October 19, 11AM ET: SE CASC Science Seminar – Using Deficit Irrigation to Reduce Vulnerability in Food-Energy-Water Nexus

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Using Deficit Irrigation to Reduce Vulnerability in Food-Energy-Water Nexus
Hemant Kumar (NC State University)
October 19, 2023 | 11AM ET
View recording here.

Overview:
Understanding the nexus between food, energy, and water systems (FEW) is critical for basins with intensive agricultural water use as they face significant challenges under changing climate and regional development. We investigate the food, energy, and water nexus through a regional hydroeconomic optimization (RHEO) modeling framework. RHEO facilitates mixed irrigation—rainfed, fully irrigated and deficit irrigation—strategies. This work looks at application of RHEO to groundwater-dominated basin, South Flint River Basin, Georgia, for developing mixed irrigation strategies over 31 years. Our analyses show that optimal deficit irrigation is economically better than full irrigation, which increases the groundwater pumping cost. Thus, considering deficit irrigation in a groundwater-dominated basin reduces the water, carbon, and energy footprints, thereby reducing FEW vulnerability.

About the speaker:
Hemant Kumar is a PhD candidate in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at North Carolina State University. He develops tools to study the interconnectedness of the food, energy, water systems – also known as the Food-Energy-Water nexus. Hemant was a SE CASC Global Change Fellow in 2020-2021.