Irrigation in the Texas High Plains: a brief history and potential reductions in demand

Colaizzi, Paul D.; Gowda, Prasanna H.; Marek, Thomas H.; Porter, Dana

doi:10.1002/ird.418

Cited by 192 publications

(153 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Over 90% of Ogallala withdrawals in the High Plains are used in irrigation [58]. The irrigation presence at this site was clearly mapped by MIrAD-US with identification of the irrigated center pivots.…”

Section: Qualitative Assessment Of Mirad-usmentioning

confidence: 95%

Mapping Irrigated Lands at 250-m Scale by Merging MODIS Data and National Agricultural Statistics

2010

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Accurate geospatial information on the extent of irrigated land improves our understanding of agricultural water use, local land surface processes, conservation or depletion of water resources, and components of the hydrologic budget. We have developed a method in a geospatial modeling framework that assimilates irrigation statistics with remotely sensed parameters describing vegetation growth conditions in areas with agricultural land cover to spatially identify irrigated lands at 250-m cell size across the conterminous United States for 2002. The geospatial model result, known as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Irrigated Agriculture Dataset (MIrAD-US), identified irrigated lands with reasonable accuracy in California and semiarid Great Plains states with overall accuracies of 92% and 75% and kappa statistics of 0.75 and 0.51, respectively. A quantitative accuracy assessment of MIrAD-US for the eastern region has not yet been conducted, and qualitative assessment shows that model improvements are needed for the humid eastern regions where the distinction in annual peak NDVI between irrigated and non-irrigated crops is minimal and county sizes are relatively small. This modeling approach enables consistent mapping of irrigated lands based upon USDA irrigation statistics and should lead to better understanding of spatial trends in irrigated lands across the conterminous United States. An improved version of the model with revised datasets is planned and will employ 2007 USDA irrigation statistics. OPEN ACCESSRemote Sens. 2010, 2 2389

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Section: Qualitative Assessment Of Mirad-usmentioning

confidence: 95%

Mapping Irrigated Lands at 250-m Scale by Merging MODIS Data and National Agricultural Statistics

2010

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“…Center pivot systems, dominant in the HP, are up to 98% efficient in parts of the Texas HP but are salinizing soils because of insufficient water to flush salts and lack of winter precipitation (40). Ultimately, irrigated crops could be converted to rainfed crops to reduce groundwater depletion in the HP; however, this may require changing crop types (e.g., from water-intensive corn to cotton) and would decrease crop yields by a factor of 2.0-2.5 relative to their irrigated counterparts in the Texas HP with related impacts on the economy (41). Conversion from irrigated to rainfed cropland is infeasible in the SCV, which is essentially a desert and cannot support rainfed agroecosystems, as shown by the large increase in land fallowing (9-14%) during the recent drought from 2006 to 2009.…”

Section: Comparison Of General Attributes Of the Hp-and Cvirrigated Rmentioning

confidence: 99%

Groundwater depletion and sustainability of irrigation in the US High Plains and Central Valley

Scanlon

Faunt

Longuevergne

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

1,075

755

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International audienceAquifer overexploitation could significantly impact crop production in the United States because 60% of irrigation relies on groundwater. Groundwater depletion in the irrigated High Plains and California Central Valley accounts for ∼50% of groundwater depletion in the United States since 1900. A newly developed High Plains recharge map shows that high recharge in the northern High Plains results in sustainable pumpage, whereas lower recharge in the central and southern High Plains has resulted in focused depletion of 330 km3 of fossil groundwater, mostly recharged during the past 13,000 y. Depletion is highly localized with about a third of depletion occurring in 4% of the High Plains land area. Extrapolation of the current depletion rate suggests that 35% of the southern High Plains will be unable to support irrigation within the next 30 y. Reducing irrigation withdrawals could extend the lifespan of the aquifer but would not result in sustainable management of this fossil groundwater. The Central Valley is a more dynamic, engineered system, with north/south diversions of surface water since the 1950s contributing to ∼7× higher recharge. However, these diversions are regulated because of impacts on endangered species. A newly developed Central Valley Hydrologic Model shows that groundwater depletion since the 1960s, totaling 80 km3, occurs mostly in the south (Tulare Basin) and primarily during droughts. Increasing water storage through artificial recharge of excess surface water in aquifers by up to 3 km3 shows promise for coping with droughts and improving sustainability of groundwater resources in the Central Valley

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“…Development of the area began with dryland agriculture in the late 1800s followed by rapid expansion of irrigated agriculture in the 1950s [Colaizzi et al, 2009]; irrigated land now covers $12% of the region [Qi et al, 2002]. Water for irrigation is sourced from groundwater in the south and central regions and from a combination of groundwater (86%) and surface water (16%) in the north (2005 data, [Kenny et al, 2009]).…”

Section: Background To Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential climate change effects on groundwater recharge in the High Plains Aquifer, USA

Crosbie

Scanlon

Mpelasoka

et al. 2013

Water Resources Research

181

142

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[1] Considering that past climate changes have significantly impacted groundwater resources, quantitative predictions of climate change effects on groundwater recharge may be valuable for effective management of future water resources. This study used 16 global climate models (GCMs) and three global warming scenarios to investigate changes in groundwater recharge rates for a 2050 climate relative to a 1990 climate in the U.S. High Plains region. Groundwater recharge was modeled using the Soil-Vegetation-AtmosphereTransfer model WAVES for a variety of soil and vegetation types representative of the High Plains. The median projection under a 2050 climate includes increased recharge in the Northern High Plains (þ8%), a slight decrease in the Central High Plains (À3%), and a larger decrease in the Southern High Plains (À10%), amplifying the current spatial trend in recharge from north to south. There is considerable uncertainty in both the magnitude and direction of these changes in recharge projections. Predicted changes in recharge between dry and wet future climate scenarios encompass both an increase and decrease in recharge rates, with the magnitude of this range greater than 50% of current recharge. On a proportional basis, sensitivity of recharge to changes in rainfall indicates that areas with high current recharge rates are least sensitive to change in rainfall and vice versa. Sensitivity analyses indicate an amplification of change in recharge compared to change in rainfall, and this amplification is in the range of 1-6 with an average of 2.5-3.5 depending upon the global warming scenario.

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Irrigation in the Texas High Plains: a brief history and potential reductions in demand

Cited by 192 publications

References 24 publications

Mapping Irrigated Lands at 250-m Scale by Merging MODIS Data and National Agricultural Statistics

Mapping Irrigated Lands at 250-m Scale by Merging MODIS Data and National Agricultural Statistics

Groundwater depletion and sustainability of irrigation in the US High Plains and Central Valley

Potential climate change effects on groundwater recharge in the High Plains Aquifer, USA

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