Silber-Coats et al. (2025) Beyond scarcity: Science-based solutions for water and agriculture in the Western United States

Identification

• Journal: Agricultural Water Management
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-11-21
• Authors: Noah Silber-Coats, Lauren Parker, Alexander (Sam) Fernald, Sharon B. Megdal, Emile Elias
• DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109997

Research Groups

• New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA
• University of California, Merced, Merced, CA, USA
• University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
• This editorial synthesizes contributions from numerous research groups and institutions across the Western United States.

Short Summary

This editorial synthesizes 14 research contributions focusing on science-based demand management strategies for sustainable agriculture in the water-scarce Western United States, demonstrating that agricultural productivity, environmental sustainability, and economic resilience are mutually compatible goals.

Objective

• To present and synthesize research-informed solutions for managing agricultural water demand in the Western United States, aiming to sustain agriculture, reduce water consumption, and foster environmental and economic resilience amidst increasing aridity and water scarcity.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Western United States, broadly defined as west of the 100th meridian, including specific regional studies across New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming.
• Temporal Scale: Historical conditions, ongoing drought, future climate change scenarios, and long-term water availability, with some studies considering decadal intertemporal groundwater usage.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Various hydrological, agricultural, and economic models, including:
  • Crop allocation and cropping pattern models.
  • Crop evapotranspiration (ETc) estimation software (e.g., pyfao56).
  • Maize growth simulation models.
  • Soil water and nitrogen dynamics models.
  • Life Cycle Analysis (LCA).
  • Groundwater management and policy impact models (e.g., Local Enhanced Management Area (LEMA) models).
• Data sources:
  • Field water balance measurements and experimental data from deficit irrigation trials.
  • Geophysical surveys using transient electromagnetic transmitter and receiver (tTEM) for site characterization.
  • Historical agricultural and hydrological records.
  • Climate change projections and scenarios.

Main Results

• Crop Diversification: Increasing the proportion of winter wheat can reduce water use and sustain farmer profits under moderate climate change. Phasing out water-intensive crops like irrigated corn in favor of sorghum can limit aquifer drawdown. Over 70 alternative crop possibilities were identified, including forage crops to replace alfalfa and heritage food crops for niche markets.
• Soil Moisture Conservation: Implementing cool season cover crops before planting forage corn or sorghum in semi-arid regions increases soil water content and nitrogen uptake, leading to enhanced yields.
• Precision and Deficit Irrigation: New software for crop evapotranspiration (ETc) estimation can be integrated with variable rate irrigation tools for precise water delivery. ETc-based irrigation scheduling can achieve up to 25% water savings for maize. Withholding water during vegetative growth for winter canola can reduce irrigation by 25-40% without significantly reducing yield.
• Hybrid Irrigation Systems: A flexible hybrid flood-drip/surface-groundwater system for pecan orchards can maintain the benefits of flood irrigation (deep percolation, salt flushing) while conserving water during scarcity, potentially reducing greenhouse gas and smog emissions by up to 90% compared to drip-only systems.
• Managed Aquifer Recharge (Ag-MAR): Applying water with more lead time before the growing season and tailoring it to soil texture allows for increased nitrogen mineralization. Continuous winter flooding for 8-20 days provides the greatest recharge potential without adverse effects on the growing season nitrogen budget. Transient electromagnetic systems (tTEM) offer a cost-effective method for characterizing Ag-MAR site suitability.
• Policy and Governance: Promising policy solutions involve state-level groundwater management complemented by local input. Local Enhanced Management Areas (LEMAs) can achieve significant water use reductions (e.g., 27% in Kansas), with co-benefits including reduced nitrogen loss, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions. Externally funded payments to producers for voluntarily foregoing irrigation can reduce water use while sustaining farm income.

Contributions

• Synthesizes a diverse collection of 14 research papers, marking a significant shift from traditional supply-side water solutions to demand-side management strategies for agriculture in the Western United States.
• Provides a comprehensive overview of science-based approaches, including innovative crop choices, advanced irrigation technologies, soil moisture conservation techniques, managed aquifer recharge, and effective policy frameworks.
• Demonstrates that agricultural productivity, environmental sustainability, and economic resilience are mutually compatible goals, offering a hopeful and adaptable vision for water management in water-stressed regions.
• Offers insights and solutions with potential applicability to other dryland ecosystems globally facing similar water scarcity challenges.

Funding

Not explicitly stated in the editorial.

Citation

@article{SilberCoats2025Beyond,
  author = {Silber-Coats, Noah and Parker, Lauren and Fernald, Alexander (Sam) and Megdal, Sharon B. and Elias, Emile},
  title = {Beyond scarcity: Science-based solutions for water and agriculture in the Western United States},
  journal = {Agricultural Water Management},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109997},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109997}
}

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