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THE SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT of GROUNDWATER in CANADA the Expert Panel on Groundwater
THE SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF GROUNDWATER IN CANADA The Expert Panel on Groundwater Council of Canadian Academies Science Advice in the Public Interest Conseil des académies canadiennes THE SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF GROUNDWATER IN CANADA Report of the Expert Panel on Groundwater iv The Sustainable Management of Groundwater in Canada THE COUNCIL OF CANADIAN ACADEMIES 180 Elgin Street, Ottawa, ON Canada K2P 2K3 Notice: The project that is the subject of this report was undertaken with the approval of the Board of Governors of the Council of Canadian Academies. Board members are drawn from the RSC: The Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE) and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS), as well as from the general public. The members of the expert panel responsible for the report were selected by the Council for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance. This report was prepared for the Government of Canada in response to a request from Natural Resources Canada via the Minister of Industry. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors – the Expert Panel on Groundwater. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication The sustainable management of groundwater in Canada [electronic resource] / Expert Panel on Groundwater Issued also in French under title: La gestion durable des eaux souterraines au Canada. Includes bibliographical references. Issued also in print format ISBN 978-1-926558-11-0 1. Groundwater--Canada--Management. 2. Groundwater-- Government policy--Canada. 3. Groundwater ecology--Canada. 4. Water quality management--Canada. I. Council of Canadian Academies. -
Farming the Ogallala Aquifer: Short and Long-Run Impacts of Groundwater Access
Farming the Ogallala Aquifer: Short and Long-run Impacts of Groundwater Access Richard Hornbeck Harvard University and NBER Pinar Keskin Wesleyan University September 2010 Preliminary and Incomplete Abstract Following World War II, central pivot irrigation technology and decreased pumping costs made groundwater from the Ogallala aquifer available for large-scale irrigated agricultural production on the Great Plains. Comparing counties over the Ogallala with nearby similar counties, empirical estimates quantify the short-run and long-run impacts on irrigation, crop choice, and other agricultural adjustments. From the 1950 to the 1978, irrigation increased and agricultural production adjusted toward water- intensive crops with some delay. Estimated differences in land values capitalize the Ogallala's value at $10 billion in 1950, $29 billion in 1974, and $12 billion in 2002 (CPI-adjusted 2002 dollars). The Ogallala is becoming exhausted in some areas, with potential large returns from changing its current tax treatment. The Ogallala case pro- vides a stark example for other water-scarce settings in which such long-run historical perspective is unavailable. Water scarcity is a critical issue in many areas of the world.1 Water is becoming increas- ingly scarce as the demand for water increases and groundwater sources are exhausted. In some areas, climate change is expected to reduce rainfall and increase dependence on ground- water irrigation. The impacts of water shortages are often exacerbated by the unequal or inefficient allocation of water. The economic value of water for agricultural production is an important component in un- derstanding the optimal management of scarce water resources. Further, as the availability of water changes, little is known about the speed and magnitude of agricultural adjustment. -
Data Source: FAO, UN and Water Resources
GROUNDWATER WATER DAY SPECIAL How bad is it already Aquifers under most stress are in poor and populated regions, where alternatives are limited Shrinking source Ganga-Brahmaputra Basin in 145 km3 21 8 India, Nepal and Bangladesh, More than half of the world's major aquifers, The amount of of world's 37 largest aquifer of these 21 aquifer systems North Caucasus Basin in Russia groundwater the systemsÐshaded in redÐlost are overstressed, which and Canning Basin in Australia which store groundwater, are depleting faster world extracts water faster than they could be means they get hardly any have the fastest rate of depletion than they can be replenished every year recharged between 2003 and 2013 natural recharge in the world Aquifer System where groundwater levels are depleting Pechora Basin Tunguss Basin (in millimetres per year) 3.038 1.664 Aquifer System where groundwater levels are increasing Northern Great Ogallala Aquifer Cambro-Ordovician Russian Platform Basin (in millimetres per year) 4.011 Yakut Basin Plains Aquifer (High Plains) Aquifer System 2.888 Map based on data collected by 4.954 0.309 2.449 NASA's Grace satellite between 2003 and 2013 Paris Basin 4.118 Angara-Lena Basin 3.993 West Siberian Basin Californian Central Atlantic and Gulf Coastal 1.978 Valley Aquifer System Plains Aquifer 8.887 5.932 Tarim Basin Song-Liao Basin North Caucasus Basin 0.232 2.4 Northwestern Sahara Aquifer System 16.097 Why aquifers are important 2.805 Nubian Aquifer System 2.906 North China Aquifer System Only three per cent of the world's water -
Climate, Agriculture and Food Arxiv:2105.12044V1 [Econ.GN]
Climate, Agriculture and Food Submitted as a chapter to the Handbook of Agricultural Economics Ariel Ortiz-Bobea∗† May 2021 Abstract Agriculture is arguably the most climate-sensitive sector of the economy. Grow- ing concerns about anthropogenic climate change have increased research interest in assessing its potential impact on the sector and in identifying policies and adaptation strategies to help the sector cope with a changing climate. This chapter provides an overview of recent advancements in the analysis of climate change impacts and adapta- tion in agriculture with an emphasis on methods. The chapter provides an overview of recent research efforts addressing key conceptual and empirical challenges. The chapter also discusses practical matters about conducting research in this area and provides re- producible R code to perform common tasks of data preparation and model estimation in this literature. The chapter provides a hands-on introduction to new researchers in this area. Keywords: climate change; impacts; adaptation; agriculture. Approximate length: 31,200 words. arXiv:2105.12044v1 [econ.GN] 25 May 2021 ∗Associate Professor, Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell Univer- sity. Email: [email protected]. †I am thankful for useful comments provided by the editors Christopher Barrett and David Just as well as by Thomas Hertel and Christophe Gouel. Code and data necessary to reproduce the figures and analysis discussed in the chapter are available in a permanent repository at the Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research (CISER): https://doi.org/10.6077/fb1a-c376. 1 Contents 1 Introduction 3 2 Basic concepts and data 6 2.1 Weather and climate . -
Report 360 Aquifers of the Edwards Plateau Chapter 5
Chapter 5 Hydrologic Relationships and Numerical Simulations of the Exchange of Water Between the Southern Ogallala and Edwards–Trinity Aquifers in Southwest Texas T. Neil Blandford1 and Derek J. Blazer1 Introduction The Edwards–Trinity aquifer is the most significant source of water on the Edwards Plateau, which covers approximately 23,000 square miles in southwest Texas. The aquifer is bounded to the northwest by the physical limit of the Cretaceous rocks, which occurs in the southern portions of Andrews, Martin, and Howard counties (Figure 5-1). The primary aquifer in these counties occurs in saturated sediments of the Ogallala Formation, but the Ogallala Formation sediments thin to the south and often occur above the water table in Ector, Midland, and Glasscock counties where saturated Cretaceous sediments form the predominant (Edwards–Trinity) aquifer. Where significant saturated thickness occurs in Cretaceous sediments, the Trinity Group Antlers sand is the dominant aquifer material. Within the study area, it is often difficult to differentiate between the two aquifers. This paper provides an overview of the hydrogeology of the far southern portion of the Southern High Plains and the northwestern margin of the Edwards Plateau where the transition occurs between the Southern Ogallala and Edwards–Trinity aquifers. The boundary between the two aquifers is transitional and is not well defined within much of this area. The approaches used in previously published modeling studies to simulate the flow of water across this boundary are reviewed, and modifications made to the recently developed Southern Ogallala Groundwater Availability Model (GAM) to evaluate alternative conceptual models of inter-aquifer flow are presented. -
Supplement of Earth Syst
Supplement of Earth Syst. Dynam., 11, 755–774, 2020 https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-11-755-2020-supplement © Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Supplement of Groundwater storage dynamics in the world’s large aquifer systems from GRACE: uncertainty and role of extreme precipitation Mohammad Shamsudduha and Richard G. Taylor Correspondence to: Mohammad Shamsudduha ([email protected]) The copyright of individual parts of the supplement might differ from the CC BY 4.0 License. Supplementary Table S1. Characteristics of the world’s 37 large aquifer systems according to the WHYMAP database including aquifer area, total number of population, proportion of groundwater (GW)-fed irrigation, mean aridity index, mean annual rainfall, variability in rainfall and total terrestrial water mass (ΔTWS), and correlation coefficients between monthly ΔTWS and precipitation with reported lags. ) 2 2) Correlation between between Correlation precipitation TWS and (lag in month) GW irrigation (%) (%) GW irrigation on based zones Climate Aridity indices Mean (2002-16) annual precipitation (mm) Rainfall variability (%) (cm TWS variance WHYMAP aquifer number name Aquifer Continent (million)Population area (km Aquifer Nubian Sandstone Hyper- 1 Africa 86.01 2,176,068 1.6 30 12.1 1.5 0.16 (13) Aquifer System arid Northwestern 2 Sahara Aquifer Africa 5.93 1,007,536 4.4 Arid 69 17.3 1.9 0.19 (8) System Murzuk-Djado Hyper- 3 Africa 0.35 483,817 2.3 8 36.6 1.3 0.20 (-8) Basin arid Taoudeni- Hyper- 4 Africa 0.35 -
Ecoregions of North Dakota and South Dakota Hydrography, and Land Use Pattern
1 7 . M i d d l e R o c k i e s The Middle Rockies ecoregion is characterized by individual mountain ranges of mixed geology interspersed with high elevation, grassy parkland. The Black Hills are an outlier of the Middle Rockies and share with them a montane climate, Ecoregions of North Dakota and South Dakota hydrography, and land use pattern. Ranching and woodland grazing, logging, recreation, and mining are common. 17a Two contrasting landscapes, the Hogback Ridge and the Red Valley (or Racetrack), compose the Black Hills 17c In the Black Hills Core Highlands, higher elevations, cooler temperatures, and increased rainfall foster boreal Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, This level III and IV ecoregion map was compiled at a scale of 1:250,000; it Literature Cited: Foothills ecoregion. Each forms a concentric ring around the mountainous core of the Black Hills (ecoregions species such as white spruce, quaking aspen, and paper birch. The mixed geology of this region includes the and quantity of environmental resources; they are designed to serve as a spatial depicts revisions and subdivisions of earlier level III ecoregions that were 17b and 17c). Ponderosa pine cover the crest of the hogback and the interior foothills. Buffalo, antelope, deer, and elk highest portions of the limestone plateau, areas of schists, slates and quartzites, and large masses of granite that form the framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems originally compiled at a smaller scale (USEPA, 1996; Omernik, 1987). This Bailey, R.G., Avers, P.E., King, T., and McNab, W.H., eds., 1994, Ecoregions and subregions of the United still graze the Red Valley grasslands in Custer State Park. -
Walking on Water- Global Aquifers
16 March 2011 Walking on Water Mendel Khoo Researcher FDI Global Food and Water Crises Research Programme Gary Kleyn Manager FDI Global Food and Water Crises Research Programme Summary Aquifers play a key role in the provision of water for farming and for consumption by animals and humans. Almost all parts of the global landmass hide a subterranean water body. Aquifers are underground beds or layers of permeable rock, sediment or soil where water is lodged and can be accessed to yield water. This paper explores some of the major aquifers around the world and determines how countries are coping with increased water usage. Analysis Studying aquifers presents a number of problems, in part because scientists are yet to develop a complete picture of the globe’s aquifer systems; the sub-surface geology still holds mysteries. Further discoveries of aquifers and information on their connectivity with surface water can be expected in the future. The process should be similar to the way in which new discoveries of energy sources beneath the earth’s surface are still being made. An additional impediment lies in the different terms used to describe aquifers, some of them arising simply because of language differences. Aquifers do not fit into one neat category, as there are many variations to their form. The terminology for aquifers can include: underground water basins; groundwater mounds; lakes and parts of rivers; as well as artesian basins, which are confined aquifers contained under positive pressure. Hence, aquifers are not only located underground but some, or all, parts may also be found on the surface. -
Groundwater Recharge in Texas
Groundwater Recharge in Texas Bridget R. Scanlon, Alan Dutton, Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, and Marios Sophocleous, Kansas Geological Survey, Lawrence, KS 1 Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 4 Introduction......................................................................................................................... 5 Techniques for Estimating Recharge .................................................................................. 6 Water Budget .................................................................................................................. 6 Recharge Estimation Techniques Based on Surface-Water Studies............................... 7 Physical Techniques.................................................................................................... 7 Tracer Techniques....................................................................................................... 9 Numerical Modeling ................................................................................................. 10 Recharge Estimation Techniques Based on Unsaturated-Zone Studies ....................... 10 Physical Techniques.................................................................................................. 10 Tracer Techniques..................................................................................................... 12 Numerical Modeling ................................................................................................ -
Options for Managing the Hidden Threat of Aquifer Depletion in Texas
DEEP TROUBLE: OPTIONS FOR MANAGING THE HIDDEN THREAT OF AQUIFER DEPLETION IN TEXAS by Ronald Kaiser* and Frank F. Skiller** INTRODUCTION ....................................................... 250 II. GROUNDWATER CONCEPTS AND DATA ............................ 254 A. Basic Concepts ........................................... 254 1. Well Interference...................................... 255 2. Aquifer Overdrafting and Safe Yield ....................... 257 3. Aquifer Mining........................................ 258 B. Texas Groundwater Sources and Uses ......................... 258 1. Water Uses........................................... 258 2. Texas Aquifers........................................ 260 III. STATE GROUNDWATER LAWS ..................................... 261 A. State Groundwater Allocation Rules ........................... 262 1. Capture Rule ......................................... 263 2. Reasonable Use ....................................... 264 a. Reasonable Use—On-Site Limitation .................. 265 b. Reasonable Use—Off-Site Use Allowed ................ 266 3. Correlative Rights..................................... 267 4. Prior Appropriation.................................... 267 B. Statutory Groundwater Management Approaches ................ 268 C. Water Uses and Groundwater Uses—A Snapshot of Selected States................................................... 272 1. Water Uses........................................... 272 2. Groundwater Uses ..................................... 274 D. Groundwater Management -
Depletion of Ogallala Aquifer Megan Drury Seton Hall University
Seton Hall University eRepository @ Seton Hall Petersheim Academic Exposition Petersheim Academic Exposition 2019 Depletion of Ogallala Aquifer Megan Drury Seton Hall University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.shu.edu/petersheim-exposition Recommended Citation Drury, Megan, "Depletion of Ogallala Aquifer" (2019). Petersheim Academic Exposition. 71. https://scholarship.shu.edu/petersheim-exposition/71 What does this mean? Social/Political Depletion of Pressures Farmers all over the great plains are You might be thinking, so why aren’t steps Ogallala Aquifer responsible for producing a majority of our being taken to protect the aquifer? In nation’s crops. However, when Presented by Megan Drury Seton states like Texas, regulations regarding Hall University precipitation isn’t enough, they must turn the aquifer are taken lightly, remaining to the Ogallala Aquifer, pumping water “user-friendly”. Most landowners feel from the ground. This is not a sustainable entitled to their groundwater rights, and solution, as we are pumping out much fear even the slightest regulation will lead more than can naturally be replaced. In a to complete government control of the matter of time, the aquifer will be aquifer. However, regulation could be a completely diminished, rendering it key solution to this issue. The Ogallala Aquifer is an underground useless. If we are to sustain this precious water resource that stretches underneath and pertinent resource, things must the Great Plains. It spans across Wyoming, change. South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. It is responsible for providing irrigation for 30% of our nation’s agricultural needs, and gives farmers the ability to put crops in our markets and food on your plates. -
The Historically Evolving Impact of the Ogallala Aquifer: Agricultural Adaptation to Groundwater and Drought
Harvard Environmental Economics Program DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE ANSWERS TO TODAY’S COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES September 2012 Discussion Paper 12-39 The Historically Evolving Impact of the Ogallala Aquifer: Agricultural Adaptation to Groundwater and Drought Richard Hornbeck Harvard University and NBER Pinar Keskin Wellesley College [email protected] www.hks.harvard.edu/m-rcbg/heep The Historically Evolving Impact of the Ogallala Aquifer: Agricultural Adaptation to Groundwater and Drought Richard Hornbeck Harvard University and NBER Pinar Keskin Wellesley College The Harvard Environmental Economics Program The Harvard Environmental Economics Program (HEEP) develops innovative answers to today’s complex environmental issues, by providing a venue to bring together faculty and graduate students from across Harvard University engaged in research, teaching, and outreach in environmental and natural resource economics and related public policy. The program sponsors research projects, convenes workshops, and supports graduate education to further understanding of critical issues in environmental, natural resource, and energy economics and policy around the world. Acknowledgments The Enel Endowment for Environmental Economics at Harvard University provides major support for HEEP. The Endowment was established in February 2007 by a generous capital gift from Enel SpA, a progressive Italian corporation involved in energy production worldwide. HEEP receives additional support from the affiliated Enel Foundation. HEEP is also funded by grants from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Foundation, Chevron Services Company, Duke Energy Corporation, and Shell. HEEP enjoys an institutional home in and support from the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School. HEEP collaborates closely with the Harvard University Center for the Environment (HUCE).