UA News

Sharon Megdal chairs a task force charged with identifying possible solutions to the diverse and growing demands for agricultural water.

With a projected 25 percent and 50 percent increase in U.S. and world populations, respectively, by 2050, substantial increases in freshwater use for food, fiber and fuel production, as well as municipal and residential consumption, are inevitable.

This increased water use will not come without consequences. Agriculture, one of the largest users of water in the country, will be impacted significantly by changes in water availability and cost. An abundant, reliable supply of water to meet demands cannot be taken for granted

To evaluate current trends, summarize key vulnerabilities and identify possible solutions to current and future challenges, the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, or CAST, convened a task force of eight scientists, educators and resource analysts.

They have prepared a new CAST issue paper, "Water, People, and the Future: Water Availability for Agriculture in the United States."

Through case studies, the new CAST publication discusses the diverse demands for water resources using the impacts, regulations, challenges and policies of four specific areas of the U.S. – California, Arizona, Florida and the High Plains – with particular focus on the implications for agriculture.

"It is critical that policymakers, water managers and water users work collaboratively to achieve sustainable water resource management," said Task Force Chair Sharon Megdal, who also directs the Water Resources Research Center at the University of Arizona.

"Multiple issues require attention – water quality, environmental water needs, municipal demands for water, water resource availability, agricultural water use – and no issue can be addressed individually. Supplying future water demand requires continued investments and efforts to enhance water use efficiency. Difficult social and economic transitions and tradeoffs may lie ahead," Megdal said.

"Using science as its foundation, CAST provides this timely resource to assist in understanding the complexities surrounding this serious challenge to Earth's resources," said John Bonner, the executive vice president and CEO of CAST.

The full text of "Water, People, and the Future: Water Availability for Agriculture in the United
States" (Issue Paper 44, 20 pp.) may be accessed on the CAST Web site, along with many of CAST's other scientific publications. The paper also is available in hard copy for a shipping and handling fee.

CAST is an international consortium of 32 scientific and professional societies. It assembles, interprets and communicates credible, science-based information regionally, nationally and internationally to legislators, regulators, policymakers, the media, the private sector and the public.