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Title: Modeling the Effects of Groundwater-fed Irrigation on Terrestrial Hydrology over the Conterminous United States

Abstract

Human alteration of the land surface hydrologic cycle is substantial. Recent studies suggest that local water management practices including groundwater pumping and irrigation could significantly alter the quantity and distribution of water in the terrestrial system, with potential impacts on weather and climate through land-atmosphere feedbacks. In this study, we incorporated a groundwater withdrawal scheme into the Community Land Model version 4 (CLM4). To simulate the impact of irrigation realistically, we calibrated the CLM4 simulated irrigation amount against observations from agriculture census at the county scale over the conterminous United States (CONUS). The water used for irrigation was then removed from the surface runoff and groundwater aquifer according to a ratio determined from the county-level agricultural census data. Based on the simulations, the impact of groundwater withdrawals for irrigation on land surface and subsurface fluxes were investigated. Our results suggest that the impacts of irrigation on latent heat flux and potential recharge when water is withdrawn from surface water alone or from both surface and groundwater are comparable and local to the irrigation areas. However, when water is withdrawn from groundwater for irrigation, greater effects on the subsurface water balance were found, leading to significant depletion of groundwater storage inmore » regions with low recharge rate and high groundwater exploitation rate. Our results underscore the importance of local hydrologic feedbacks in governing hydrologic response to anthropogenic change in CLM4 and the need to more realistically simulate the two-way interactions among surface water, groundwater, and atmosphere to better understand the impacts of groundwater pumping on irrigation efficiency and climate.« less

Authors:
; ; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1136599
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-94649
KP1301030; KP1703020
DOE Contract Number:  
AC05-76RL01830
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Journal of Hydrometeorology, 15(3):957–972
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Journal of Hydrometeorology, 15(3):957–972
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
SIMULATION; IRRIGATION; HYDROLOGY; modeling; groundwater; irrigation; terrestrial; hydrology; conterminous; united; states

Citation Formats

Leng, Guoyong, Huang, Maoyi, Tang, Qiuhong, Gao, Huilin, and Leung, Lai-Yung R. Modeling the Effects of Groundwater-fed Irrigation on Terrestrial Hydrology over the Conterminous United States. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.1175/JHM-D-13-049.1.
Leng, Guoyong, Huang, Maoyi, Tang, Qiuhong, Gao, Huilin, & Leung, Lai-Yung R. Modeling the Effects of Groundwater-fed Irrigation on Terrestrial Hydrology over the Conterminous United States. United States. https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-13-049.1
Leng, Guoyong, Huang, Maoyi, Tang, Qiuhong, Gao, Huilin, and Leung, Lai-Yung R. 2014. "Modeling the Effects of Groundwater-fed Irrigation on Terrestrial Hydrology over the Conterminous United States". United States. https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-13-049.1.
@article{osti_1136599,
title = {Modeling the Effects of Groundwater-fed Irrigation on Terrestrial Hydrology over the Conterminous United States},
author = {Leng, Guoyong and Huang, Maoyi and Tang, Qiuhong and Gao, Huilin and Leung, Lai-Yung R.},
abstractNote = {Human alteration of the land surface hydrologic cycle is substantial. Recent studies suggest that local water management practices including groundwater pumping and irrigation could significantly alter the quantity and distribution of water in the terrestrial system, with potential impacts on weather and climate through land-atmosphere feedbacks. In this study, we incorporated a groundwater withdrawal scheme into the Community Land Model version 4 (CLM4). To simulate the impact of irrigation realistically, we calibrated the CLM4 simulated irrigation amount against observations from agriculture census at the county scale over the conterminous United States (CONUS). The water used for irrigation was then removed from the surface runoff and groundwater aquifer according to a ratio determined from the county-level agricultural census data. Based on the simulations, the impact of groundwater withdrawals for irrigation on land surface and subsurface fluxes were investigated. Our results suggest that the impacts of irrigation on latent heat flux and potential recharge when water is withdrawn from surface water alone or from both surface and groundwater are comparable and local to the irrigation areas. However, when water is withdrawn from groundwater for irrigation, greater effects on the subsurface water balance were found, leading to significant depletion of groundwater storage in regions with low recharge rate and high groundwater exploitation rate. Our results underscore the importance of local hydrologic feedbacks in governing hydrologic response to anthropogenic change in CLM4 and the need to more realistically simulate the two-way interactions among surface water, groundwater, and atmosphere to better understand the impacts of groundwater pumping on irrigation efficiency and climate.},
doi = {10.1175/JHM-D-13-049.1},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1136599}, journal = {Journal of Hydrometeorology, 15(3):957–972},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2014},
month = {Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2014}
}