Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Objective 1: Characterize the response of water resource and human systems to climatic and anthropogenic perturbations

California (Mahajan, D'Odorico, Dinar, Nemati, Schwabe, Ying)

• Developed regional hydro-economic model of watershed that investigates the cost-effectiveness of managed aquifer recharge and how such recharge is influenced by different climate conditions as well as demand management strategies.
• Developed hydro-economic model investigating the implications of different cropping systems on nutrient runoff and loadings into arid terminal lake that looks at how changes in water allocations, economic parameters, and transfer/trading agreements impact nutrient runoff.
• Continuing research investigating the costs and benefits of reduced water cropping systems relative to fallowing land to address water scarcity and groundwater overdraft. Using both programming models, econometric models, along with nonmarket valuation techniques to identify wide range of impacts and processes and how they are impacted by drought, changes in water and climate, and institutional adjustments.
• Expanding the work on assessing the impact of climate change and the on-farm and political adaptation to climate-change-induced water scarcity in the agricultural sector of California.
  • We collected and purchased data on farm operations, soil properties, climate, political interactions in  and land value, across all agricultural countries in California and over time to estimate the value of different responses to climate change on farm land value.
• Understanding the impacts of climate Change I and the effectiveness of Mitigation, and Adaptation in Agriculture, using cases from around the world.
  • We organized a group of economists that work on impact and adaptation of climate change in the agricultural sector, to share their approaches and findings. The works were presented in an online workshop where 23 studies were shared. The work will be culminated in a handbook (see publication section).

Connecticut (Fragomeni)

• Analyzed vegetation density and fragmentation to evaluate their influence on wetland cooling capacity in temperate climates, such as Connecticut.
• Monitored meteorological conditions across three case study wetland sites, mainly looking at air temperature, relative humidity, wind flow,soil temperature, and soil moisture.
• Based on meteorological findings, and previous findings on the linkages between tree removal and water impairment we expanded the research inquiry to understand how fragmentation and vegetation density are impacting soil moisture.
• Initiated a collaboration with soil mycologist (Dr. Mia Maltz) to assess existing soil fungal communities and examine how landscape fragmentation and subsequent microclimatic changes may impact these microorganisms and their water filtration capacity. 
• Reviewed and synthesized planning documents from 10 Connecticut towns to evaluate policy linkages between forested wetland conservation and heat mitigation.
• Compared in-situ results with regulatory framework for establishing and conserving forest wetland buffers widths. 

Georgia (Mullen and Hrozencik)

• Assessed the role of water resources in the agricultural development of the western U.S. 
• Continued to work with Georgia’s Environmental Planning Division to forecast agricultural water diversion to support regional and state water planning and better understand how evolving climate conditions impact agricultural water use. 
• Evaluated how water management and scarcity driven fallowing of irrigated land impacted the incidence of Valley Fever in Arizona and California. 
• Assessed performance of forecasting models for irrigated acreage against mapped irrigated acreage in Georgia.
• Assessed performance of forecasting models for irrigated water withdrawals against metered water withdrawals in Georgia.
• Based on assessments of forecasting models, updated and estimated new irrigation acreage and water withdrawal models for Georgia. 
• Developed and estimated irrigation and water withdrawal models for the southeast region, from Texas to Virginia, using USDA FRIS/IWMS survey data.

Idaho (Maas)

• I combined large-scale datasets linking weather and drought exposures (GridMET), land use (CDL), and human outcomes (EPA air monitors, soil health enrollments) to capture how climate variability and management affect land-us decisions and human health.  I worked with the Colorado Department of Agriculture to identified practice adoption patterns, cost distributions, and incentive effects, showing how producers respond to financial and climatic stressors. Preparatory work for the ERASE-PM (USDA-funded)  project integrated cropland composition with climate–air quality linkages, highlighting agricultural contributions to particulate matter exposures.
• We also examined the link between plastic bag bans and substitution to unregulated markets, to examine the implications for plastic waste and litter, which has substantial implications for waterways and stormwater management. 

Illinois (Bhattarai, Kalita)

• We analyzed the elevated risk of compound extreme precipitation events following extreme heat stress (CEPHS) in the socially vulnerable communities in the Upper Midwest. 
• We analyzed the temporal shifts in extreme precipitation regime, and the implications for urban locations and major crops in Illinois. 

Indiana (Gitau)

• Prevailing and anticipated future hydroclimatic scenarios require integrated solutions to ensure the sustainability of our natural and human resource systems. The integration of solar PV arrays in co-production systems involving food and energy while ensuring water availability and quality remain unimpacted, offer such solutions. We used the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) model along with experimental data to simulate spatiotemporal shadow distribution (SSD) between solar panels and obtain insights on plant performance and power generation considering different panel configurations, operation, and growth periods. Results showed immense potential for co-production with any impacts on crop yield being largely dependent on spatiotemporal shadow distribution (in addition to total radiation) and its potential impact on field microclimate and soil health, suggesting the need for system optimization

Kansas (Sampson, Cameron-Harp, Sorensen Montoya)

• We estimated how hurricanes impact agricultural risk in the lower Mississippi River basin using crop losses from RMA and geospatial hurricane data from NASA. This paper demonstrates that hurricanes cause coastal counties to have systematically higher losses than counties further inland, and that the pattern of systematic risk caused by hurricanes varies by crop. We also examine how the distribution of impacts we find aligns with availability criteria for the Hurricane Insurance Protection - Wind Index (HIP-WI) Endorsement.
• We estimated how an invasive woody species in Kansas affects farmland values. Eastern red cedar and other woody species have expanded their range due to climate change and rangeland fire suppression behaviors. Transition of grassland to shrub and tree-dominated landscapes impacts water resources. Using a combination of landowner surveys and land transaction data, we find that encroachment of woody species has not yet affected farmland values in Kansas. This finding suggests that the control of invasive woody species is especially difficult because the market does not reward landowners for controlling against woody encroachment.     

Michigan (Asher, Nejadhashemi, Giri)

• Our work demonstrates how adaptive optimization and transfer learning can capture the dynamic responses of water resource systems to human interventions. By identifying influential BMP patterns and efficiently re-optimizing management strategies, it reveals how systems evolve under anthropogenic decisions. This enhances understanding of coupled human–water system behavior amid climatic and land-use perturbations.

Mississippi (Quintana Ashwell)

• Built panel dataset of cropland permitted for irrigation in the Delta region of Mississippi between 2014 and 2023 that includes permit to access to ground and surface water sources and presence of on-farm reservoirs. The spatially explicit dataset is enriched with crop and weather data layers. Water table elevation data for the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer obtained from the USGS for the same period indicates the bottom of the aquifer cone of depression shifts over time indicating high lateral flows suggesting an opportunity for optimal management of the cone of depression to maximize recharge from the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers.

Montana (Hagerty)

• Developed a quasi-experimental research design and analyzed data to study how water scarcity affects legal conflict.
• Analyzed data to study how surface water scarcity affects agricultural groundwater use and depletion.
• Analyzed data to study how groundwater irrigation affects domestic well failures, and how the effects vary across different types of communities.
• Applied and refined methods to estimate consumptive water use in irrigated agriculture in Montana, in order to study how it responds to perturbations.

Nebraska (Rimsaite, Schoengold)

• Studied nitrate-contaminated groundwater in Nebraska to better understand its implications on public health. Nitrate levels data were sourced from the Nebraska Groundwater Quality Clearinghouse – a publicly available database. The team developed and published a manuscript on this topic.

Texas (Wilcox, Dominguez, Rouhi Rad)

• The Wilcox lab has determined that thicketization by woody plants on the Carrizo Wilcox recharge zone dramatically reduces recharge to the aquifer.  We have also found that in the Edward Aquifer recharge zone, trees increase soil infiltrability and during drought access water from the underlying bedrock above the groundwater.  
• Rouhi Rad studied how agricultural production in the US responds to drought using micro-level data to estimate the cost of drought. The analysis considers both irrigated and dryland production. It also considers changes in input use and costs, and output volumes and profits.
• Rouhi Rad studied agricultural producers’ irrigation response to hotter temperatures on the extensive margin (number of groundwater irrigation wells) and the intensive margin (irrigation electricity use) using data from the Rural Electric Cooperatives.

Wyoming (Hansen, Collins, Asgari)

• Asgari and Hansen are developing a Hydro-economic model for the Upper Green River Basin in Wyoming (headwaters to Colorado River Basin) to evaluate the economic impacts of water conservation under different water availability scenarios 

Objective 2: Quantify the use, non-use, and natural capital (flows and stocks) value of water in different stages of the water cycle

California (Mahajan, Ying, Schwabe, D'odorico)

• Developing model to quantify the cost-effectiveness of green/natural capital in the form of aquifer recharge on regional watershed water supply costs.
• Developing nonmarket values of water use in limited cropping systems that impact human health via dust generation and respiratory illness.

Georgia (Mullen and Hrozencik)

• Evaluated how water supply security impacts the value of water resource using (Join with Rouhi-Rad at TAMU)
• Assessed how changing stocks of groundwater natural capital influence agricultural credit outcomes in the High Plains Aquifer region (join with Perez-Quesada at UTenn)
• Estimated the impact of terminology on consumers’ willingness to use recycled water at the residential level.

Kansas (Sampson, Hendricks)

• We estimated how access to access to irrigation through prior appropriation affect farmland values in Kansas. We also estimate how the quantity allocated from the state and seniority of the water right affect farmland values. We find that irrigation provides a 70% land market premium in Kansas. Additional quantity allocations and seniority status also increase the value of irrigated farmland. We estimate a lower bound value of access to irrigation from the High Plains Aquifer in Kansas to be $767 million.
• We estimated how CRP enrollment status affects non-irrigated and irrigated farmland in Kansas. We find no evidence of a differential land value impact of CRP enrollment between irrigated and non-irrigated farmland.
• We estimated how declines in saturated thickness of the High Plains Aquifer impact corn and wheat production. If depletion continues as it has, then we project that by 2050, corn and wheat production will decrease by 6.75% and 1.08%, respectively, in the High Plains Aquifer region due to depletion. These impacts are concentrated in the southern portions of the aquifer, with Texas losing 40% of its corn production in the region. Most of the losses are due to decreases in irrigated area and crop switching rather than decreases in irrigated yields.

Mississippi (Quintana Ashwell)

• Quantified the benefits of restoring temporary wetland function of cropland in the Delta region of Mississippi. Project funded by EPA and enhanced by EQIP incentives enrolled farmers with land in the migratory path of 34 shorebird and waterfowl species to flood cropland in the offseason. Producers reported faster breakdown of residue, increased in-season soil moisture, noticeable weed suppression, more “mellow soil” for planting and an average 4 percent increase in soybean yields (no reported yield difference in other crops). Treated fields had significantly reduced runoff of sediment, phosphorus, and nitrogen when compared to unflooded control fields. Valuation of these ecosystem services is in progress.

Montana (Hagerty)

• Developed novel quasi-experimental methods for the valuation of irrigation water and assembled data.

Nebraska (Schoengold)

• We used survey data from a discrete choice experiment on the valuation of ecosystem services from conservation programs designed to improve soil health. One of the attributes included in the survey was an improvement in water quality via reduced runoff and contamination. Results from a survey of Nebraska residents shows that households place a significant positive value on water quality improvements, and that the willingness to pay (WTP) for a program differs based on differences in nudging information provided.

South Carolina (Jeong, Khedun)

• Jeong studied how coastal residents respond to increasing extreme weather events when making wastewater management decisions, such as maintaining their septic systems or connecting to a sewer utility. I conducted a choice experiment targeting more than 400 residents across eight coastal counties in South Carolina. The results show that residents are willing to adopt improved wastewater management practices to enhance stream and estuarine water quality, but not necessarily groundwater quality. We also find that implementing mandatory management policies can significantly reduce social uncertainty related to neighbors’ potential mismanagement of their septic systems.  (Task 2.1)
• Jeong studied whether confined aquifers are valued by agricultural producers in South Carolina. We employed a hedonic framework to compare the values of irrigated and non-irrigated parcels between 2011 and 2021 across three counties where irrigation has expanded significantly. Our results indicate that groundwater is valued by farmers in South Carolina; however, we find no evidence that aquifer sharedness—measured by the number of nearby irrigators as a proxy for competition among users—reduces aquifer values. (Task 2.2)

Texas ( Dominguez, Rouhi Rad, Guerrero)

• Rouhi Rad studied the value of water security in the state of Colorado. Specifically, using a hedonic valuation method, the paper studied the value of water rights seniority across river basins in the state.
• Rouhi Rad studied the value of groundwater natural capital by considering factors beyond saturated thickness that affect groundwater use decisions of producers. Specifically, the study explicitly considered well capacity as a factor that affect that value of water in agricultural land transactions.

Objective 3: Evaluate and compare alternative strategies and institutions to manage water quantity and quality, and the relationship to ecosystem, communities, land, and energy uses

California (Dinar, Mahajan, Ying, Edwards, Nemati, Schwabe, D'odorico)

• Further refining model of how changes in water allocations along the Colorado River impact cropping systems in the Imperial Valley and the subsequent impact on nutrient runoff and returns flows to the Salton Sea. These impacts will be tied to ecosystem services and human health.
• Developing a review paper that compares alternative institutions to manage water quantity and quality under varying climatic conditions, size of the watershed, cultural background, and political frameworks from around the world. THis sub-project allowed for an undergraduate research student to benefit from exposure to the scientific work of conducting a review paper. 
  • The review compares nearly 275 published studies during the period 1995-2025. See Publication Section for details.

Georgia (Mullen and Hrozencik)

• Conducted an on-going stated preference survey of southern Georgia irrigator preferences (WTA) for voluntary irrigation suspension contracts to meet regional water conservation objectives.  Used these WTA estimates to characterize the cost-effectiveness of differing program design alternatives aiming to meet predefined streamflow objectives (joint with Perez-Quesada at UTenn).

Idaho (Maas)

• This year I evaluated alternative water management strategies by analyzing institutional arrangements—ditch companies, irrigation districts, and utilities—and their effects on shortage sharing, recharge, and community outcomes across the western U.S. I began work examining hydrologic and institutional conditions that generate negative-, zero-, and positive-sum outcomes, linking these to ecological, land-use, and energy system tradeoffs. In addition, I am contributing to an NSF-EPSCoR grant focused on land-use change and effective policy incentives, expanding the policy relevance of this research.

Kansas (Sampson, Hendricks, Cameron-Harp, Sorensen Montoya)

• We studied how adoption of more efficient irrigation systems impacted groundwater use over time. This paper demonstrated how the change from flood or furrow irritation to center pivot systems lead to an immediate decrease in groundwater withdrawals. In addition, we find adoption of Low Energy Precision Application irrigation had insignificant impacts on water withdrawals in the short run and reduced withdrawals in the long run.
• Using data from land market transactions and water right characteristics in Kansas, we predicted the impact that alternative redistributions of water right seniority status and quantity allocations would have on irrigated farms. We find that water conservation policy that ignores quantity allocations or seniority status would transfer approximately 2.3% or 2.7% of the total economic value of the High Plains Aquifer in Kansas, respectively.
• We study how the entry of ethanol plants affects transitions of cropland in the nearby region. Our preferred specification shows that plant expansions increase the probability of cropland conversion by 1.5 percentage points and cropland retention by 0.1 percentage points in plant neighborhoods. We also demonstrate the importance of accounting for classification errors in remote sensing data. Raw data with substantial classification errors results in estimates that are counterintuitive, but using cleaned data provides much more reliable estimates.

Michigan (Asher, Giri,Srivastava, Ghane, Sears)

• Modeled adoption of center-pivot irrigation for field crops in Michigan, to understand drivers of adoption in a water rich environment. The next steps for the project are to evaluate the impacts this has on water-resources, and to evaluate how adoption and water availability may change by midcentury. Finished a similar project in Serbia, creating an interactive hydro-economic model that integrates drivers of irrigation adoption decisions with SWAT+ to understand the impacts of adoption on water availability under climate change. Studied the impact of crop insurance in moral hazard behavior in irrigation water use in the High Plains Aquifer.  
• Ghane: We evaluated the impact of climate change on subsurface drainage design for corn production in southeast Michigan. Using the DRAINMOD model and climate projections for 2030–2059 under the SSP2–4.5 scenario, we analyzed hydrological changes and economic outcomes for various drain spacings at two depths (75 cm and 125 cm). We informed drainage design under projected future climate.

Minnesota (Peterson)

• Developing a model and compiling data to evaluate alternative program designs for adoption of cover crops and other soil health practices to reduce nitrogen loading and soil erosion in Upper Midwest watersheds. Of particular interest are performance and outcome based payment mechanisms as compared to traditional cost-share assistance conditioned on practice adoption alone. 

Mississippi (Quintana Ashwell)

• Explored the factors affecting the speed of adoption of water saving technologies in the Delta region of Mississippi. State-wide funding of NRCS water management practices has an accelerating effect while the announcement of a Governor’s Groundwater Taskforce (in 2012) without a clear mandate resulting in a slowdown in adoption, particularly for overhead sprinklers.

Missouri (Rotman)

• Developed focus group recruitment protocol and interview script for study of public perceptions of wetlands in the Blue River Watershed of Missouri and Kansas. Worked with community partners, Heartland Conservation Alliance and My Region Wins!. 
• Contributed to a large language model to develop a chatbot on Missouri water law.

Montana (Hagerty)

• Developed new theoretical and statistical methods to model how and when water districts choose to participate in surface water markets, and how this choice is affected by market prices and water conditions.
• Revised simulations and analysis of the benefits of surface water markets, and provided evidence to identify the main constraints to water transfers.
• Analyzed experimental data to demonstrate that payments for voluntary conservation can reduce groundwater use in agriculture.
• Conducted theoretical and empirical analysis on the optimal design of contracts for conservation payments in the context of groundwater irrigation.

Nebraska (Rimsaite, Schoengold)

• Studied groundwater allocation rules to better understand what allocation designs could advance farmers’ profitability while maintaining water conservation goals. This includes a collaboration with the Kansas Geological Survey to better understand the role of groundwater allocation designs in balancing tradeoffs between aquifer drawdown and agricultural profitability. Data about groundwater allocation rules were collected in Nebraska and Kansas.
• Sought to better understand the variability of water rights systems distribution for surface water and groundwater in the U.S. Produced a map with primary water rights systems in the U.S. with input from all 50 states.
• Worked on various initiatives to enhance the understanding of indigenous communities’ agricultural water management and water rights. This includes a collaboration with the Public Policy Institute of California around tribal water rights in California, organizing a conference session at the 2025 Water for Food Global Conference, and developing a factsheet about tribal water in agriculture.
• The ongoing efforts around Task 3 contributed to receiving a grant from the Kansas Department of Agriculture to review the Central Kansas Water Bank. The goal of this work is to enhance understanding of incentive-based water management tools (e.g., water transfer mechanisms) used in agriculture. In addition, I received invitations to participate in panel discussions (including at UCOWR, as organized by this group) and engage with different stakeholder groups (including publishing a few short articles in “Irrigation Today” – the quarterly Irrigation Association’s magazine) around the topics of groundwater management policy tools in agriculture.

Oklahoma (Jafarzadegan, Lambert)

• Evaluate the groundwater restrictions in Kansas’s Sheridan-6 (2013-2023) under the Local Enhanced Management Area (LEMA) Program using difference-in-difference regressions and well-level panel data. Results show a 16% reduction in water use intensity and $5.48 per acre saving in pumping costs, with no change in irrigated area. Findings indicate that farmer-led, locally governed restrictions can cut water use without reducing productivity. However, further research should measure long-term measurement of conservation outcomes under policy diffusion and producer responses.
• Compared optimal groundwater withdrawal and land allocation among field crops under different extraction, energy, and discount rates, using a hydro-economic model developed for Oklahoma’s Texas County. Findings show that higher water extraction lowers both water tables and long-term profitability, while lower extraction supports sustainability and profitability, with dryland sorghum substituting for irrigated maize. Energy costs have little effect under low extraction, and discount rates reveal that valuing long-term returns can increase irrigation benefits over time with reduced pumping.

South Carolina (Jeong, Khedun)

• Jeong studies social perceptions of adopting augmented water supply as an alternative water allocation mechanism. We developed a consumer preference survey to examine consumers’ hypothetical valuations of agricultural products grown using alternative water sources that conserve conventional freshwater. The study considers treated stormwater, reclaimed wastewater, and brackish groundwater as potential alternative sources. The survey results will provide insights into mechanisms for conserving traditional water resources and reallocating them to higher-valued uses. (Task 3.1).

Tennessee (Perez Quesada)

• Developed a manuscript that provides an overview of the development of irrigated agriculture in the west of the US, identifying the trends in infrastructure, technology, water sources, and cropping patterns that define the region’s agricultural economy and its responsiveness to water scarcity (with Aaron Hrozencik).
• Continuing investigating Irrigation Organizations (IOs) adaptations to water scarcity in the Western region of the US. Specifically, we explore differences in IO adaptation investments based on their past experiences of water scarcity and their organizational characteristics. This analysis leverages novel micro-level data from the Survey of Irrigation Organizations (USDA) (with Aaron Hrozencik and Mani Rouhi Rad).
• Further refining model to explore the factors that influence farmers preferred reductions in groundwater use through a water conservation program implemented by a Groundwater Management District in Kansas (with Nathan Hendricks).
• Implement an online stated preference survey combining a choice experiment and a stochastic payment card in the Flint-Chattahoochee Basins in Georgia (with Aaron Hrozencik).

Texas (Dominguez, Rouhi Rad, Guerrero, Wilcox)

• Rouhi Rad studied the benefits of large irrigation dams built by the USBR across 11 western states. The study compares irrigated acres, agricultural production, and population of counties downstream of the dams with those of the upstream counties.
• Rouhi Rad studied the trade off between canal efficiency and on-farm irrigation efficiency. The paper studies whether farms that receive their water from more efficient canals are less likely to invest in irrigation efficiency. The paper answers this question using data from two Colorado river basins.
• Rouhi Rad studied the effectiveness of regulation in the context of non-point source pollution in the US. Specifically, the paper studies the effects of municipal separate stormwater systems policy under the Clean Water Act on water quality in regulated areas.

Washington (Cook, Yoder)

• Completed and submitted manuscript on the empirical incidence of water rights forfeiture in Washington state
• Completed and submitted manuscript reporting the results of a survey of irrigators on views of three complementary technologies (consumptive use measurement, long-run forecasts, and smart markets)
• Completed and submitted manuscript on the potential importance of non-pecuniary preferences and “psychological ownership” to water market participation. 
• Manuscript accepted for publication on how concurrent short-term pauses in irrigation lead to pulse flow improvements that can be ecologically meaningful to fish
• Manuscript accepted for publication using an agent-based modeling approach to water market participation

Wyoming (Hansen, Collins, Asgari)

• Asgari and Hansen presented preliminary results of measuring the economic impacts of different water curtailment levels under weather induced water availability in Southwestern Wyoming (UCOWR 2025 and AAEA 2025). A manuscript is being prepared for submission.

California (Dinar, Mahajan, Edwards, Ying, Nemati, Schwabe, D'odorico)

• Medellin-Azuara, J., Escriva-Bou, A., Gaudin, A., Schwabe, K. and Sumner, D. 2024. "Cultivating Climate Resilience in California Agriculture: Adaptations to an Increasingly Volatile Water Future.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 121 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2310079121
• Schwabe, K. 2025. Book Review: Science Be Dammed: How Ignoring Inconvenient Science Drained the Colorado River (by E. Kuhn and J. Fleck).  https://doi.org/10.1142/S2382624X25800025
• Crespo D., M. Nemati, A. Dinar, Z. Frankel, N. Halberg, 2025. Assessing the Economic Value of Water in the Colorado River Basin: A Hydro-economic Analysis. Water Resources & Economics, Volume 52, 100266), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wre.2025.100266.  
• Avila, P., M. Nemati, D. Crespo, A. Dinar, Z. Frankel, N. Halberg, 2025. Public Spending and Water Scarcity: An Empirical Analysis of USBR Investments in the Colorado River Ba-sin. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA), https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.70042. 
• Kishore, S., M. Nemati, A. Dinar, C. L. Struthers, S. MacKenzie, M. S. Shugart, 2025. Cli-mate-Induced Changes in Agricultural Land Use: Parcel-level Evidence from California’s Cen-tral Valley. Climatic Change 178, 59. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-025-03905-8. 
• Crespo, D., M. Nemati, A. Dinar, Z. Frankel, and N. Halberg, Developing a Decision Sup-port Model to Assess the Value of Cooperation Benefits Under Climate Change: Case of the Colorado River Basin in the United States. In: Shahbazbegian, M. and A. Dinar (Eds.), Shahbazbegian, M. and A. Dinar (Eds.), Decision Support Models to Assist International Transboundary Water Negotiations: Methodologies and Applications. Oxford University Press (Forthcoming, January 2026), Chapter 8.
• Dinar, A. and R. Mendelsohn, Introduction. In: Dinar, A. and R. Mendelsohn (Eds.), Handbook on Climate Change Impacts, Mitigation, and Adaptation in Agriculture, Edward Elgar Publishers: Cheltenham, U.K. (Forthcoming, March 2026). Chapter 1.
• Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation in the Agricultural Sector of the Colorado River Basin: A Hydro-economic Analysis, Crespo, D., M. Nemati, A. Dinar, Z. Frankel, and N. Halberg. In: Dinar, A. and R. Mendelsohn (Eds.), Handbook on Climate Change Impacts, Mitiga-tion, and Adaptation in Agriculture, Edward Elgar Publishers: Cheltenham, U.K. (Forth-coming, March 2026). Chapter 12.
• Mendelsohn, R. and A. Dinar, Conclusions of the Handbook on Climate Change Impacts, Miti-gation, and Adaptation in Agriculture, and Lessons Learned. In: Dinar, A. and R. Mendel-sohn (Eds.), Handbook on Climate Change Impacts, Mitigation, and Adaptation in Ag-riculture, Edward Elgar Publishers: Cheltenham, U.K. (Forthcoming, March 2026). Chapter 23.
• Pellaton, P., J. P. Colner, A. Cohen, C. Struthers, S. Kishore, S. A. MacKenzie, M. S. Shugart, M. Nemati and A. Dinar, Legislative Responsiveness to Climate Change: Politically-driven Adaptation in California’s Agricultural Sector. In: Dinar, A. and R. Mendelsohn (Eds.), Handbook on Climate Change Impacts, Mitigation, and Adaptation in Agriculture, Ed-ward Elgar Publishers: Cheltenham, U.K. (Forthcoming, March 2026). Chapter 21.
• Crespo, D., M. Nemati, A. Dinar, Z. Frankel, and N. Halberg. 2025. “Sharing Colorado River Water: A View from Southern California.” ARE Update 28(4): 5–8. University of California Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics. https://giannini.ucop.edu/filer/file/1746023594/21275/. 
• Avila, P., M. Nemati, D. Crespo, A.Dinar, Z. Frankel, N. Halberg. 2025.“Funding the Flow: Federal Water Conservation Investments in the Colorado River Basin.” ARE Update 28(4): 9–11. University of California Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics. https://giannini.ucop.edu/filer/file/1746023869/21276/.

Georgia (Mullen, Hrozencik)

• Hopson, M.,  J. D. Mullen, G. Colson, and L. Fowler. 2025.  “Impact of Terminology and Water Restrictions on Consumer Willingness to Pay for Potable Recycled Water in the U.S.,” Environmental Science & Technology 59 (13), 6534-6542 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.4c12023

• Mullen, Jeffrey D., and Mary Katherine Rubin*. 2024. "A Rapid Assessment Technique for Identifying Future Water Use and Pesticide Risks Due to Changing Cropping Patterns" Sustainability 16, no. 11: 4853. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16114853

• Hrozencik, A., Perez-Quesada, G., and Donahue, H2. 2025. The Development and Current Challenges of Irrigated Agriculture in the Western U.S. Agricultural Water Management, 315, p.109474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109474

• Sloggy, M. R., Hrozencik, R. A., Manning, D. T., Goemans, C. G., & Claassen, R. L. (2025). Insurance and extraction incentives in a common pool resource: Evidence from groundwater use in the high plains. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 130, 103125.

• Ward, F. A., Potter, N. A., & Hrozencik, R. A. (2025). Managing agricultural water use in the Western United States: A search for efficient climate adaptation institutions. Agricultural Water Management, 308, 109279.

Idaho (Maas)

• Fuller, K. B., Adhikari, K., Crants, J., Frost, K., Gudmestad, N., Maas, A., ... & Stasko, A. (2025). The economic performance of soil health practices in potato production systems. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 40, e7.

• Parajuli, S., Maas, A., Tejeda, H., Impact of Plastic Bag Regulations on Consumer Expenditure for Unregulated Plastic Disposal Bags.  Poster Winner at the Agricultural Economics Association annual Meeting, July 2025. 

Illinois (Bhattarai, Kalita)

• Khan, M., Bhattarai, R., & Chen, L. (2025). Discerning the Elevated Risk of Compound Extreme Heat Stress Followed by Extreme Precipitation Events in the Socially Vulnerable Communities in the Upper Midwest. International Journal of Climatology, e8868.
• Khan, M., Bhattarai, R., & Chen, L. (2025). Detecting temporal shifts in extreme precipitation regime, and the implications for urban locations and major crops in Illinois. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 70(2), 334-346.

Indiana (Gitau)

• Gupta, V., S.M. Gruss, D. Cammarano, S.M. Brouder, P.A. Bermel, M.R. Tuinstra, M.W. Gitau, and R. Agrawal. 2024. Optimizing corn agrivoltaic farming through farm-scale experimentation and modeling. Cell Reports Sustainability 1(7), 100148. DOI: 10.1016/j.crsus.2024.100148.
• Torres, C., M.W. Gitau, J. Lara-Borrero, D. Paredes-Cuervo, and B, Daher. 2024. Urban FEW Nexus Model for the Otun River Watershed. Water 16(23), 3405. https://doi.org/10.3390/w16233405

Kansas (Sampson, Hendricks, Cameron-Harp, Sorensen Montoya)

• Edwards, E.C., Hendricks, N.P. & Sampson, G.S. (2025). The Capitalization of Property Rights to Groundwater. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 107(2): 390-410. https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fajae.12494
• Cameron-Harp, M. V., & Hendricks, N. P. (2025). Efficiency and Water Use: Dynamic Effects of Irrigation Technology Adoption. Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, 12(2), 285–312. https://doi.org/10.1086/732140
• Biram, H. D., Tack, J. & Cameron-Harp, M.V. 2025. “Measuring the Impact of Hurricane Incidence on Agricultural Production Risk Using Insurance Data.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 107(5): 1438–1456. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajae.70008
• Perez-Quesada, Gabriela, Nathan P. Hendricks, Jesse Tack, and David R. Steward. 2024. “Adapting crop production to water scarcity.” Environmental Research Letters, 20: 014029. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad9abe
• Pates, N.J., N.P. Hendricks, and T.J. Lark. 2025. “Misclassification Error in Remote Sensing Matters: The Effect of Ethanol Plants on Local Cropland Transitions” Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 50(3): 467-486. https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.347706

Michigan (Asher, Giri, Nejadhashemi, Srivastava, Ghane, Sears)

• Ashim Datta, Brook Wilke, Christine Charles, Marc Hasenick, Tayler Ulbrich, Maninder Singh, Molly Sears, and G. Philip Robertson. “Crop performance and profitability for the initial transition years of a regenerative cropping system in the Upper Midwest USA.” (2025) Journal of Environmental Quality http://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.70084
• Younsuk Dong, Stewart Tucker, Gurjeet Singh, Nawab Ali, Najme Yazdanpanah, Josh Vander Weide, Molly Sears. (2025) “Optimizing Soil Moisture Sensor Placement Through Spatial Variability Analysis in Orchards.” Smart Agricultural Technology https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atech.2025.101273
• Jalali, Jamshid, Nishan Bhattarai, Jillian Greene, Tao Liu, Oskar Marko, Mirjana Radulovic, Molly Sears, Sean A. Woznicki. (2025) “Climate change threatens water resources for major crops in Serbia’s Danube Basin by mid-21st century.” Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581825002290
• Kpodo, J, and  A. Pouyan Nejadhashemi, 2025. Navigating Challenges/Opportunities in Developing Smart Agricultural Extension Platforms: Data Source, Compilation, and Conversion, Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture, 15: 426-448.
• Razavi, H. R., G. Toscano,, A. Pouyan Nejadhashemi, K. Deb, Lewis Linker, 2025. Next-Generation Techniques for Parameter Reduction in Water Resources Multiobjective Optimization, Environmental Modelling and Software, 193: 106651
• Deb, K., A. Pouyan Nejadhashemi, G. Toscano, H. Razavi, and L. Linker, 2024. Leveraging innovization and transfer learning to optimize best management practices in large-scale watershed management, Journal of Environmental Modelling and Software, 180: 106161.
• Ghane, E, Abdalaal, Y., Tehrani, A., 2025. Paired-field evaluation of a saturated buffer reveals significant water-quality benefits through upstream weir management. Agricultural Water Management. 109664. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109664  
• Dialameh, B., Ghane, E. Youssef. M. 2025. DRAINMOD predicted impact of climate change on hydrology, corn yield, and drainage design in the Western Lake Erie Basin, United States. Agricultural Water Management. 109641. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109641  

Mississippi (Quintana Ashwell)

• Roberts, C., Gholson, D., Quintana‐Ashwell, N., Locke, M., Pieralisi, B., Spencer, G. D., Crow, W., & Krutz, L. J. (2025). Economic implications of reduced tillage and cover crops in the irrigated mid‐South. Agronomy Journal, 117(2), e70034.
• Oku, E., Quintana Ashwell, N., Yun, S., Curt Lacy, R., & Jason Krutz, L. (2025). Adoption timing of water conserving irrigation practices in the Mississippi Delta: An application of duration analysis. Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

Montana (Hagerty)

• Bruno, Ellen, and Nick Hagerty (2025). “Anticipatory Effects of Regulating the Commons.” Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 132: 103183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103183.
• Bruno, Ellen, and Nick Hagerty (2025). “California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act: What Are Its Early Impacts?” ARE Update 28(4): 2-4. https://s.giannini.ucop.edu/uploads/pub/2025/04/30/v28n4.pdf

Nebraska (Rimsaite, Schoengold)

(Rimsaite)

• Jayasekera, D.H., Munde, S., Snow, D.D., and Rimšaitė, R., 2025. “Trends in nitrate contamination: Implications for communities reliant on groundwater for drinking.” Environmental Research Communications, 7(8), https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/adf60e.
• Melkani, A., Rimšaitė R., Brozović, N., and Mieno T., March 2025. “Economic impact of groundwater regulation: Case study of Nebraska,” Blog. Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, https://waterforfood.nebraska.edu/news-and-events/news/2025/03/economic-impact-of-groundwater-regulation-case-study-of-nebraska. 
• Williss, R., Rimšaitė, R., Aiken, D., Knutson, C., and Brozović, N., 2025. “Primary water rights systems in the United States,” Infographic. Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, https://go.unl.edu/water-rights.
• Williss, R., Rimšaitė R., Melkani, A., Brozović, N., 2025. “Irrigation and yield stability,” Infographic. Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, https://go.unl.edu/irrigation-yield.
• Williss, R., Rimšaitė R., Melkani, A., Brozović, N., 2025. “Commonly irrigated crops in the US,” Infographic. Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, https://go.unl.edu/irrigated-crops. 
• Williss, R., Rimšaitė R., Melkani, A., Brozović, N., 2025. “Common irrigation methods in the US,” Infographic. Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, https://go.unl.edu/irrigation-methods. 
• Rimšaitė R., May 2025. “Considering energy costs in irrigated agriculture.” Irrigation Today, Economy column, https://irrigationtoday.org/features/considering-energy-costs-in-irrigated-agriculture/. 
• Rimšaitė R., August 2025. “Irrigation technology development and adoption challenges.” Irrigation Today, Economy column, https://irrigationtoday.org/features/irrigation-technology-development-and-adoption-challenges/. 

(Schoengold)

• Khanal, B., T. Mieno, K. Schoengold, and D.S. Bullock (2025) “Using Precision Conservation to Target Land Retirement: Incorporating spatially variable profit and crop insurance premiums” (Accepted for publication at Science of the Total Environment), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.179315.
• Mavroutsikos, C., K. Schoengold, A. Yiannaka, S. Banerjee, K. Giannakas, and T. Awada (2025) “The Role of Spatially Varying Descriptive Norms on Public Valuation of Ecosystem Services Associated with Improved Soil Health: A Discrete Choice Experiment on Nudging” (Accepted for publication at Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics), DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.356159.
• Spor Leal, L., T. Roy, D. Uden, K. Schoengold (2024) “Hydrological Impacts of the Conservation Reserve Program - A Mini Review”, Frontiers in Water, DOI: 10.3389/frwa.2024.1506255.
• Jayasekera, D. H., Powers, C., Aiken, J. D., Schoengold, K., & Rimšaitė, R. (2024, September 15). Nitrate contamination in Nebraska’s drinking water. The Water Report, 247, 1–11. https://www.thewaterreport.com/current-issues/

Oklahoma (Jafarzadegan, Lambert)

• Lambert, LH, Y Yao, & LR Levers (2025). Optimal cropping patterns and intertemporal groundwater usage under extraction constraints in Oklahoma’s Panhandle. Agricultural Water Management 313. DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109472
• Lambert, DM, B Golden, L Lambert, B Guererro (2025). The impacts of a local enhanced management area on groundwater use for crop production. Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics. DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.358997
•  Lambert, DM, LH Lambert, J Ripberger, H Jenkins-Smith, CL Silva (2025). Public support for producer adoption of soil health practices. Agriculture and Human Values 42(2): 1045-1061. DOI: 10.1007/s10460-024-10660-6

South Carolina (Jeong, Khedun)

• Jeong, Dawoon; Scaroni, Amy E.; and Motallebi, Marzieh (2025) "Assessing Septic Service Availability and Pricing across Coastal South Carolina," Journal of South Carolina Water Resources: Vol. 10 : Iss. 1 , Article 2. Available at: https://open.clemson.edu/jscwr/vol10/iss1/2

Tennessee (Perez Quesada)

• Hrozencik, A., Perez-Quesada, G., and Donahue, H2. 2025. The Development and Current Challenges of Irrigated Agriculture in the Western U.S. Agricultural Water Management, 315, p.109474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109474

Texas (Wilcox, Dominguez, Rouhi Rad)

• Atalar, F., P. A. M. Leite*, and B. P. Wilcox. 2025. A comparison of three methodologies for determining soil infiltration capacity in thicketized oak woodlands and adjacent grasslands. Water 17:518.
• Wang, H.-H., W. E. Grant, A. G. Birt, and B. P. Wilcox. 2025. Modeling rangelands as complex adaptive socio-ecological systems: An agent-based model of pyric herbivory. Ecological Modelling 501:111020.
•  Kelly, A. R*., P. A. M. Leite, J. W. Walker, and B. P. Wilcox. 2025. Long-Term Legacy of Juniper Encroachment: Increased Infiltration and Reduced Compaction a Decade After Mortality. Rangeland Ecology & Management 103:71-77.
• Leite, P. A. M. *, D. M. Rempe, K. J. McInnes, L. M. Schmidt, J. W. Walker, H. G. Olariu, and B. P. Wilcox. 2025. Trees Enhance Rock Moisture Storage: A Major Pool in Karst Drylands and Crucial During Droughts. Water Resources Research 61:e2024WR038692.
• Olariu, H. G. *, B. P. Wilcox, and S. C. Popescu. 2025. Linking Woody Plants, Climate, and Evapotranspiration in a Temperate Savanna. EGUsphere 2025:1-35.
• Bahrami, S., Rouhi Rad, M., and R. M. Nayga Jr., (2025). Dollars for Drops: Abatement Cost of Water for Irrigation in the Colorado River Basin. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, PP.1-16.
• Rouhi Rad, M., Li, L., Woodward, R.T., (2025) Non-Market Valuation of Environmental Resources: An Introduction. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance
• Busari, I., Sloggy, M.R., Rouhi Rad, M., Sahoo, D., Drury, S.A. and Escobedo, F.J., (2025). Modeling Wildfire Effects on Ecosystem Services in two Disparate California Watersheds and Communities. Environmental Management, pp.1-21

Washington (Cook, Yoder)

• Basu, R., M. Brady, J. Cook, J. Gifford, K. Rajagopalan, and J. Yoder. “An agent-based model for assessing agricultural water market structure and function.” Water Resources and Economics, accepted Sept 2025.
• Khan, R. A, M. Brady, B. Singh, M. Yourek, J. Yoder, J. Cook, G. Yorgey, and K. Rajagopalan. 2025. “Concurrent irrigation pauses can create stream flow pulses for fish during critical low-flow periods.” Water Resources Research, 61 e2024WR039127. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024W