Global drivers of local water stresses and global responses to local water policies in the United States

Haqiqi, Iman; Bowling, Laura; Jame, Sadia; Baldos, Uris; Liu, Jing; Hertel, Thomas

doi:10.1088/1748-9326/acd269

Title: Global drivers of local water stresses and global responses to local water policies in the United States

Journal Article · 18 May 2023 · Environmental Research Letters

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acd269 · OSTI ID:1974496

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Abstract The rapid depletion of US groundwater resources and rising number of dying wells in the Western US brings attention to the significance of groundwater governance and sustainability restrictions. However, such restrictions on groundwater withdrawals are likely to generate spillover effects causing further environmental stresses in other locations and adding to the complexity of sustainability challenges. The goal of this paper is to improve our understanding of the implications of growing global food demand for local sustainability stresses and the implications of local sustainability policies for local, regional, and global food production, land use, and prices. We employ SIMPLE-G-US (Simplified International Model of agricultural Prices, Land use, and the Environment—Gridded version for the United States) to distangle the significance or remote changes in population and income for irrigation and water resources in the US. Then we examine the local-to-global impacts of potential US groundwater sustainability policies. We find that developments in international markets are significant, as more than half of US sustainability stresses by 2050 are caused by increased commodity demand from abroad. Furthermore, a US sustainable groundwater policy can cause overseas spillovers of US production, thereby potentially contributing to environmental stresses elsewhere, even as groundwater stress in the US is alleviated. These unintended consequences could include deforestation due to cropland expansion, as well as degradation in water quality due to intensification of production in non-targeted areas.

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Research Organization:: Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER). Earth And Environmental Systems Science (EESS)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0016162; SC0022141

OSTI ID:: 1974496

Journal Information:: Environmental Research Letters, Journal Name: Environmental Research Letters Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 18; ISSN 1748-9326

Publisher:: IOP PublishingCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United Kingdom

Language:: English

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