Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
2001 S. Lincoln Ave.
URBANA,IL 61801
Performing Department
Agricultural & Consumer Economics
Non Technical Summary
Many conflicts over transboundary allocations of water, endangered species, and instream habitat are driven by surface water-groundwater interaction. Despite this, even in basins where groundwater is the dominant water source, little is known about the variability across a watershed of groundwater use, as well as associated impacts on stream flow, instream and riparian habitat, crop yields, and irrigator profits. This proposal focuses on exploratory and planning activities to quantify the interaction between biological, physical, and socioeconomic components of the surface water-groundwater system in an integrated modeling framework that is correctly matched to the variety of human and natural processes operating across space and time. The innovation of our approach is that unlike other large-scale water system monitoring efforts, we will design and test a system for near-real-time monitoring of the population of human water-using activities as well as the environmental system. The overarching hypothesis of this project is that failure to capture watershed processes and their interactions at the correct scales will lead to gaps in scientific understanding and inappropriate management policies. The ultimate goal of this project is to develop a framework for integrated hydrologic-economic-ecologic measurement and analysis of surface water-groundwater interaction. Project objectives are (1) to design and test a pilot monitoring network to quantify near-real-time groundwater use and its physical and biological effects on stream flow and habitat over space and time; and (2) to design and implement a pilot groundwater market to improve both agricultural productivity and environmental resilience. The study site for the research is the Republican River Basin in Nebraska. Our research team includes economists, hydrologists, ecologists, and water managers from academic institutions, the federal government, local water management agencies, and non-governmental agencies. Research activities include two workshops to identify key constraints to monitoring and management of physical, biological and socioeconomic processes in surface water-groundwater systems; hydrologic and economic field experiments; numerical modeling and analysis; graduate student internships; and informal educational activities. This research will provide advances in the understanding of surface water-groundwater systems and models that integrate feedbacks between hydrologic, economic, and ecologic processes. Successful completion of the project objectives will provide the scientific groundwork and socio-economic context for implementation of a larger-scale surface water-groundwater monitoring and management system that is resilient to climate change. Additionally, the project contains several integrated research and education activities with the research, including interdisciplinary workshops and interdisciplinary research and internship experiences for graduate students. Finally, the project is expected to provide direct benefits to farmers participating in the pilot groundwater market.
Animal Health Component
15%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
70%
Applied
15%
Developmental
15%
Goals / Objectives
The ultimate goal of this project is to develop a framework for integrated hydrologic-economic-ecologic measurement and analysis of surface water-groundwater interaction. A key requirement for the framework is to design a monitoring system at an appropriate spatial and temporal resolution that is able to (i) capture key physical, biological, and socio-economic processes; and (ii) enable robust governance systems to be established. In order to lay the groundwork for achievement of the goal, this project has the following objectives: 1) Design and test a trial monitoring network to quantify near-real-time groundwater use and its physical and biological effects on stream flow and stream habitat over space and time. 2) Design and implement trial incentive-based groundwater management policies that cost-effectively improve both agricultural productivity and environmental resilience and are robust to climate change. In addition, we will hold two workshops during 2012-2014. The workshops (to be held in Nebraska and California) will bring together approximately a dozen researchers and graduate students with expertise in understanding surface water-groundwater interaction as well as groundwater managers. The goals of the first workshop will be (i) to learn about the breadth and complexity of processes involved in surface water-groundwater interaction; (ii) to develop a general conceptual framework for the systematic collection of empirical data (physical, biological, and socioeconomic) needed to quantify the processes relevant to surface water-groundwater interaction; and (iii) to refine the criteria to site pilot study activities. The goals of the second workshop will be (i) to synthesize pilot study results and to discuss their broader applicability beyond the study site; and (ii) to adapt the conceptual framework developed in the first workshop in light of pilot study findings; and (iii) to plan for further implementation and funding of the monitoring and governance systems developed. The study site for the research is the Republican River Basin in Nebraska, an area of active transboundary conflict over surface water-groundwater interaction. The activities in this project will help to reduce the transaction costs of water reallocation for farmers and demonstrate ways in which farmers can use water more cost-effectively to increase agricultural productivity while maintaining or improving instream flows. This represents a transferable template for reducing and managing surface water-groundwater conflict elsewhere. Pilot study outputs will demonstrate the viability of using extensive near-real-time monitoring networks for groundwater management not just in the study area, but in other regions with complex surface water-groundwater systems. The project involves two graduate students in interdisciplinary agricultural sciences research, as well as promoting learning and interaction with farmers and water managers in the Upper Republican Natural Resource District of Nebraska.
Project Methods
The project incorporates workshops, field-based experimental methods in the Republican River Basin, numerical modeling, and student internships. Below, we discuss components in turn. WORKSHOPS: We will hold two workshops during 2012-2014 to develop and implement the conceptual framework and to synthesize pilot study results. Both workshops will bring together approximately a dozen researchers and graduate students with expertise in understanding surface water-groundwater interaction as well as groundwater managers. PILOT NEAR-REAL-TIME MONITORING NETWORK: We propose to establish a pilot real-time monitoring network for a cluster of privately-owned wells using commercially available technology in the Republican River Basin study site. In the study site, flow meters are already in place at every well, and we will work with the Upper Republican NRD (URNRD) to facilitate placement of data loggers on private wells. The exact choice of sites will depend on farmer recruitment as well as the research design, but is anticipated to include multiple owners and to be restricted to center pivot technology, which is the modal technology in use. We will use the baseline geospatial data we already have to target potential pilot study sites based on estimated economic productivity, the severity of current constraints, proximity to streams, USGS stream gages, USGS monitoring wells, and local geophysical conditions. Given the budget limitations of the pilot study, we propose to establish five monitoring sites with data loggers at wells and collect data using a commercial cell-phone based system sampling at 15 minute intervals (the same sampling resolution as several USGS monitoring well and stream gages in the area). PILOT GROUNDWATER TRADABLE PERMIT SYSTEM: We propose to set up a pilot tradable permit scheme for groundwater rights in the study area. For the 2013 growing season, we will design and test 3 or 4 different trading rules that allow trading of limited pumping rights. Each rule will be implemented either in a different part of the basin, or randomly, depending on discussions between the research team and water managers before and during the first workshop. At the end of the growing season, we will be able to see what trades occurred under each of the rules, how these trades conform to theoretical predictions of profitable trades, and how trades have altered the patterns of water use and stream flow in the study area. NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE INTERNSHIPS: In the Summer of 2013, the two graduate students involved in the project will undertake internships with economists responsible for the salmon fisheries in California and Oregon at the National Marine Fisheries Service in Santa Cruz, California. This will allow them to see first-hand the work of a federal agency for whom surface water-groundwater interaction is critical, but with quite different regulatory infrastructure, habitat issues, and local management institutions than in the Republican River Basin study area.