Changing climate and land use may increasingly threaten water availability in the Upper Midwest and result in more farmers switching from rain-fed systems to irrigated agriculture. Funded by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and in partnership with Iowa State University, the Center for Changing Landscapes, and the Institute on the Environment, this project aims to understand how agricultural producers anticipate, respond, and adapt to changing water availability under climate change. The project integrates climate and hydrologic modeling, risk mapping, ecosystem services assessments, and surveys of farmer values, behaviors, and perceptions to understand coupled water and land futures in Iowa and Minnesota.

View a poster presentation with preliminary results from our work here.

Lead Investigator: Mae Davenport, Center for Changing Landscapes

Co-Investigators: Bonnie Keeler, Kate Brauman (IonE), Ray Arritt (Iowa State), and J Arbuckle (Iowa State)

Project Manager: Maggie Rogers