Enter Note Done
Go to previous page in this tab
Session
  • Presentation | H11A: Advancements in Watershed Modeling to Support Water Management I Oral
  • Oral
  • Share Icon
    Map Icon
    Bookmark Icon
  • H11A-03: Water for extreme weather management: implications for regional irrigation demand estimates and projections.
    • Schedule
    Notes
  • Location Icon220-222
    NOLA CC
    Set Timezone
    •  
    View Map

Generic 'disconnected' Message
Author(s):
Md Redwan Ahmad Khan, Washington State University (First Author, Presenting Author)
Roger Nelson, Washington State University
Matthew Yourek, Washington State University
Kirti Rajagopalan, Washington State University


Irrigated farms are essential to the U.S. economy, and water management. Most of them are in the western U.S., and they mostly use the surface water, where water supplies are already limited and fully allocated to different users. As extreme heat events become more common, perennial fruit growers—such as those growing apples, pears, and blueberries etc—use extra water through overhead irrigation systems to cool down the fruit surface and protect fruit quality.


However, the current water planning tools (crop and coupled crop-hydrology models) only consider the basic water needs (evapotranspiration need) for crop growth and mostly overlook this extra water used for cooling during heatwaves. This leads to an underestimation of water needs for the warmer future.


Our study improves the planning tool (CropSyst- a crop model) to incorporate water for extreme heat management and uses the Columbia River basin as a case study. Preliminary results suggest the magnitude of water needed for extreme heat management can be 2 to 3 times the current estimates. This finding highlights the need to incorporate water for extreme weather in future planning, as it can impact other agriculture and ecosystems.




Scientific Discipline
Neighborhood
Type
Main Session
Discussion