Effect of irrigation pumpage during drought on karst aquifer systems in highly agricultural watersheds: example of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river basin, southeastern USA

Mitra, Subhasis; Srivastava, Puneet; Singh, Sarmistha

doi:10.1007/s10040-016-1414-y

Cited by 16 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Water-limited crop yields are obtained 1), RHEO was evaluated on how four different crops could be optimally allocated to understand the FEW nexus-how crop production over a groundwater dominated basin is dependent on energy over the SFRB -for a mixed irrigation regime (Figure 6 and Table 2) and to utilize RHEO for developing deficit irrigation strategies to maximize profit depending on climate variability (Figures 7 and 8) and variability in energy costs (Figure 9). Our study shows similar findings to previous studies (Mitra et al, 2016;Seo et al, 2018) that rainfed and deficit irrigation are preferred over full irrigation in the mixed irrigation regime of SFRB (Figure 7) primarily due to diminishing gains in crop yield with additional supplied water and the increased pumping cost of due to deeper groundwater table in drier years. The model is also capable of optimizing irrigation strategies according to changing groundwater table (Figure 8) and changing energy prices (Figure 9).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Understanding the Food‐Energy‐Water Nexus in Mixed Irrigation Regimes Using a Regional Hydroeconomic Optimization Modeling Framework

Kumar

Zhu

Sankarasubramanian

2023

Water Resources Research

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The availability of food, energy, and water resources is critical for sustained growth of human civilization (Scanlon et al., 2017). The production, consumption, and security of food, energy, and water (FEW) are inextricably linked as global food production accounts for 85.8% of global water withdrawal (D'Odorico et al., 2018). The agricultural production also has significant energy consumption with food-related energy use in the United States representing 16% of the national energy budget. Food systems are also linked to energy systems as crops serve as feedstock for bio-fuel production. The supplies of these interconnected resources are becoming less secure as global demand for FEW resources continues to increase (Cai et al., 2018). We are at a critical junction in identifying sustainable pathways without irreversibly compromising the environmental and biophysical resources (Rockström et al., 2009). Despite international initiatives such as Sustainable Development Goals, we still have to overcome significant challenges in sustainably managing the FEW systems acknowledging the interdependencies among them (Fuso-Nerini et al., 2018). The linkages between the FEW nexus have been extensively studied recently resulting in the development of sectoral and inter-sectoral models and tools for analyzing the nexus

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Understanding the Food‐Energy‐Water Nexus in Mixed Irrigation Regimes Using a Regional Hydroeconomic Optimization Modeling Framework

Kumar

Zhu

Sankarasubramanian

2023

Water Resources Research

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“…High rates of water consumption for agriculture, urban demands for Atlanta from Lake Lanier Reservoir, and other upstream uses (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mobile District, 2016; Georgia Water Coalition, 2017) have resulted in reduced flow inputs from the upstream basin to the Apalachicola River (Leitman et al ., 1993; Darst and Light, 2008; Rugel et al ., 2012). These water issues are the reason for a series of lawsuits between various cities, states, and government agencies in the basin over several decades (Rugel et al ., 2012; Hamann, 2013; Mitra et al ., 2016; Klein and Sandfort, 2019). Stage levels in the 170 km‐long (106 mile) river have declined due to both reduced flow inputs from upstream and channel changes associated with the dams and channel modifications for the failed navigation projects, including dredging, artificial cutoffs, and snag removal (Light et al ., 1998, 2006; Mossa et al ., 2017).…”

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Channel and vegetation recovery from dredging of a large river in the Gulf coastal plain, USA

Mossa

Chen

Kondolf

et al. 2020

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Anthropogenic impacts in large rivers are widely studied, but studies of recovery once a disturbance has stopped are uncommon. This study examines the biogeomorphic recovery of a 40‐km river corridor on the mid‐Apalachicola River, Florida following the cessation of dredging, disposal, and snag removal in 2002. This failed navigation project resulted in vegetation losses (~166 ha between 1941 and 2004), river widening, and increased point bar areas. We used paired sets of imagery for a 10‐year period during the recovery process at two different flow levels to assess sand bar change, land cover change, and their spatial variations. Most large sand bars decreased significantly in area due to growth of pioneer species, typically from the bankside of the bar. Mean bar area shrank 0.17 and 0.20 ha for the 30th and 1st percentile flows, respectively. For the entire study area, both water‐level comparisons showed gains in vegetation (23.36 and 15.83 ha), compensated by losses in the extent of water (16.83 and 8.55 ha) and sand bar losses (6.53 and 7.28 ha). Overall, these gains during the 10‐year passive recovery period are equivalent to ~15% of the vegetation losses that resulted from the navigational dredging. As found in other studies, most of the pioneer vegetation grew approximately 2 m relative elevation above the low‐water surface. The initial length of the tree line and the area of herbaceous growth both had a significant and positive relationship with the area of new vegetation growth over the study interval. As parts of the river are healing, reduced channel capacity from narrowing and tree growth will benefit the floodplain. As elsewhere, understanding of a river's biogeomorphology, hydrology, and disturbance history can help in selecting appropriate recovery metrics to further advance the understanding and management of disturbed floodplains. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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“…The validation results discussed in this section have been obtained from Mitra et al (2016). Stream-aquifer fluxes during July 2011 for all stream reaches were simulated within the target flux range except for reaches 15 and 16 located in Muckalee Creek .…”

Section: Model Validationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Initial groundwater conditions were simulated using the published USGS potentiometric surface maps for May-June 2010(Kinnaman & Dixon, 2011). Details regarding groundwater and stream-aquifer flux calibration can be found inMitra et al (2016). A brief description of stream-aquifer flux calibration is provided below.Stream-aquifer flux was calibrated across 16 stream reaches using 21 USGS streamflow gauging stations.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of water‐use policies for baseflow recovery during droughts in an agricultural intensive karst watershed: Case study of the lower Apalachicola–Chattahoochee–Flint River Basin, southeastern United States

Singh

Mitra

Srivastava

et al. 2017

Hydrological Processes

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The lower Apalachicola–Chattahoochee–Flint River Basin in the Southeast United States represents a major agricultural area underlain by the highly productive karstic Upper Floridan aquifer (UFA). During El Niño Southern Oscillation‐induced droughts, intense groundwater withdrawal for irrigation lowers streamflow in the Flint River due to its hydraulic connectivity with the UFA and threatens the habitat of the federally listed and endangered aquatic biota. This study assessed the compounding hydrologic effects of increased irrigation pumping during drought years (2010–2012) on stream–aquifer water exchange (stream–aquifer flux) between the Flint River and UFA using the United States Geological Survey modular finite element groundwater flow model. Principal component and K‐means clustering analyses were used to identify critical stream reaches and tributaries that are adversely affected by irrigation pumping. Additionally, the effectiveness of possible water restriction scenarios on stream–aquifer flux was also analysed. Moreover, a cost–benefit analysis of acreage buyout procedure was conducted for various water restriction scenarios. Results indicate that increased groundwater withdrawal in Water Year 2011 decreased baseflow in the lower Apalachicola–Chattahoochee–Flint River Basin, particularly, in Spring Creek, where irrigation pumping during April, June, and July changed the creek condition from a gaining to losing stream. Results from sensitivity analysis and simulated water restrictions suggest that reducing pumping in selected sensitive areas is more effective in streamflow recovery (approximately 78%) than is reducing irrigation intensity by a prescribed percentage of current pumping rates, such as 15% or 30%, throughout the basin. Moreover, analysis of acreage buyout indicates that restrictions on irrigation withdrawal can have significant impacts on stream–aquifer flux in the Basin, especially in critical watersheds such as Spring and Ichawaynochaway Creeks. The proposed procedure for ranking of stream reaches (sensitivity analysis) in this study can be replicated in other study areas/models. This study provides useful information to policymakers for devising alternate irrigation water withdrawal policies during droughts for maintaining flow levels in the study area.

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Effect of irrigation pumpage during drought on karst aquifer systems in highly agricultural watersheds: example of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river basin, southeastern USA

Cited by 16 publications

References 26 publications

Understanding the Food‐Energy‐Water Nexus in Mixed Irrigation Regimes Using a Regional Hydroeconomic Optimization Modeling Framework

Understanding the Food‐Energy‐Water Nexus in Mixed Irrigation Regimes Using a Regional Hydroeconomic Optimization Modeling Framework

Channel and vegetation recovery from dredging of a large river in the Gulf coastal plain, USA

Evaluation of water‐use policies for baseflow recovery during droughts in an agricultural intensive karst watershed: Case study of the lower Apalachicola–Chattahoochee–Flint River Basin, southeastern United States

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