Water is a critical resource that is essential for human well-being and economic development. Many regions around the world face ongoing water scarcity and competition over water resources. Climate change, other drastic social changes, and population and economic growth can significantly impact the supply and consumption of water.
There has been an increasing body of research focusing on the Food-Energy-Water (FEW) nexus. There is a mismatch between the spatial resolution of data availability and the resolution that water resources follow. Lack of quality sub-county water data also makes the research of micro-level food-water dynamics difficult if not impossible. These challenges pose obstacles to the further understanding of water scarcity in the context of the FEW nexus and leaves critical gaps in the research of the nexus.
In this dissertation I asked and answered the question: how do socio-economic forces shape localized groundwater depletion and surface water scarcity within the United States at the field and basin scale? Specifically, I tested whether irrigated farm size leads to reduction in groundwater application per unit area and whether an increase in the annual depletion in the underlying aquifer storage increases the probability of an irrigated land transfer, with a Kansas field level dataset and an econometrics approach. I estimated the FEW production and the water footprint of FEW production in every US watershed and compare the water footprint of production against their water scarcity. Then the groundwater reserves and dam storage in watersheds were examined as the buffers for the watersheds' FEW production against water shortages. I mapped the transfers of FEW goods and services and both the virtual and physical water flows from watersheds to US cities. The transportation infrastructure and other infrastructure that supports the FEW transfers are analyzed in terms of their contributions to the movement of FEW goods.
This dissertation improves our understanding of how broad structural changes within the agricultural industry are interconnected with the overexploitation of groundwater resources. It is the first study of water footprint accounting with the most recent input data for the whole US food-energy-water system at the watershed level and includes an analysis of cities' infrastructure reliance for food-energy-water transfers and infrastructure as buffers. The transfers of virtual water and physical water were compared. The resulting data and findings from the novel data synthesis will provide insights for consumers, food companies, and other decision-makers at various levels on their connection to water resources in non-local areas. The outcomes of this dissertation will also improve our ability to analyze drivers and solutions to local small-scale watershed water scarcity challenges and allow a quantifiable basis for policy support in the water resources management domain and beyond. / Doctor of Philosophy / Water is an important resource for humans and the economy, but many regions around the world face ongoing water shortages and competition over the limited water resources. The Food-Energy-Water (FEW) nexus has gained increasing attention as a framework for understanding the complex relationships between water, food, and energy systems. However, research in this area has faced challenges in data availability and data resolution.
This dissertation addresses these challenges while exploring how socio-economic forces shape localized groundwater depletion and surface water scarcity within the United States at the field, basin, and city scales. The author tests hypotheses related to irrigated farm size, irrigation water use, groundwater depletion, and the irrigated land transfers. The author estimates the FEW production and water footprint of production in every US watershed. The author also tracks and analyzes the transfers of FEW goods and services and embedded water footprint. Infrastructure's role in delivering FEW goods and buffering against water shortages were also examined.
Overall, this dissertation provides insights into the connections between water resources and broad structural changes within the food system, and offers a novel data synthesis that can facilitate the understanding of connections between production and consumption of FEW at various spatial scales and water resources in local and non-local areas. The findings will also help analyze the drivers and solutions to local small-scale watershed's water scarcity challenges, and provide a quantifiable basis for policy support in the water resources management domain and beyond.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/115198 |
| Date | 25 May 2023 |
| Creators | Ao, Yufei |
| Contributors | Civil and Environmental Engineering, Marston, Landon T., Little, John C., Hendricks, Nathan, Konar, Megan, Cobourn, Kelly M. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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