NGWA Conference on Groundwater and Food Production

Start | Browse by Day | Alphabetical Listing of Sessions | Author Index

NGWA Conference on Groundwater and Food Production: Alphabetical Content Listing

2013 William A. McEllhiney Distinguished Lecture Series in Water Well Technology — Keeping the Pump Primed: Aquifer Sustainability
John Jansen, Ph.D., PG
Discussion Session: Which will have Greater Impact on Future Agriculture - Policy or Technology?
Keynote: Implications of Groundwater Management on Agriculture
Ronald Kaiser
Networking Time
Panel: The Balancing Act of Agriculture Policy: Feeding the World, Conservation, and Groundwater Sustainability
John Farner
Session 1
Session 2
Aquaculture: Finally Ready for the Limelight?
Carl Webster
Aquaculture has been the fastest growing sector of global food production for the past three decades.  Global aquaculture production in 2011 totaled 60 million tons valued at US$119 billion.  The production of food fish from aquaculture has increased at an average annual growth rate of 8.8 percent worldwide from 1980 to 2010.   Approximately 50 percent of the seafood people consume in the U.S. is produced by aquaculture, an increase from almost 0 percent in 1970.  If projections are realized, the human population will grow from its current 7.1 billion people to 9 billion people by 2050.  Many areas of the world are subject to malnutrition and hunger, which will only be exacerbated by an increase in population.  Approximately 50 percent of the world’s population relies on fish to supply 20 percent of their intake of protein and 4.3 billion people with 15 percent of protein.  Of these, 400 million people depend on fish as their principal source of food.  To provide adequate protein, aquaculture production must increase.  It has been estimated that an increase in meat production of 200 million tons needs to occur if the human population is to have enough protein by 2050.  If one projects current aquaculture growth to 2050, approximate production will increase by more than 3 times current levels, meaning if aquaculture can sustainably continue to increase at its previous levels, all of the human population’s protein needs could be supplied by aquaculture.  As aquaculture mainly depends upon the presence of a clean and adequate source of groundwater, it is imperative that water resources be optimally utilized in a sustainable manner if aquaculture is to increase production to supply food to the world’s population.  Several new pond-production technologies which increase fish production while reducing water usage may allow for sustainable production with minimal environmental impact.
Rice Production: Good Reasons for Using Less Water
Merle Anders, Ph.D.
Arkansas produces approximately 50% of the nation’s 1 million plus hectares of annual rice production. Over 99% of this production is irrigated using flood irrigation with water drawn from underground aquifers. It is estimated that annual water withdraws for rice production are 5.3 million m3. These withdraws have resulted in significant aquifer depletion and large land areas being designated at critical ground water areas by the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission. A study was initiated in 2011 to determine if known water management options for rice production would be potential candidates for improving water management while providing additional benefits to the producers and industry. This study consisted of a standard flood treatment, two alternate wetting and drying (AWD) treatments, two row-watered (RR) treatments, and one combined AWD-flood treatment. Combined data for 2011 and 2012 showed an irrigation water use of 3392 m3 in the flooded treatment. Reductions in irrigation water use ranged from 52% in the AWD treatment that was dried to a 40% of soil water capacity between flooding events and 12% for the RR treatment dried to 60% of soil water capacity between water applications.  There were no significant differences in grain yields between the flood and AWD treatments and a significant reduction in grain yield in the RR treatments. Greenhouse gas emissions measured as yield scaled global warming potential ranged from 240 kg CO2 Mg-1 grain in the flooded treatment to 14 kg CO2 Mg-1 grain in the driest AWD treatment. Arsenic content in the grain decreased as the amount of time the field was flooded decreased. In total, these results show that rice production is possible with significant reductions in irrigation water use and that producers can accomplish this at the same time they reduce the environmental impact of rice production and obtain a better quality product.
Session 3
Economic Analysis, a Decision-Support Tool When Choosing How Best to Protect Groundwater Abstraction Points
Rachid Harbouze
In order to obtain and preserve drinking water that meets required standards, local authorities can choose between two types of measures:

- Preventive measures involving the establishment of sanitary protection zones around water abstraction points or catchment areas.

- Curative measures involving water treatment to ensure that it meets regulatory requirements.

 Comparing the economic costs of these preventive and curative solutions can be seen as a decision-support criterion for local authorities who need to find an economically acceptable solution that is also to the general advantage (potability standards).

At the moment, studies attempting to make an economic assessment of the measures applied to achieve good quality water are mainly based on cost-benefit analyses that only take into account as a criterion the efficiency of the measures taken. The aim of this study is to produce a protocol for a socio-economic analysis with which to assess any plan for the protection of drinking water catchment areas. This protocol is based on the cost-benefit method but incorporates the criterion of the efficiency of the measures.

 The Discussion section will consider the assessment at farm level of the impact of introducing contracts concerning several agro-environmental measures on the overall economic and environmental efficiency of farms and also on the partial efficiency of each activity: Phy efficiency for plant protection, N efficiency for fertilisation, etc. Our working hypothesis is that the adoption of such agro-environmental measures improves the economic and environmental efficiency of farms.

Key words : protocol for a socio-economic analysis, efficiency, agro-environmental measures , groundwater abstraction points.

 JEL classification system: Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics.

Session 4
Leading the Way: How the Lone Star State Balances Agriculture and Groundwater
Jay Bragg
Texas Farm Bureau is the largest agriculture state in the U.S. It traditionally produces all types of livestock and plant crops in challenging climatic conditions, always aware of the impact of its groudnwater resources.
Responsible Land Use Planning: Balancing Natural Resources and Agricultural Runoff
Michael Schnieders, PG, PH-GW
TBA
Session 5
North Plains Groundwater Conservation District 200-12 Reduced Irrigation Demonstration Project
Leon New, PE
The North Plains Groundwater Conservation District manages groundwater resources in eight counties located in the northern Texas Panhandle.  Within the district, over a million acres of corn and other crops rely heavily on irrigation from the declining Ogallala aquifer.  As aquifer levels decline, agricultural irrigators must adjust their practices to continue operating.  The 200-12 Reduced Irrigation Project establishes on-farm demonstrations by area producers to show how water conservation technologies and irrigation management practice adjustments can reduce on-farm groundwater use allowing irrigated agriculture to remain financially viable into the future. The project’s goal is to grow 200 bushels of corn on 12 inches per acre of irrigation water under a center pivot in an area where corn irrigation averages 21 inches per acre. 

The on-farm demonstration project has evolved from three district directors that risked their fields in 2010, to eleven cooperators today. The cooperators and the district’s conservationist use real-time data and other information to monitor crop and soil moisture conditions while managing irrigation applications.  Each cooperator chooses commercially available corn hybrids, determines seeding and fertilizer rates, and schedules pesticide and herbicide applications. Each field is equipped with a remote continuous tracking and control system for monitoring and managing irrigation application frequency.  During the growing season, the district works with the cooperator to monitor applied irrigation, rainfall, soil moisture, and plant fertility for crop health maintenance and to quantify project results. Advanced technologies such as electromagnetic soil mapping, variable rate irrigation and satellite imagery are being incorporated in the project.

If rapidly improving real-time technologies and irrigation management practice adjustments can be translated to three inches of reduced crop irrigation in the district, the water savings will be 250,000 acre-feet annually, prolonging the viability of agriculture irrigation in the region.

Short- and Long-Term Implications of Drought on Agriculture
John W. Nielsen-Gammon
The ongoing Texas drought has challenged many people's perceptions of water.  In one sense, water is a human right, with a concomitant societal obligation to provide clean, affordable drinking water for all.  In another sense, water is a property right, as in Texas where groundwater is little different from oil as a resource to be mined and exploited.  In another sense, water is a commodity to be bought, sold, and transferred as part of a free market.  In yet another sense, water is a shared common asset, to be utilized to the greatest benefit of society while also protecting the environment.  Texas law, which views surface water and groundwater as two different substances, exemplifies these inconsistencies.  Drought and water shortages bring these views of the nature of water into direct conflict with each other.  Through legislation and lawsuits, Texas is beginning the process of reconciling these perspectives and formulating a coherent water policy, but there is still a long, long way to go.
Session 6
Transboundry Influences on Regional Agriculture
Session 7
Managing Groundwater Conservation Locally Using Flow Meters and Alternative Measuring Methods
Steven Walthour, PG
Texas’ groundwater resources are managed and protected locally, through groundwater conservation districts.  Created by local residents, North Plains Groundwater Conservation District manages groundwater within its eight-county area in the northern Texas Panhandle.  Within the district, crop irrigation accounts for 95 percent of the 1.5 million acre-feet average annual groundwater withdrawals from the Ogallala aquifer.  In 2003, the district’s elected board composed of agricultural irrigators proposed sweeping changes to the district rules in response to Ogallala aquifer depletion.  The proposal required flow meter installation on all wells not exempted by state statute, groundwater production reporting and annual groundwater production limits.   Though well owners were concerned about the district requiring production limits and annual production reporting, they objected most to installing and maintaining flow meters because of the associated costs.  In 2005, the district adopted production limits and required annual production reporting.  In response to public input, the district adopted rules that required installing meters on all new wells and provided an option using alternative measuring methods for owners of existing wells to estimate groundwater withdrawals.  The first annual production reports were collected for 2006 groundwater withdrawals. Use of the alternative measuring methods addressed the public’s concern regarding meter costs, accelerated implementation for production reporting, and allowed the district to collect more accurate data for groundwater management.  Later, the Texas Legislature created the joint planning process between districts for setting aquifer desired future conditions (DFCs) within their management areas.  During the joint planning process, measured production data allowed the district to scientifically establish reasonable DFCs for its portion of the Ogallala aquifer by comparing actual production to groundwater availability modeling. Requiring production reporting from water meters or alternative measurement methods enables well owners to better manage their groundwater withdrawals and the district to better manage the area’s groundwater resources.
Session 8
Providing Water Conservation Tools to Agriculture Irrigators to Maintain Their Financial Viability with Diminishing Resources
Kirk Welch, BA
Within the North Plains Groundwater Conservation District over a million acres of corn and other crops rely heavily on irrigation from the declining Ogallala aquifer.  In addition to its regulatory authority, the district operates five programs that encourage producers to conserve groundwater.

The Groundwater Conservation Reserve promotes conservation by encouraging well owners to conserve water by allowing them to bank for the future any portion of their production limit they do not pump during a year.

The “200-12 Reduced Irrigation Project” establishes on-farm demonstrations by area producers to show how water conservation technologies and irrigation management can reduce on-farm groundwater use, allowing irrigated agriculture to remain financially viable into the future.

“Efficient Profitable Irrigation in Corn” (EPIC) is a results demonstration effort between the district and Texas A & M AgriLife Extension that compliments the “200-12 Project.” EPIC targets grain corn producers who historically employ a production strategy focusing on maximized yields, compared to the “200-12 Project’s” focus of maximum yield per-acre-inch of irrigation.  

The Texas High Plains Initiative for Strategic and Innovative Irrigation Management and Conservation (Texas High Plains Initiative) is a collaboration between North Plains GCD, High Plains Underground Water Conservation District, Texas Tech University, Texas Alliance for Water Conservation, Texas AgriLife Extension, growers and others. The Texas High Plains Initiative combines the district’s “200-12 Project” with ongoing demonstrations on the South Plains to create an information base and area of influence that includes 4.5 million acres of irrigated agriculture in the Texas High Plains.

Finally, the district owns the North Plains Research Field for conducting agricultural research. Texas A&M AgriLife Research conducts a wide variety of research at the field.

These programs provide tools and information that help irrigators conserve, while making sound business decisions for the future of their operations.