A database of groundwater wells in the United States.

Groundwater wells are critical infrastructure that enable the monitoring, extraction, and use of groundwater, which has important implications for the environment, water security, and economic development. Despite the importance of wells, a unified database collecting and standardizing information on the characteristics and locations of these wells across the United States has been lacking. To bridge this gap, we have created a comprehensive database of groundwater well records collected from state and federal agencies, which we call the United States Groundwater Well Database (USGWD). Presented in both tabular form and as vector points, USGWD comprises over 14.2 million well records with attributes, such as well purpose, location, depth, and capacity, for wells constructed as far back as 1763 to 2023. Rigorous cross-verification steps have been applied to ensure the accuracy of the data. The USGWD stands as a valuable tool for improving our understanding of how groundwater is accessed and managed across various regions and sectors within the United States.

Greenhouse gas emissions from US irrigation pumping and implications for climate-smart irrigation policy.

Irrigation reduces crop vulnerability to drought and heat stress and thus is a promising climate change adaptation strategy. However, irrigation also produces greenhouse gas emissions through pump energy use. To assess potential conflicts between adaptive irrigation expansion and agricultural emissions mitigation efforts, we calculated county-level emissions from irrigation energy use in the US using fuel expenditures, prices, and emissions factors. Irrigation pump energy use produced 12.6 million metric tonnes CO2e in the US in 2018 (90% CI: 10.4, 15.0), predominantly attributable to groundwater pumping. Groundwater reliance, irrigated area extent, water demand, fuel choice, and electrical grid emissions intensity drove spatial heterogeneity in emissions. Due to heavy reliance on electrical pumps, projected reductions in electrical grid emissions intensity are estimated to reduce pumping emissions by 46% by 2050, with further reductions possible through pump electrification. Quantification of irrigation-related emissions will enable targeted emissions reduction efforts and climate-smart irrigation expansion.

Interbasin water transfers in the United States and Canada.

Interbasin water transfers (IBTs) can have a significant impact on the environment, water availability, and economies within the basins importing and exporting water, as well as basins downstream of these water transfers. The lack of comprehensive data identifying and describing IBTs inhibits understanding of the role IBTs play in supplying water for society, as well as their collective hydrologic impact. We develop three connected datasets inventorying IBTs in the United States and Canada, including their features, geospatial details, and water transfer volumes. We surveyed the academic and gray literature, as well as local, state, and federal water agencies, to collect, process, and verify IBTs in Canada and the United States. Our comprehensive IBT datasets represent all known transfers of untreated water that cross subregion (US) or subdrainage area (CA) boundaries, characterizing a total of 641 IBT projects. The infrastructure-level data made available by these data products can be used to close water budgets, connect water supplies to water use, and better represent human impacts within hydrologic and ecosystem models.

Inputs for staple crop production in China drive burden shifting of water and carbon footprints transgressing part of provincial planetary boundaries.

Crop production is the biggest water user and key contributor to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Increasing crop yields to ensure adequate food supply under water and land scarcity is excessively dependents on intensive agricultural inputs (such as fertilizers, pesticides, agri-films, or energy), resulting in unintended environmental consequences. Supply chains bringing environmental-intensive inputs from their place of production to the croplands. However, most food-related environmental assessments ignore the environmental burden of agricultural input production, trade, and consumption. Here, we estimate spatially-detailed water (WF) and carbon footprints (CF) of wheat, maize, and rice production in China with extended system boundary from upstream raw material mining to the field. The agricultural inputs account for up to 24% and 89% of a crop's WF and CF, respectively, at the provincial level. The total local generated WF in Chinese northern provinces and CF in Shanxi and Inner Mongolia provinces for producing crops and agricultural inputs transgresses the corresponding downscaled blue water and carbon planetary boundaries. The study broadens the scope of traditional environmental impact assessments in agricultural production and sheds light on the significances to manage the linkages between the crop production and the agricultural inputs' upstream supply chains towards more efficient water use and less greenhouse gas emissions in food system.

Assessing the environmental impacts of halving food loss and waste along the food supply chain.

Reducing food loss and waste (FLW) is widely recognized as an important lever for lowering the environmental impacts of food systems. The United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda includes a goal to reduce FLW by 50% by 2030. Given differences in resource inputs along the food supply chain (FSC), the environmental benefits of FLW reduction will vary by stage of the FSC. Here, we identify the points along the supply chain where a 50% FLW reduction could yield the largest potential environmental benefits, assuming that decreases in consumption propagate back up the supply chain to reduce production. We use an environmentally extended input-output (EEIO) model combined with data on rates of FLW to calculate the scale of the total environmental impacts of the U.S. food system resulting from lost or wasted food. We evaluate the maximum potential environmental benefit resulting from 50% FLW reduction at all possible combinations of six supply chain stages (agricultural production, food processing, distribution/retail, restaurant foodservice, institutional foodservice, and households). We find that FLW reduction efforts should target the foodservice (restaurant) sector, food processing sector, and household consumption. Halving FLW in the foodservice sector has the highest potential to reduce greenhouse gas output and energy use. Halving FLW in the food processing sector could reduce the most land use and eutrophication potential, and reducing household consumption waste could avert the most water consumption. In contrast, FLW reduction at the retail, institutional foodservice, and farm level averts less environmental impact. Our findings may help determine optimal investment in FLW reduction strategies.