Developing Sustainability Metrics for Water Use in Arizona Small Grain Production: Final Report to the Arizona Grain Research and Promotion Council

Abstract

This study estimated a number of sustainability measures for water use in Arizona small grain production including: water application intensity, water productivity, water economic productivity, and water footprint. The study also evaluated how grain production, particularly as part of grain-vegetable crop rotations, enhances the regional sustainability of local agricultural production in the arid Southwest. Finally, the study evaluated estimates of Arizona durum wheat’s water footprint (water consumed per bushel produced) reported in popular water footprint calculators. It identified several methodological and data errors in these calculators that lead to an over-estimate of the water footprint of Arizona’s durum wheat production.