U1.05 Bell 2017 ReNUWIt Annual Meeting Poster

Maintaining agricultural production in the face of a changing climate will be one of the major challenges of the 21st century. Water shortages are projected to increase as a result of demand-side drivers (such as population growth, urbanization, and economic development), as well as reductions in supply due to climate change. As the primary consumer of fresh water, agriculture has a central role to play in mitigating future water stress.

This work seeks to identify synergies available at the interface between the urban water and food sectors, focusing on opportunities and case studies in drought-prone California and sustaining high-value fruit and vegetable production. We quantify the energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and cost implications of switching to future irrigation sources for high-value crops grown in Ventura County, California.