Water reuse adoption by farmers & the impacts on local water resources using an ABM

In the past we heave explored a how farmers might sell their land but not how they might adapt new technologies or farming practices such as water reuse. But this has now changed with a new paper co-authored with Farshid Shoushtarian and  Masoud Negahban-Azar entitled "Investigating the micro-level dynamics of water reuse adoption by farmers and the impacts on local water resources using an agent-based model" which was recently published in the journal Socio-Environmental Systems Modelling. In the paper we introduce the WRAF  (water  reuse  adoption  by  farmers) model which explores how farmers might adopt water recycled water (reuse) practices. Using the model, results suggest that it might be possible through freshwater shortage or groundwater withdrawal regulations could increase recycled water use by farmers. If this sounds of interest, below we provide an abstract to the model, some figures from the agent logic (i.e., decision making), an overview of simulation results and the  full reference to the paper. Along with the paper, we have also provided more details  about the WRAF  model following the Overview, Design concepts, Details, and Decision-making (ODD) protocol along with the  NetLogo source code which can be found at https://www.comses.net/codebase-release/cc6d551e-cf0f-472e-a54b-28591cd39b4d/.

Abstract: Agricultural water reuse is gaining momentum to address freshwater scarcity worldwide. The main objective of this paper was to investigate the micro-level dynamics of water reuse adoption by farmers at the watershed scale. An agent-based model was developed to simulate agricultural water consumption and socio-hydrological dynamics. Using a case study in California, the developed model was tested, and the results showed that agricultural water reuse adoption by farmers is a gradual and time-consuming process. In addition, results also showed that agricultural water reuse could significantly decrease the water shortage (by 57.7%) and groundwater withdrawal (by 74.1%). Furthermore, our results suggest that recycled water price was the most influential factor in total recycled water consumption by farmers. Results also showed how possible freshwater shortage or groundwater withdrawal regulations could increase recycled water use by farmers. The developed model can significantly help assess how the current water reuse management practices and strategies would affect the sustainability of agricultural water resources.

Keywords: Water reuse; agent-based modelling; agricultural water management; recycled water for irrigation

(a) WRAF framework; (b) Farmers' decision-making flowchart

(a) Water reuse adoption sub-model framework; (b) Wastewater treatment plants flowchart

Representative simulation results: farmers’ water resources distribution in year one (a) andyear84(b);  available recycled water in the storage ponds of Modesto (c) and Turlock (d)wastewater treatment plants; total recycled water used by farmers in year two (e) and year 84(f)

Full Reference:

Shoushtarian, F., Negahban-Azar, M. and Crooks A.T. (2022), Investigating the Micro-level Dynamics of Water Reuse Adoption by Farmers and the Impacts on Local Water Resources using an Agent-based Model, Socio-Environmental Systems Modelling, 4: 18148. Available at https://doi.org/10.18174/sesmo.18148. (pdf)