About two thirds of the water in the High Plains Aquifer is in
Nebraska, and Nebraska has the most irrigated acres of any
state in the US. How do we keep track of our water resources,
and are they at risk of decline? This presentation will focus on
two kinds of modeling for agricultural groundwater resources
– process-based and statistical modeling. The High Plains
Aquifer is highly heterogeneous, and recent research has
shown that agricultural demand for water is a complex
product of local hydrogeology, weather, farm management,
and economic considerations. Humans have profoundly
impacted this aquifer system, and modeling is a key approach
in envisioning a sustainable future for High Plains agriculture.