Study co-author and principal investigator Ben Ruddell<\/strong>, who is director of Northern Arizona University\u2019s School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems<\/a>, leads the FEWSION<\/a> project, a multi-institutional team effort launched in 2016 and funded through the National Science Foundation (NSF), to assess the nation\u2019s\u00a0food, energy and water systems. The broader FEWSION research team contributed the data-intensive maps it has produced of these coupled human-natural systems. NAU assistant research professor Richard Rushforth<\/strong>, the lead data scientist on FEWSION, also co-authored the study.<\/p>\n The study set out to assess river flow depletion across the US, identify the factors driving this depletion and evaluate options to reduce vulnerability to water shortages. The researchers estimate that two-thirds of the cattle feed being irrigated from western U.S. rivers ends up as beef products, with the remainder going to dairy products.<\/p>\n \u201cThe groundbreaking maps produced by FEWSION made it possible to link river depletion through the supply chain to irrigated alfalfa and hay and to beef and dairy production, then to urban consumers of beef and dairy in each city and county in the U.S.,\u201d Ruddell said.<\/p>\n According to the study, the team\u2019s findings \u201cled to closer examination of the water use and ecological impacts associated with irrigation of cattle-feed crops. We pinpointed locations where these crops were being grown and modeled their associated depletion of river flow in local sub-watersheds. We then conducted an international supply-chain analysis to identify the locations where cattle-feed crops are transported and where the resulting beef products are consumed, thereby specifically linking end consumers of beef to effects on rivers. We subsequently explored the benefits and consequences of reduced feed-crop production and beef consumption through the lenses of water security, river ecosystem health, food security and agricultural economies.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re using a lot of water to grow the cows that are the source of our burgers, steaks and milk,\u201d Ruddell said. \u201cIn the Colorado River basin, that cattle feed water use is nearly three times greater than all the water used for urban, industrial and electrical power purposes combined.\u201d<\/p>\n Along with the study\u2019s lead author and FEWSION contributor Brian Richter, Ruddell was surprised by some of their findings.<\/p>\n \u201cI can hardly believe that such a large fraction of our western water problems is linked to irrigation of cattle feed, or that such a large fraction of our western water problems could be fixed with a single prescription\u2014fallowing. It’s rare that science clearly finds a \u2018silver bullet\u2019 that solves such a big problem so well, and so affordably,\u201d Ruddell said.<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough the idea for this study of the U.S. food energy and water system was proposed as part of the FEWSION project, the roots of the ideas go back decades and involve many of the pioneers of river science and environmental sustainability\u2014including Brian Richter, who is one of the founders of the science of river management for environmental flow,\u201d Ruddell said. \u201cIt takes a long time, generous research funding and a broad team with diverse interdisciplinary skills for synthetic ideas like this to become a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n Scientists from 12 universities worldwide collaborated on the study, including Columbia University, Baylor University, the National University of Singapore, Nanjing Audit University and the University of Twente.<\/p>\n Ultimately, they conclude, \u201cWater security and river health in the western U.S. will depend on the willingness of urban and rural water users to collaborate in design of demand-management strategies, the ability of political leaders to secure funding to implement those strategies and the willingness of beef and dairy consumers to reduce their consumption or select products that do not depend on irrigated cattle-feed crops.<\/p>\n \u201cMy favorite food is cheeseburgers,\u201d Ruddell said. \u201cIndividual choice, in addition to collective politics and policy, is important here. We need to be willing to pay a little more for more sustainable beef and dairy products, and we must strongly support politicians and policies that are willing to invest in solutions to the western water problem\u2014including infrastructure, environmental flows and smart economic solutions like fallowing. Act with your votes and with your dollars. This is a problem we can afford to solve.\u201d<\/p>\n FEWSION was funded in 2016 by a grant from the Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy and Water Systems program (#INFEWS ACI-1639529), which is funded by the NSF and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.<\/p>\n Top image: Depletion of river flow across the US during summer months. The 17 western states experience much higher levels of depletion during July to September than eastern states, owing to lesser precipitation and greater use of irrigation in the western states. a, Summer depletion during the 2001\u20132015 model simulation. b, Summer depletion in the driest 10% of years during 1961\u20132015. Credit: Richter et al, \u201cWater scarcity and fish imperilment driven by beef production,\u201d Nature Sustainability; used with permission of authors.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kerry Bennett | Office of the Vice President for ResearchBeef and dairy production depleting water supply <\/strong><\/h3>\n
Water security will depend on collaboration, choice, policy<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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\n(928) 523-5556 | kerry.bennett@nau.edu<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"