Harnessing Digital Technologies for Smarter Water Management in Agriculture 2025

Challenge The Tulare Basin in California, a vital agricultural region within the Central Valley, has been experiencing significant groundwater depletion due to years of intensive irrigation practices. During drought periods, more than 80% of irrigation water is sourced from underground, exerting considerable pressure on water supplies. Farmers have resorted to drilling wells as deep as 3,500 feet (1,000+ metres) to access water; however, the lack of clear information regarding groundwater availability has complicated effective management. Conventional water monitoring techniques were unable to differentiate between water extracted from aquifers (which may not replenish) and water from the water table (which can be restored through rainfall). This gap in understanding resulted in inefficient water usage and irreversible land subsidence.Solution In response to this issue, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy developed a satellite-based approach to more accurately monitor underground water loss. This innovative method integrated: –US-European GRACE and GRACE Follow-On satellites to assess overall changes in groundwater levels. –European Space Agency’s Sentinel-1 satellite to identify minor shifts in land surface elevation. –Numerical modelling of soil composition to differentiate between water loss from aquifers and the water table. By examining patterns of ground subsidence, researchers could ascertain whether water loss was temporary (resulting from seasonal pumping) or permanent (due to excessive extraction from deep aquifers). This provided farmers and policy-makers with real-time data to enhance groundwater sustainability. CASE STUDY 1 NASA’s satellite monitoring for sustainable groundwater management in California’s Tulare Basin Note: This map shows changes in the mass of water, both above ground and underground, in California from 2003 to 2013, as measured by NASA’s GRACE satellite. The darkest red indicates the greatest water loss. The Central Valley is outlined in yellow; the Tulare Basin covers about the southern third. Extreme groundwater depletion has continued to the present. Source: NASA/GSFC/SVS. Harnessing Digital Technologies for Smarter Water Management in Agriculture 12