MOD$$AT: A hydro-economic modeling framework for aquifer management in irrigated agricultural regions

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce a hydro-economic modeling framework for the management of groundwater resources that are used for irrigated agricultural production. The model, MOD$$AT, can be used to study the costs of aquifer depletion and the net benefits of specific aquifer management policies. MOD$$AT is composed of three components, namely, an economic component, a hydrologic component and an agronomic component. A main goal of this paper is to introduce the hydro-economic model and describe how it can be transferable to different contexts. With this objective in mind, we describe model components step-by-step so that the process of integration can be replicated easily. We then apply the model to study the efficacy of a pumping tax in Finney County, Kansas, USA, which overlies the High Plains Aquifer. The results show that a pumping tax results in an increase in average well capacities in the county over time relative to the status quo, which increases the average profitability of agricultural production. However, the increase in profitability is not uniform across producers and some producers gain more than others under the tax.

Use of Multiple Environment Variety Trials Data to Simulate Maize Yields in the Ogallala Aquifer Region: A Two Model Approach

“…With integration of various models (Haacker et al 2019) becoming more common, crop models can also play a significant role in studying the overall sustainability of water resources for crop production. Several recent studies have utilized DSSAT, AquaCrop and other crop simulation models to optimize the use of groundwater for irrigation in the Ogallala Aquifer Region and NHP (Rad et al 2020; Xiang et al 2020). Sustainability studies of water resources in a changing environment have also used crop models (Araya et al 2017a, b, c; Sharda et al 2019) to understand the impact on crop yields under different irrigation strategies.…”

Quantifying Streamflow Depletion from Groundwater Pumping: A Practical Review of Past and Emerging Approaches for Water Management

“…2020; Rouhi Rad et al. 2020). Some of these models incorporate water operational rules and constraints, thereby integrating water management decision‐making into numerical models (Brookfield and Gnau 2016; Morway et al.…”

“…Numerical models continue to evolve as computational resources, data, and understanding of hydrologic systems advance. Relevant to managing streamflow depletion, integrated hydrologic models that capture flow and transport dynamics across the hydrologic cycle are increasingly incorporating anthropogenic activities, such as groundwater pumping, surface water diversions, reservoir management, and economic factors (Morway et al 2016;Brookfield et al 2017;Niswonger et al 2017;Boyce et al 2020;Rouhi Rad et al 2020). Some of these models incorporate water operational rules and constraints, thereby integrating water management decision-making into numerical models (Brookfield and Gnau 2016; Morway et al 2016;Brookfield et al 2017).…”

“…For a single well, localized numerical models with fine grids and tight solver criteria can be developed (Feinstein et al 2016). Numerical models tend to be best-suited to explore spatially and temporally distributed impacts of pumping on multiple aspects of the hydrological and broader socioenvironmental system because they can include explicit process-based coupling among different processes (i.e., streamflow depletion, phreatophytic evapotranspiration, groundwater depletion) and are increasingly coupled to other models such as agentbased or economic models (Castilla-Rho et al 2015Hu et al 2017;Rouhi Rad et al 2020).…”

Socio-Hydrology: A New Understanding to Unite or a New Science to Divide?

“…Water resources systems analysis involves normative and positive approaches, develops simulation and optimization models, and uses quantitative and qualitative approaches [116][117][118][119]. Water resources systems studies do not always have economics as a component (e.g., [85,[120][121][122][123][124][125][126][127][128][129][130][131][132][133][134][135][136]) and are not always focused on designing and running water infrastructure (e.g., [31,82,130,[137][138][139][140][141][142][143][144][145][146][147][148]). Additionally, the water resources systems studies do not always limit themselves to proposing solutions as Di Baldassare et al [13] argue.…”