Water and Agriculture

Cannabis farms in California rely on wells outside of regulated groundwater basins

As permitted cannabis farming in California continues to expand statewide, including in ecologically sensitive watersheds, an improved understanding of water-use practices is needed. Existing evidence suggests widespread reliance on groundwater wells …

Comparing streamflow depletion estimation approaches in a heavily-stressed, conjunctively-managed aquifer

Estimating reductions in streamflow caused by groundwater pumping (‘streamflow depletion’) is critical for conjunctive groundwater-surface water management. Streamflow depletion can be quantified using analytical models, which have low data …

A Serious Board Game to Analyze Socio-Ecological Dynamics towards Collaboration in Agriculture

Climate change exacerbates water scarcity and associated conflicts over water resources. To address said conflicts and achieve sustainable use of water resources in agriculture, further development of socio-ecological adaptations are required. In …

Transitions from irrigated to dryland agriculture in the Ogallala Aquifer: Land use suitability and regional economic impacts

Many agricultural communities depend on groundwater irrigation as a supplemental or primary water source. However, groundwater resources are finite, and depletion can make continued irrigation inviable. When modeling the economic impacts of future …

Cannabis and residential groundwater pumping impacts on streamflow and ecosystems in Northern California

Cannabis is an emerging agricultural frontier, but due to its quasi-legal status its environmental impacts are poorly understood. Where cannabis is irrigated by groundwater, pumping can lead to streamflow depletion in surrounding streams which may …

Comparing the effects of climate and land use on surface water quality using future watershed scenarios

Eutrophication of freshwaters occurs in watersheds with excessive pollution of phosphorus (P). Factors that affect P cycling and transport, including climate and land use, are changing rapidly and can have legacy effects, making future freshwater …

Combining Evapotranspiration and Soil Apparent Electrical Conductivity Mapping to Identify Potential Precision Irrigation Benefits

Precision irrigation optimizes the spatiotemporal application of water using evapotranspiration (ET) maps to assess water stress or soil apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) maps as a proxy for plant available water content. However, ET and ECa …

Nonlinear groundwater influence on biophysical indicators of ecosystem services

Groundwater is a fundamental control on biophysical processes underpinning essential ecosystem services (ES). However, interactions and feedbacks among groundwater, climate and multiple ES remain less well understood. We investigated groundwater …

Continuous separation of land use and climate effects on the past and future water balance

Understanding the combined and separate effects of climate and land use change on the water cycle is necessary to mitigate negative impacts. However, existing methodologies typically divide data into discrete (before and after) periods, implicitly …

Scenarios reveal pathways to sustain future ecosystem services in an agricultural landscape

Sustaining food production, water quality, soil retention, flood, and climate regulation in agricultural landscapes is a pressing global challenge given accelerating environmental changes. Scenarios are stories about plausible futures, and scenarios …