Mayhah Roma Suri, Faculty Specialist Agricultural & Resource Economics, University of Maryland; msuri1@umd.edu
The U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) considers possible nontraditional sources of irrigation water to include recycled, brackish, desalinated, fracking, agricultural runoff, aquaculture, livestock wastewater, and process waters. With funding from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, CONSERVE: A Center of Excellence at the Nexus of Sustainable Water Reuse, Food, and Health, a multi-partner project, is focusing on multiple types of nontraditional irrigation water in the Mid-Atlantic and Southwest regions of the United States. The CONSERVE team of researchers, Extension professionals, and educators aim to provide effective on-farm irrigation solutions.
Extension professionals from the University of Maryland and the University of Arizona are conducting a joint needs assessment survey (https://go.umd.edu/q5n) among the agricultural community with three goals: 1) assessing prior knowledge of nontraditional water sources; 2) determining concerns; and 3) understanding the most effective outreach methods.
The results of this survey will be used to inform priority areas for CONSERVE researchers as well as direct future educational programming and resource development for farmers in the study areas. If you are a farmer in the Mid-Atlantic or Southwest and would like to take the survey, you can find it here: https://go.umd.edu/q5n.
This survey is open to all individuals who are at least 18 years old. To learn more about CONSERVE, please visit the website at: www.ConserveWaterForFood.org.