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Irrigation aquifer depletion: the nexus linchpin

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Abstract

Demand for agriculturally produced food and feed is virtually certain to rise as populations increase and economies of developing countries improve. Irrigation is currently supplying water for a disproportionately large amount of agriculturally sourced food and feed production needed to meet this growing demand. Irrigation supports 40 % of global food production, while it occupies only about 18 % of the agricultural landscape. Irrigation is groundwater sourced in critical food production regions of the world, and a variety of these aquifers are being drained; their rates of water recharge are well below extraction rates. Life expectancy of multiple irrigation aquifers, including selected aquifers in the USA, is decades or less if much improved water irrigation management practices are not implemented. Case examples from Kansas, Colorado, and California, home of arguably the most technologically advanced, economically stable, and well educated agricultural industry in the world, are used to address the question: “Are existing irrigation management approaches preferentially focused on sustaining existing economies or sustaining the longevity of the irrigation aquifers?” In general, irrigation aquifer water stress and need to conserve water is recognized by a vast majority of stakeholders. The need for stakeholders to maintain short-term financial integrity, which requires continued use of irrigation water, is creating stress in local water management policy development and delaying meaningful action. Pockets of forward thinking plans and even action are evolving, but these pockets must grow, and grow rapidly, to avert major negative social and financial consequences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Iowa Water Center and National Institutes for Water Resources, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011-1010, USA

    Richard M. Cruse

  2. Kansas Water Resources Institute, Kansas State University, 44 Waters Hall, Manhattan, KS, 66506, USA

    Daniel L. Devlin

  3. California Institute for Water Resources, 1111 Franklin St., Rm. #10204, Oakland, CA, 94607, USA

    Doug Parker

  4. Colorado Water Institute, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523-1033, USA

    Reagan M. Waskom

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  1. Richard M. Cruse
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  2. Daniel L. Devlin
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  4. Reagan M. Waskom
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Correspondence to Richard M. Cruse.

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Cruse, R.M., Devlin, D.L., Parker, D. et al. Irrigation aquifer depletion: the nexus linchpin. J Environ Stud Sci 6, 149–160 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-016-0369-6

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