Researchers from Texas A&M University recently published the results of a study which looked at how scarcer water supplies in the future may affect how producers irrigate their crops. While long-term climate models do not give clear guidance on whether total precipitation will increase or decrease in the future, higher temperatures are very likely and will increase evaporation and water stress on plants as well as reducing water storage in soils and water bodies. The study looked in particular at the increase use of resources such as “gray water” to irrigate plants at their point of sale by landscapers and nurseries and whether they affect the health of those plants. You can read more at https://phys.org/news/2018-05-effective-methods-irrigation-increasingly-scarce.html.

Old hand water pump, Alapaha GA. Source: Jud McCranie, Commons Wikimedia