Hydraulic Engineering Commons^™

Physical Water Scarcity Metrics For Monitoring Progress Towards Sdg Target 6.4: An Evaluation Of Indicator 6.4.2 “Level Of Water Stress”, D. Vanhama, A. Y. Hoekstra, Y. Wada, F. Bouraoui, A. De Roo, Mesfin Mekonnen, W. J. Van De Bund, O. Batelaan, P. Pavelic, W. G.M. Bastiaanssen, M. Kummu, J. Rockström, J. Liu, B. Bisselink, P. Ronco, A. Pistocchi, G. Bidoglio

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Target 6.4 of the recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) dealswith the reduction ofwater scarcity. To monitor progress towards this target, two indicators are used: Indicator 6.4.1 measuring water use efficiency and 6.4.2 measuring the level of water stress (WS). This paper aims to identify whether the currently proposed indicator 6.4.2 considers the different elements that need to be accounted for in a WS indicator.WS indicators compare water use with water availability.We identify seven essential elements: 1) both gross and net water abstraction (or withdrawal) provide important information to understand WS; 2) WS indicators need to incorporate environmental flow requirements …

Water Use In Irrigated Agriculture: An Approach To Water Productivity In Drip And Sprinkler Systems, Fernanda Lamede Ferreira De Jesus, Jéssica Garcia Nascimento, Rubens Duarte Coelho, Sergio Nascimento Duarte, Fernando Campos Mendonça

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Irrigation plays an important role in agriculture and the increase in the irrigated area and scarce water resources have encouraged the use of irrigation systems and management systems that increase the efficiency of water use. Thus, maximize water productivity has been one of the most important challenges in agriculture. The present study aimed to relate information on water productivity for two irrigation systems, drip and sprinkler systems, with the purpose of understanding the characteristics of these systems and contributing to the advancement of studies and research carried out in the area. Technological innovations aimed at reducing consumption and increasing water …

Loss Of Buffer Value Due To Aquifer Depletion: The Case Of High Plains Aquifer, Mani Rouhi Rad, Timothy Foster, Nicholas Brozovic

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Existing literature in economics and engineering do not realistically capture the effects of aquifer depletion on loss of profits from agricultural production. While the former literature ignores the physical characteristics of aquifer and the relationship between aquifer levels and groundwater availability, the latter strand of literature does not consider farmers' decisionmaking as a result of aquifer depletion. Misspecification of these relationships and their effect on irrigation decisions can result in misunderstanding the consequences of aquifer depletion and may provide ineffective policies. This paper provides a framework to study the effects of aquifer depletion on the profit of agricultural production. We …

Evaluating The Impacts Of Farmers’ Behaviors On A Hypothetical Agricultural Water Market Based On Double Auction, Erhu Du, Ximing Cai, Barbara Minsker

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Agricultural water markets are considered effective instruments to mitigate the impacts of water scarcity and to increase crop production. However, previous studies have limited understanding of how farmers’ behaviors affect the performance of water markets. This study develops an agent-based model to explicitly incorporate farmers’ behaviors, namely irrigation behavior (represented by farmers’ sensitivity to soil water deficit k) and bidding behavior (represented by farmers’ rent seeking l and learning rate b), in a hypothetical water market based on a double auction. The model is applied to the Guadalupe River Basin in Texas to simulate a hypothetical agricultural water market under …

Influence Of Internal Variability On Population Exposure To Hydroclimatic Changes, Justin S. Mankin, Daniel Viviroli, Mesfin Mekonnen, Arjen Y. Hoekstra, Radley M. Horton, Jason E. Smerdon, Noah S. Diffenbaugh

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Future freshwater supply, human water demand, and people’s exposure to water stress are subject to multiple sources of uncertainty, including unknown future pathways of fossil fuel and water consumption, and ‘irreducible’ uncertainty arising from internal climate system variability. Such internal variability can conceal forced hydroclimatic changes on multi-decadal timescales and near-continental spatial-scales. Using three projections of population growth, a large ensemble from a single Earth system model, and assuming stationary per capita water consumption, we quantify the likelihoods of future population exposure to increased hydroclimatic deficits, which we define as the average duration and magnitude by which evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation …

Carnarvon Artesian Desalination Feasibility Study, Ghd, Carnarvon Growers Association, Gascoyne Water Co-Operative

Research Reports

Study scope

The scope of the study is summarised below;

 Review existing data and previous work,

 Visit Carnarvon (1 day), inspect water system facilities and convene Stakeholder Workshop No 1 with representatives from Carnarvon Growers Association, Gascoyne Water Co-operative and DAFWA. Agree 3 – 4 possible system configuration options to be investigated.

 Obtain and examine existing water quality data for artesian bore(s) incorporated within the study. Assess probable long term water quality and pumping heads.

 Develop preliminary design details for the agreed options in terms of pre-treatment, desalination and other system modifications required (eg bores, pump …

Effects Of Initial Aquifer Conditions On Economic Benefits From Groundwater Conservation, T. Foster, N. Brozovic, A. P. Butler

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Worldwide, there is growing recognition of the need to reduce agricultural groundwater use in response to rapid rates of aquifer depletion. To date, however, few studies have evaluated how benefits of conservation vary along an aquifer’s depletion pathway. To address this question, we develop an integrated modeling framework that couples an agro-economic model of farmers’ field-level irrigation decisionmaking with a borehole-scale groundwater flow model. Unique to this framework is the explicit consideration of the dynamic reductions in well yields that occur as an aquifer is depleted, and how these changes in intraseasonal groundwater supply affect farmers’ ability to manage production …

River And Stream Power Assessment Report Including Culvert And Bridge Vulnerability Analysis: Deerfield River Basin, Massachusetts And Vermont, James G. Macbroom, Roy Schiff, Jessica Louisos

Water Reports

This geomorphic assessment of Deerfield River in western Massachusetts and southern Vermont has been prepared by Milone & MacBroom, Inc. (MMI) on behalf of the University of Massachusetts as part of its "Farms, Floods, and FGM" project, funded by the United States Department of Agriculture – National Institute of Food and Agriculture National Integrated Water Quality Program(USDA – NIFA NIWQP) program. This project is a broad-based geomorphic assessment of the Deerfield River and its adjacent riparian corridor to define its characteristics, processes, and management issues. The river channel is used extensively for hydroelectric power generation and recreation, with agricultural …

Compensatory Response Of Fathead Minnow Larvae Following A Pulsed In-Situ Exposure To A Seasonal Agricultural Runoff Event, Jonathan M. Ali, John Sangster, Daniel D. Snow, Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt, Alan S. Kolok

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

Agriculturally-dominated waterways such as those found throughout the Midwestern United States often experience seasonal pulses of agrichemical contaminants which pose a potential hazard to aquatic organisms at varying life stages. The objective of this study was to characterize the developmental plasticity of fathead minnow larvae in a natural environment subject to a seasonal episodic perturbation in the form of a complex mixture of agricultural stressors. Fathead minnow larvae were maintained at the Elkhorn River Research Station for a 28-d in situ exposure to an agrichemical pulse event.Minnow larvae were sampled after 14 and 28 days to characterize developmental plasticity through …

Aquacrop-Os: An Open Source Version Of Fao’S Crop Water Productivity Model, T. Foster, N. Brozovic, A. P. Butler, C. M. U. Neale, D. Raes, P. Steduto, E. Fereres, T. C. Hsiao

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Crop simulation models are valuable tools for quantifying crop yield response to water, and for devising strategies to improve agricultural water management. However, applicability of the majority of crop models is limited greatly by a failure to provide open-access to model source code. In this study, we present an open-source version of the FAO AquaCrop model, which simulates efficiently water-limited crop production across diverse environmental and agronomic conditions. Our model, called AquaCrop-OpenSource (AquaCrop-OS), can be run in multiple programming languages and operating systems. Support for parallel execution reduces significantly simulation times when applying the model in large geospatial frameworks, for …

In-Situ Observation And Transport Modelling Of Arsenic In Gangetic Plain, India, Pankaj Kumar Gupta, Pranjay Joshi, Jahangeer

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

The focus of this study is to investigate the arsenic movement and impacts on the residual concentrations on groundwater pollution load. The Gangetic plain area in the Ballia, Uttar Pradesh is selected as study area, which is also reported to extreme arsenic pollution in soil-water system. A modelling approach is developed to assess the arsenic flux in partially saturated zone using data of soil texture, soil hydraulic properties and stratigraphy. Soil type, slope, and land-use cover is considered for estimating the transient flux at the top boundary from daily precipitation and evapotranspiration data of the study area. Solute transport in …

Paid To Pump: How A Tax Credit Could Discourage Conservation Of The High Plains Aquifer, S. Polzkill,, A. Stejskal, H. Wilke, Anna Wistrom, Katherine E. B. Gibson, Mindy J. Spiehs, Nicholas Brozovic

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

In 1965’s United States v. Shurbet case, an irrigator from Texas asserted his claim for a depletion tax deduction for groundwater pumped from the High Plains Aquifer. He argued that the unique conditions of the southern High Plains region - a plateau where the shallow aquifer is recharged only through precipitation at a slow rate - meant the groundwater resource would be depleted in time. The state argued that groundwater was not fundamentally an exhaustible natural deposit, but the Supreme Court concluded the tax deduction was appropriate given the “peculiar” conditions in the area. It was stated the decision was …

Pathways To Increasing Farmer-Led Investments In Sustainable Agricultural Water Management In Sub-Saharan Africa, Douglas J. Merrey, Peter G. Mccornick, Molly C. Nance

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Without a transformative leap forward in the use of irrigation, Africa will continue falling short in the struggle to feed its growing population, improve its people’s nutrition, grow its economies, adapt to the impacts of climate change, and eliminate poverty. While Africans must lead this transformation for it to be successful, the international community can help African countries substantially increase the use of more productive and sustainable water management practices and unlock the potential of farmer-led irrigated agriculture. Achieving highly productive irrigated agricultural systems in Africa requires an enabling environment that facilitates the full engagement of farmers, public and private …

Nebraska Public Water Supply Program Summary Report 2017

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality: Reports

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the Public Water System Supervision (PWSS) Program under the authority of the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Under the SDWA and the 1986 Amendments, EPA sets national limits on contaminant levels in drinking water to ensure that the water is safe for human consumption. These limits are known as Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) and Maximum Residual Disinfectant Levels (MRDLs). For some regulations, EPA establishes treatment techniques in lieu of an MCL to control unacceptable levels of contaminants in water.

2017 Nebraska Water Monitoring Programs Report, Marty Link, Ryan Chapman

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality: Reports

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) is charged with monitoring, assessing, and to the extent possible, managing the state’s water resources. The purpose of this work is to protect and maintain high quality water and encourage or execute activities to improve poor water quality. Monitoring is done on nearly 17,000 miles of flowing rivers and streams, more than 134,000 acres of surface water in lakes and reservoirs, as well as the vast storage of groundwater in Nebraska’s aquifers.

2017 Nebraska Groundwater Quality Monitoring Report

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality: Reports

The 2001 Nebraska Legislature passed LB329 (Neb. Rev. Stat. §46-1304) which, in part, directed the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) to report on groundwater quality monitoring in Nebraska. Reports have been issued annually since December 2001. The text of the statute applicable to this report follows: “The Department of Environmental Quality shall prepare a report outlining the extent of ground water quality monitoring conducted by natural resources districts during the preceding calendar year. The department shall analyze the data collected for the purpose of determining whether or not ground water quality is degrading or improving and shall present the …