Page 61 - Mapping the Nation: Taking Climate Action

Drought Rising global temperatures have intensified both rainfall and drought, leading to too-wet or too-dry conditions that heighten the risk and impacts of disasters. These extremes have been on display seemingly every summer with devastating floods and fires that put vulnerable people and places in the spotlight. Although little can be done to prevent drought, remote sensing and GIS can identify trends and monitor drought- related issues to better manage scarce water supplies. To ensure water availability, cities set goals for reducing water use by homeowners and businesses. City water planners often find that water savings can best be achieved by reducing outdoor irrigation, which constitutes approximately 70 percent of each household's total use in summer months. Using GIS, a regulated irrigation map can be created to reduce homeowner use across a municipality. GIS can also be used to notify homeowners and monitor compliance. In California, Esri partner Land IQ has taken water and farm irrigation monitoring to the next level. Land IQ has mapped more than 420,000 individual fields of crops statewide through remote sensors, satellite imagery, and in-person verifications. In three California counties critical to the state's agricultural production, the company also tracks how much water each field is using. Land IQ data, made visible with GIS, is reported to local water resource managers. These smart maps support officials monitoring the state's water supply and farmers making decisions that must balance economics with protecting natural resources. In some of the same areas in which Land IQ monitors irrigation, farmworkers lack water or can't drink or cook with the water that flows from their faucets. As the drought continues, they contend with dried-up wells, defective underground pipes, and water contaminated with bacteria or nitrates from fertilizer runoff. Families, some already facing poverty levels, must often pay for bottled water on top of their monthly water bills and, in some cases, struggle to find ample supply in their local grocery store. In Tulare County, officials are mapping these disparities to address water equity with infrastructure investments to provide clean water for everyone. Droughts are part of nature's climate variability that have been prevalent in the past and will continue in the future. Burgeoning populations put increasing pressure on a finite water supply, so we must do more to assess risk and mitigate shortages. GIS is used by all manner of governments and water boards to identify areas at risk of meteorological, hydrologic, and agricultural drought, as well as analyze the environmental and socioeconomic impacts that may occur because of drought conditions. With GIS, drought can be examined for impacts on the economy, infrastructure, and communities. The goal is to develop best-case scenarios to identify vulnerabilities and determine mitigation measures across each location and sector. 60