Historical trends in snowmelt used for irrigation
Many agricultural regions rely on snowmelt runoff as a source of water for irrigation, but climate change is altering runoff dynamics, making it difficult to meet increasing irrigation water demands. It remains unclear whether irrigation water shortages are systematically occurring in snow-dependent...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research: Food Systems |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/2976-601X/adacec |
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| _version_ | 1825208898248769536 |
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| author | Eva Kinnebrew Lindsey L Sloat Yue Qin Steven J Davis John T Abatzoglou Stefan Siebert Nathaniel D Mueller |
| author_facet | Eva Kinnebrew Lindsey L Sloat Yue Qin Steven J Davis John T Abatzoglou Stefan Siebert Nathaniel D Mueller |
| author_sort | Eva Kinnebrew |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Many agricultural regions rely on snowmelt runoff as a source of water for irrigation, but climate change is altering runoff dynamics, making it difficult to meet increasing irrigation water demands. It remains unclear whether irrigation water shortages are systematically occurring in snow-dependent regions across the globe. Here, we study global trends in surface runoff used to meet irrigation demands by linking rainfall and snowmelt runoff data with irrigation consumption data (1985–2020). Focusing on the most snow-dependent agricultural basins, we find that surface water runoff volumes have slightly decreased and snowmelt runoff is occurring significantly earlier in time (advancing an average of 8 d). These changes, coupled with an almost universal trend of increasing irrigation water consumption, have made snowmelt runoff less able to meet irrigation needs during crop growing seasons and increased reliance on alternative water sources (interbasin transfers or reservoirs). These results highlight potential future challenges for irrigated agriculture in snow-dependent regions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e060706a7b1e43ec943727a22b8407f6 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2976-601X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research: Food Systems |
| spelling | doaj-art-e060706a7b1e43ec943727a22b8407f62025-02-06T17:20:34ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research: Food Systems2976-601X2025-01-012101501210.1088/2976-601X/adacecHistorical trends in snowmelt used for irrigationEva Kinnebrew0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4766-5491Lindsey L Sloat1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2986-9725Yue Qin2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1664-4516Steven J Davis3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9338-0844John T Abatzoglou4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7599-9750Stefan Siebert5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9998-0672Nathaniel D Mueller6https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1857-5104Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Colorado State University , Fort Collins, United States of America; Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University , Fort Collins, United States of AmericaLand & Carbon Lab, World Resources Institute , Washington, DC, United States of AmericaCollege of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University , Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaDepartment of Earth System Science, Stanford University , Palo Alto, United States of AmericaSchool of Engineering, University of California , Merced, United States of AmericaDepartment of Crop Sciences, University of Göttingen , Göttingen, GermanyDepartment of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Colorado State University , Fort Collins, United States of America; Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University , Fort Collins, United States of AmericaMany agricultural regions rely on snowmelt runoff as a source of water for irrigation, but climate change is altering runoff dynamics, making it difficult to meet increasing irrigation water demands. It remains unclear whether irrigation water shortages are systematically occurring in snow-dependent regions across the globe. Here, we study global trends in surface runoff used to meet irrigation demands by linking rainfall and snowmelt runoff data with irrigation consumption data (1985–2020). Focusing on the most snow-dependent agricultural basins, we find that surface water runoff volumes have slightly decreased and snowmelt runoff is occurring significantly earlier in time (advancing an average of 8 d). These changes, coupled with an almost universal trend of increasing irrigation water consumption, have made snowmelt runoff less able to meet irrigation needs during crop growing seasons and increased reliance on alternative water sources (interbasin transfers or reservoirs). These results highlight potential future challenges for irrigated agriculture in snow-dependent regions.https://doi.org/10.1088/2976-601X/adacecclimate changecrop water userunoff timingsnowmeltirrigation |
| spellingShingle | Eva Kinnebrew Lindsey L Sloat Yue Qin Steven J Davis John T Abatzoglou Stefan Siebert Nathaniel D Mueller Historical trends in snowmelt used for irrigation Environmental Research: Food Systems climate change crop water use runoff timing snowmelt irrigation |
| title | Historical trends in snowmelt used for irrigation |
| title_full | Historical trends in snowmelt used for irrigation |
| title_fullStr | Historical trends in snowmelt used for irrigation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Historical trends in snowmelt used for irrigation |
| title_short | Historical trends in snowmelt used for irrigation |
| title_sort | historical trends in snowmelt used for irrigation |
| topic | climate change crop water use runoff timing snowmelt irrigation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/2976-601X/adacec |
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