More farming in East needed to counter risks of demand for water in West and ethanol belt?

More U.S. agriculture needs to return to the eastern half of the country to head off two big challenges facing the nation -- increasing demand for water for ethanol production in the Upper Midwest and for development in the increasingly arid but still-growing West, two atmospheric scientists write in today's New York Times.

"Returning agricultural production to the Eastern United States under irrigation would be efficient and environmentally sound," write Richard McNider and John Christy of the University of Alabama-Huntsville. "In the West, at least three to four feet of water per acre is needed every year to produce a good crop. In the East, only a few inches of irrigated water per acre are needed, because of the region’s heavier rainfall."

However, because stream flows in the East "fall to critically low levels in the summer . . . the federal government will need to provide money to help farmers build storage ponds to catch winter water," the scientists write. "Without a government role, Eastern farmers may decide instead to forgo storage ponds and irrigate on-demand from low-flow summer streams or from ground water. Neither strategy is sustainable or good for the environment." (Read more)