Reinvesting water savings to increase U.S. food production

Reinvesting water savings to increase U.S. food production | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Reinvesting water savings to increase U.S. food production Landon Marston, Gambhir Lamsal, Endalkachew Abebe Kebede, Bhoktear Khan, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8653009/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Rising food demand is straining limited water resources in U.S. agriculture, and although efficiency improvements aim to conserve water, farmers often reinvest savings to expand production—a rebound effect that, if strategically guided, can boost food output within existing water limits. Using AquaCrop-OS, we quantify how adopting high-efficiency irrigation systems and mulching affects irrigation water use for 13 major U.S. crops and evaluate the national potential to reallocate saved water. We estimate water savings of 27.4 km³ annually (approximately 30% of current use), and reallocating this water within the same subwatersheds could expand irrigation by 6.2 million ha and increase production by 21 million metric tons (8.9% gain) valued at $4.7 billion. By linking efficiency gains to potential production outcomes, this study shows that directing rebound-driven water reuse offers a promising pathway to increase food output without increasing water diversions or converting substantial new land. Scientific community and society/Water resources Scientific community and society/Agriculture Rebound effect Food production Water savings Water reallocation Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8653009","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":580563384,"identity":"5d0085b7-cdde-4c82-95a4-7b8334387611","order_by":0,"name":"Landon 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