English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Regional water managers face challenges managing water demand and supply in response to climate change. In British Columbia (BC), less than 5% of the total land surface is suitable for cultivation and consequently, urban development and agriculture co-exist on lower elevation sites and compete for water. Surface and ground water supply all uses, affecting in-stream habitats and aquifer levels. To assess water needs, we used a GIS-based water demand model for agricultural water use, with layers for detailed land use, soils, a digital elevation model, sub-basins, aquifers, and socio-political jurisdictional boundaries. The model was driven by gridded daily minimum and maximum temperatures and precipitation at a 500m spatial resolution using historical data (1961-2010) and downscaled climate scenarios (1961-2100) derived from five CMIP5 climate models under two greenhouse gas concentration scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5). Two case studies were examined: 1. Changes in water use were determined for scenarios of climate change and expanded cropping within the BC Agricultural Land Reserve for 17 agricultural regions. Potential increases in irrigation water demand (IWD) in response to climate change ranged from 21-58% and 30-114% under low and high emissions scenarios respectively. Land use change scenarios resulted in very large potential increases in water demand, up to 2400%. Output from this work forms the basis for a web-based agricultural water licence calculator. 2. Effects of crop production systems on IWD were examined in the Okanagan region. Combinations of pasture and forage crops with inefficient irrigation systems were most vulnerable to drought as indicated by two indices: relative vulnerability index (IWD/ETo) and allocation vulnerability index (IWD/Maximum annual water allocation). In drought years, up to 70% of the irrigated area was vulnerable. A comparison of detailed land use surveys made in 2006 and 2014 indicated a large shift to highly efficient irrigation systems in the horticultural sector from 38% to 68% of the irrigated acreage. Similar shifts for other agricultural sectors may require financial support. On-going development of regional drought management will require collaborative decision making by water suppliers and users.

Landscape Based Agricultural Water Demand Modeling—A Tool for Water Management Decision Making in British Columbia, Canada