the isolates representing the clonal lineages produced late blight symptoms or signs on foliage of selected cultivars of eggplant, pepper, tomatillo, or ground cherry in a detached leaf assay. Symptoms and signs were evident on the potato and tomato cultivars tested, although with the US-24 isolate, infection on tomato was limited. None of the isolates sporulated on the common weed black nightshade, but some sporulation and necrosis was observed with all representatives of the lineages on bittersweet nightshade and petunia. Hairy nightshade supported abundant sporulation and symptoms, and sporangial production was not significantly different than that on tomato for each of the isolates representing the three lineages, indicating the potential for this weed to be a source of inoculum and contribute substantially to late blight epidemics. Interestingly, black nightshade had the highest incidence of sporulation on berries, but the lowest on leaves, suggesting the importance of testing multiple plant organs when determining susceptibility of a species. Our results update knowledge of the host range of the ever-changing P. infestans populations and will help to improve late blight management strategies by targeting these additional hosts.

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