Workshop: Addressing Irrigation Aquifer Depletion and Challenges to Sustainability: Enhancing Dialogue on Solutions, Annual UCOWR/NIWR conference, Fort Collins, CO, June 2017

Southern Illinois University At Carbondale, Carbondale IL

Investigators

Abstract

1724764 Williard The proposed workshop will address irrigation aquifer depletion and challenges to sustainability by enhancing dialogue on solutions. It will be held as a special track in conjunction with the annual Universities Council on Water Resources/National Institutes for Water Resources (UCOWR/NIWR) conference, in Fort Collins, CO, June 2017. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that food production must be increased by 70 % from 2009 levels in order to feed an additional 2.3 billion people by 2050. Expected outcomes of this special track include the collaboration and cooperation among scientists of multiple disciplinary backgrounds in order to develop practical solutions to mitigate this complex water resources issue. The planned special track, addressing irrigation aquifer depletion and challenges to sustainability, focuses upon aquifer depletion in relation to agricultural irrigation. Supporting sessions will provide opportunities to discuss related issues in groundwater management and security. A partial list of topics addressing this nexus of water resources, agricultural practices, and food security includes: groundwater assessment and management; socio-economics of irrigation aquifer management; improving irrigation efficiency; crop management; Arizona and Nevada programs and projects to address future Colorado River shortages; groundwater management in a changing environment; drought monitoring and planning for scarcity; climate disturbance impacts and shifts in hydrology over the Western United States; the U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Aquifer Assessment. These topics are of interest to those involved in the NSF Program, INFEWS, Innovations at the Nexus of the Food-Energy-Water Systems, where the intersection of water and agriculture are concerned. A primary goal of this proposed conference track and associated sessions is to bring together a broad range of hydrogeologists, engineers, economists, agronomists, and other scientists and professionals studying groundwater depletion and adaptation in critical agricultural areas in the U.S., such as the Ogallala Aquifer, California's Central Valley, the Mississippi Delta region, and Arizona's alluvial basins. Through this workshop collaborative research efforts may be significantly advanced through the transfer of information, and workable solutions may be generated in the process.