PrintGoals and Learning Objectives
Goals
- Analyze the relationships between climate, availability of water resources, irrigation, and agricultural food production.
- Examine their water footprints and the virtual water embedded in agricultural food products.
- Summarize the major impacts of agriculture on both the quality and quantity of water resources.
Learning Objectives
After completing this module, students will be able to:
- Explain the relationships between evapotranspiration (ET), climate, and crop consumptive use.
- Describe the major impacts of agricultural diversions on the Colorado River.
- Relate the spatial distribution of precipitation and ET rates to where food can be grown with and without irrigation.
- Relate nutrient loading from fertilizer use to the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico.
- Attribute major water pollutants to appropriate agricultural sources.
- Estimate their water consumption in the food you eat using the concepts of virtual water and water footprints.