MODERN CHALLENGES TO AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT: PHYSICAL, AGRICULTURAL, AND SOCIOECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS ON THE HIGH PLAINS AQUIFER

Management of agricultural water use is a challenging but imperative task for meeting the future water, energy, and food demands of the global society. In order to successfully manage future water use, the motivational drivers behind water use decision-making must first be understood. However, decision-making drivers are dynamic at both seasonal and annual scales and are too variable for one-dimensional management strategies to address. Effective agricultural water management must include a balance of driver flexibility if long-term water conservation is to be achieved. This study highlights the High Plains Aquifer as a model for examining the complexities driving water use when linked to the water-energy-food nexus. Three management domains are analyzed: (1) the physical domain, (2) the agricultural domain, and (3) the socioeconomic domain. Categorized within each domain are the complex decision-making trends that have shaped the history, and will drive the future, of water management in modern agriculture. Water management recommendations are made based on the objective of balancing farmer profit and conserving water resources to ensure future agricultural production.