Abstract
The states of the lower and upper regions of the Colorado River basin are largely dependent on surface water resources for use in areas such as agriculture, industry, and municipal activities. However, a severe drought running well over a decade and other climate change effects, have had lasting effects on the ecosystem, economy, and agriculture of the region leading to the call for timely implementation of conservation efforts to stem present and future losses to human activities in the region. The largest consumer of water in the region is the agricultural sector and it is important to understand what effects the reduced access to surface water resources has had on such a large sector as the agricultural industry. This paper focuses on the river basin to determine the effects of this multiyear drought has had on the cropping decisions made by farmers over time. Land surface temperature and vegetation parameter data are utilized to obtain drought indices over a period covering the years 2000-2022, precipitation data covering the period as well is used to validate the results of the temporal drought analysis. The findings are then compared to crop production data obtained from the United States Cropland Data Layer (USDA-CDL). As such the analysis of the multiyear drought shows the effect it has had on crop production in the region as farmers have had to make conservative decisions on crop acreage and the types of crops planted based on the availability of water in the region,.
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
Assessing Impacts in Diverse Ecosystems
KEYWORDS
DROUGHT, COLORADO BASIN, AGRICULTURE, WATER, CONSERVATION
