When a case is selected, its associated information will appear in this window. The “Zoom to Feature” button will take you to its location. Switching to satellite view (“change basemap” button, above right) along with the notes in “pin location” will help interpret the site. The description for each case provides relevant information, along with hyperlinked references to conduct further research.

To find cases of interest to you, use the search or filter tools. The search bar will return results from case names and descriptions, while the filter is useful for finding a particular type of activity. Each case is tagged with at least one category – the first tag determines the display color (see legend), but secondary tags will also return results when using the filter. Detailed information about each category is contained in the info buttons in the filter tool. Briefly, the main categories into which cases are organized are:

Demand-Based Strategies:

Practices focused on water conservation or efficiency.

• Crop Choice and Rotation – includes alternative low water-use crops, adjustments to crop rotations, or managed fallowing of farmland.
• Decision Support Tools – tools that provide information about hydrologic processes to aid in decisions about water management.
• Evapotranspiration and Soil Moisture – includes techniques that conserve soil moisture or reduce crop water use (such as mulching), as well as landscape-scale efforts to reduce water use by removing vegetation.
• Indigenous/Ancestral Techniques – agricultural water conservation practices developed by Native communities or handed down through generations of settler communities (e.g. Spanish-introduced acequia irrigation in New Mexico).
• Irrigation Technology and Timing – use of sprinkler and drip systems, deficit irrigation, and ways to adjust timing of water delivery.
• Novel Production Systems – focused on agricultural practices that may use water more efficiently than conventional field systems, including greenhouse and indoor production, and integrating aquaculture and plant crops.

Supply-Based Strategies:

Practices focused on increasing available water or managing stored water for future availability.

• New Supply – techniques for securing “new” water for a given user or set of users, which include building reservoirs and canals, pumping more or deeper groundwater, desalination, weather modification, and re-use of wastewater.
• Reservoir and Aquifer Storage – ways of adjusting water systems to store more water and buffer against scarcity.

Law, Policy, Planning, and Markets:

Practices that affect who can use water, where, when, and how much.

• Drought plan – Plans that recommend or require changes in water use during drought conditions.
• Market-based solutions – ways of re-allocating water from one user to another through an economic transaction, such as a water rights lease.
• Negotiations, Agreements, and Settlements – Rules and procedures for allocating scarce water negotiated between water users and other interested parties.
• Water Use Regulation – policies that mandate or incentivize reductions in water use or restrict new uses.

Ecosystem Water Scarcity Solutions:

Practices that make water available for the environment or increase resilience in the context of scarcity.

• Desert and Grassland Restoration – practices that concern the effectiveness of restoration activities in upland ecosystems in arid environments.
• In-Stream Flow – practices that make water available for rivers, lakes, or other aquatic environments.
• Riparian and Wetland Restoration – water to support riparian ecosystems that depend on consistent water availability.

Excess Water and Runoff:

Solutions addressing problems arising from over-abundance of water and degradation of water quality.

• Flood Risk – practices aimed at reducing flood impacts.
• Water quality- solutions focused on impacts from chemical contaminants, salts, sediment, or other sources.

Secondary Themes:

• Biodiversity – practices that positively species or habitat diversity.
• Resource access – includes water security (i.e. access to clean and reliable water supplies especially for historically underserved communities), and food sovereignty/security, where access to water has implications for access to healthy and culturally appropriate foods.

The filter tool provides several additional options for sorting cases, including:

• User Type – identifies who is involved in using or managing water in each case. Options include agricultural producers (farmers and ranchers), irrigation organizations (irrigation districts or ditch associations), water supply system operators (i.e., organizations that manage reservoir systems), Indian Tribes, and federal land management agencies.
• Use Type – macro-analyses of consumptive water use often break down allocation between agriculture, urban, and environment. We follow this convention, and also include “industrial” and “rural domestic” (household use for rural communities).
• Crop or Ecosystem – cases which apply to the management of specific crops or ecosystems can be easily identified here.
• Crop duration and photosynthetic pathway – allows for quick identification of annual or perennial crops, as well as C3, C4, or CAM photosynthesis.
• State or Territory – select cases located in a specific territorial entity. Practices which involve or impact activity in another area may appear outside of the selected unit.

Additional information is included within each case, including identification of specific organizations and institutions involved (this field is called “Actors”). These are not available in the filter, but typing the name of an organization in the search bar will return matching results.

We welcome comments on any aspect of WATA, including – the way cases are organized or tagged, the user interface, the content of a specific case, or suggestions for what to include next. Please submit suggestions and comments about this tool here.