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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fort Collins, Colorado » Center for Agricultural Resources Research » Rangeland Resources & Systems Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #407873
Research Project: Adaptive Grazing Management and Decision Support to Enhance Ecosystem Services in the Western Great Plains

Location: Rangeland Resources & Systems Research

Title: Potential benefits of water-use efficiency technologies in southeastern Wyoming

Author
item MATTKE, ALICIA - University Of Wyoming
item HANSEN, KRISTIANA - University Of Wyoming
item Peck, Dannele
item SHARMA, VIVEK - University Of Wyoming
item MILLER, SCOTT - University Of Wyoming
item BASTIAN, CHRISTOPHER - University Of Wyoming

Submitted to: Journal of American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/2/2024
Publication Date: 4/23/2024
Citation: Mattke, A., Hansen, K., Peck, D.E., Sharma, V., Miller, S., Bastian, C. 2024. Potential benefits of water-use efficiency technologies in southeastern Wyoming. Journal of American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers. 2024:30-39. https://www.asfmra.org/resources/asfmra-journal/2024journal.

Interpretive Summary: Decreases in groundwater levels in the Ogallala aquifer have been a growing challenge due to changes in climate and irrigation water use that is more than recharge. This can have negative impacts on agricultural producers who depend on groundwater for irrigation. We use a farm-level economic model to explore whether technologies that increase water-use efficiency could be beneficial to producers if they hypothetically had to reduce water use in the future.

Technical Abstract: The southeastern portion of Wyoming is an agriculture-dependent area that relies heavily on groundwater from the High Plains Aquifer to grow crops. Like other states across the High Plains region, withdrawal rates in this area are higher than recharge rates, causing groundwater levels to decline. This study uses annual and intra-seasonal farm-level dynamic optimization models to determine whether water-use efficiency (WUE) technologies can be beneficial to producers if water availability became more limited in the future. Results indicate that WUE technologies can help producers minimize economic losses from reduced water availability.