New Article: Decision support for CA's Water–Nutrient–Energy Nexus
We assessed available tools and needs for co-managing water, energy, nitrogen, and salinity in California cropping systems.
Effective co-management requires clear definitions, decision support and guidelines for how to incorporate and evaluate different practices in California. Our California Energy Commission-sponsored Energy Product Evaluation Hub (Cal-EPE Hub) project evaluates different energy saving technologies and sensor systems for improved water management for irrigation in agriculture, including current and future irrigation decision support systems in California. In this article, we provide an overview of the policy context and best available science underlying the available decision support systems, consider their benefits/tradeoffs and provide some initial reports on their performance and efficacy for the most prevalent cropping systems in California. Different types of irrigation decision support systems use soil, canopy, and remote sensing technologies (illustration above by Dr. Bonnie McGill). We also identify knowledge-to-action gaps for incorporating irrigation decision support systems into new incentives and requirements for reporting water and energy consumption as well as salinity and nitrogen management in the state of California.