One of the three 2014 National UCOWR/NIWR/CUAHSI Conference tracks, to provide state-of-the-science concepts and stakeholder input to USDA-NIFA regarding global challenges and opportunities in water-related research, extension programming and education related to food and agriculture. A particular focus will be placed on blue, green and grey water issues related to agriculture.
The production of food and other forms of biomass for human uses is the largest component of the human freshwater budget. Addressing the millennium development goal of reducing by half the proportion of malnourished people in the world by 2015 is an extraordinary agricultural and water management challenge. To meet this challenge, there is an urgent need to focus water management investments into rain-fed and irrigated agriculture through the management of the blue, green and grey water.
The primary objective of this project is to develop a series of conference sessions which provide a global view of the challenges and the opportunities for future research, education and extension via presentation of a wide range of forward-looking perspectives on blue, green and grey water issues related to agriculture. We organized one track at the 2014 National UCOWR/NIWR/CUAHSI Conference, to be held June 18 – 20, 2014 at Tufts University, just outside of Boston.
Anticipated outputs include the establishment of a working group (WG) to fulfill post-conference tasks, including: 1) publication of an issue(s) of the Journal of Contemporary Water Research & Education (JCWRE) based on the conference track presentations, discussions, and findings, 2) development of a white paper outlining challenges and opportunities, and 3) development of a position paper outlining future potential collaborations with CUAHSI to provide farmers and water managers with real-time, spatially explicit management recommendations based on available data, models, and tools.