Earth Sciences Paper Abstracts (Author Abstract‪)‬

ADAPTIVE WET SEASON WATER HARVESTING IN ALABAMA, THE GEOLOGIC-GEOMORPHOLOGIC PERSPECTIVE. Mezemir Wagaw, Wubishet Tadesse, Tommy Coleman, Girma Kebede. Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, Alabama A&M University, Normal, AL-35762. The state of Alabama is located in the southeastern region with one of the highest average annual precipitation in the Nation. This natural resource can potentially transform agriculture in Alabama into the most productive sectors of the economy. The critical issue in this regard is the supplemental water availability to bridge the irregularly occurring "short' dry spells in the growing season. This would require a new approach to capturing wet season surplus water for dry season usage across the state as an "on-farm water security". As a prelude to site-specific water access and use, in this study a holistic and adaptive approach is presented to facilitate the capturing of wet season surplus water for dry season usage across the state as an "on-demand-on-farm water harvesting enabler". Water harvesting is a complex technical process, also could be at times environmentally sensitive. Hence such an investigation would demand an input from various natural and social science disciplines. The scope of this investigation is to explore the potentials and challenges in statewide introduction of the praxis of cool-season run-off impoundment for dry season irrigation purposes. Dry season irrigation across the state is predicated on a set of natural and environmental situations. For this study, historic flow recordings, multi-temporal/scale satellite imageries, meteorological data, reports, and thematic maps from water resource agencies were available. The ESRI GIS, ERDAS Imagine, and MIKE SHE modeling tools were used. As a preliminary finding, various basin-wide approaches such as surface impoundments, more integrated use of underground localized micro-aquifer systems, tectonic lineaments, fractures, and other regional and sub-regional geological and geo-morphological features as inexpensive mechanisms of water retention are discussed. The potential unintended environmental side-effects of such small but frequent undertakings were also addressed. As a prelude to site-specific water access and use, this study provides a thorough understanding of the surface water bearing and hydrogeologic conditions based on the prevailing structural and geomorphologic features across the state. This investigation will assess broader irrigation potentials based on the precipitation trend, geology, and hydrogeology with a special emphasis on northern and central region of Alabama.