Location: Water Management and Systems Research
Project Number: 3012-13210-001-023-N
Project Type: Non-Funded Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jan 5, 2026
End Date: Jan 4, 2029
Objective:
This collaborative agreement will enhance capacity in irrigation systems engineering, precision water management, and climate- and weather-informed irrigation scheduling for sustainable agriculture. Cooperator will support development and delivery of curricula, experiential learning activities, and decision-support tools focused on irrigation and water management, sensors for precision agriculture, and use of high-resolution weather and evapotranspiration data for scheduling irrigation. The collaboration will expand training opportunities for students and agricultural professionals by integrating open-access modeling tools and mesonet data into coursework, workshops, and field-based demonstrations. Through this work, Cooperator will help build long-term regional capacity for data-driven irrigation management, improved water-use efficiency, and resilience to climate variability in humid agricultural environments.
Approach:
ARS will provide technical expertise and guidance on evapotranspiration modeling, crop water balance methods, and integration of these models into open-access irrigation scheduling tools and educational materials. This includes adapting and applying a reference evapotranspiration and dual crop-coefficient water balance framework for use with agricultural mesonet data and irrigated cropping systems relevant to the project. ARS and Cooperator will collaborate to design of training modules, hands-on exercises, and workshop content that use real-time mesonet data and irrigation scheduling tools to teach principles of crop water use, deficit management, and seasonal planning. ARS will participate in periodic coordination meetings, provide feedback on tool implementation and documentation, and assist with in-person training sessions and short courses as needed to ensure that models and decision-support tools are robust, transparent, and readily adopted by students, extension personnel, and growers.