Fourth annual Water Law, Policy and Science Conference

The Future of Water Use in Agriculture
Embassy Suites Hotels, Lincoln, Nebraska
March 26-27, 2007

(posted 01/29/07)

LINCOLN, Neb. - “The Future of Water Use in Agriculture” covers topics from economics and policy to technology and biology and the fast-emerging biofuels market in a two-day March conference at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

UNL’s fourth annual Water Law, Policy and Science conference is Monday and Tuesday, March 26 and 27 at Lincoln’s Embassy Suites.

Much of the conference will explore the economics and policy dimensions of agricultural water use.

"Increasing competition for water resources in Nebraska and the Great Plains is creating both exciting opportunities and stiff challenges,” said UNL Water Center director Kyle Hoagland. “The purpose of this conference is to glean ideas for the future from some of the nation’s top experts.”

Key speakers in this first of three main conference topic areas are David Sunding, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California-Berkeley; federal reserve and irrigated agriculture financial expert Jason Henderson of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, Omaha; Daryll E. Ray, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Tennessee on policy effects on decisions in the agricultural economy; and Charlton Bonham, Trout Unlimited, on legal implications of competing water uses.

Syndicated agricultural columnist Alan Guebert speaks on water and ethanol connections at Monday’s luncheon.

Afternoon discussions shift to technical and biological issues related to agriculture and future water use.

Leading those discussions on agricultural landscape evolution in an adaptive management framework is Christopher Lant, executive director of the Universities Council on Water Resources, Department of Geography at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Ill.

Vikram Mehta, Center for Research on the Changing Earth System, Columbia, Md., speaks on how climate variability and extreme climatic events impact water and agriculture; Pamela Nagler of the U.S. Geological Survey, Tucson, Ariz, speaks on evapotranspiration and riparian species and David Nielsen of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s -Agricultural Research Service, Akron, Colo., discusses alternative crops and deficit irrigation.

Also Monday afternoon are presentations by UNL agricultural engineer Darrel Martin and Mark Lagrimini, head of UNL’s Department of Agronomy and Horticulture on genetic improvements in drought tolerant crops.

Evening dinner speaker is Colorado Supreme Court Justice Gregory Hobbs on the role of climate on western water institutions.

The focus on Tuesday will shift to the emerging biofuels arena.

"The rapid growth of the biofuels industry has tremendous economic potential, but also much broader impacts than many of us realize,” said Lorrie Benson, UNL Water Resources Research Initiative senior program manager. “Our conference will examine impacts and ways to minimize impacts on communities, the livestock industry and, of course, on water and other environmental aspects.”

Ken Cassman, director of UNL’s Nebraska Center for Energy Sciences Research leads off with a discussion of the impacts of biofuels production on food crops.

Wallace Wilhelm of UNL and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service follows with a look at opportunities and challenges in the ethanol industry.

Clarence Lehman of the University of Minnesota’s Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior will speak on the environmental, economic and energy costs of biodiesel and ethanol production and use. Predictions for improvements in water efficiency in the biofuels arena by Tom Sinclair, Department of Agronomy, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fl. is next.

Other speakers address related topics such as biofuels impact on livestock and livestock markets and how this growing industry could affect agricultural sustainability.

Full conference registration is $350 until March 7 and $425 thereafter. Partial registration options are also available. Students can attend the conference free.

For more information or to register, contact Tricia Liedle, UNL Water Center at (402) 472-3305.

Co-sponsoring the conference are the University’s

• Water Resources Research Initiative
• Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources
• Water Center
• School of Natural Resources
• Department of Geosciences
• Department of Biological Systems Engineering
• College of Law
• College of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Sources:

• Kyle D. Hoagland, Ph.D., director, UNL Water Center, (402) 472-3305
• Lorrie B. Benson, J.D., senior program manager, UNL Water Resources Research Initiative, (402) 472-7372

Writer:

• Steven W. Ress, communications coordinator, UNL Water Center, (402) 472-3305, sress1@unl.edu