Irrigation in the sand hills region near Garden City KS, the focus area for the project. Photo credit: Jacob Stid

Grant to Preserve Groundwater and Economically Benefit Growers

September 10, 2024

Lawrence, KS

Agroecosystems

The High Plains Aquifer provides irrigation to support a $3.5 billion agricultural economy across eight states, but due to decades of groundwater extraction, water levels have fallen dangerously low across much of the aquifer. The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) is providing an $881,526 Seeding Solutions grant to the University of Kansas (KU) to study the integration of solar panel arrays outfitted with rain collection gutters on farmland to recharge groundwater and provide marketable electricity to growers. Kansas State University, KU, Michigan State University and Wheatland Electric Cooperative provided matching funds for a total investment of $1,763,053.

Researchers led by Dr. Sam Zipper, assistant scientist at the Kansas Geological Survey and assistant professor in the KU Department of Geology, are developing and testing pilot-scale solar panel and rain collection systems referred to as pivot-corner solar systems. A common irrigation practice, center pivot, often leaves some areas of a farm, pivot corners, with little or no irrigation. This project is putting pivot corners to use by outfitting them with solar panels that will collect rainwater, funneling it into basins that allow the water to infiltrate the soil, while also generating electricity through the panels.

Project co-PI Anthony Kendall and Ph.D. student Jake Stid set up automated infiltrometer to measure soil hydraulic conductivity. Photo credit James Bingaman — *Project co – PI Anthony Kendall and Ph.D. student Jake Stid set up an automated infiltrometer to measure soil hydraulic conductivity.*

Our vision is that we can sidestep the growing competition for land between farms and renewable energy by focusing solar arrays in the non-irrigated corners of fields and instead use solar power to provide economic, energy and hydrological benefits to farms. Dr. Sam Zipper
Assistant Professor, University of Kansas

The research team will work with the Kansas Geological Survey, producers and local utility companies to evaluate the benefits of groundwater recharge and electric generation in a solar test plot in southwestern Kansas, where High Plains Aquifer water levels have fallen dramatically. They also plan to conduct a regional analysis to estimate the potential benefits across the High Plains Aquifer region to support crop production to reduce stress on regional water supplies.

The Kansas team is a leader in finding creative solutions to our water challenges. Their system-based research will inform how combined practices can improve crop, soil and aquifer health benefits while reducing operation costs. Kathleen Boomer, Ph.D.
Scientific Program Director
Sustaining Vibrant Agroecosystems

For more information about this project, visit the Using Solar Panels to Enhance Groundwater grant page on FFAR’s website.

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Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research

The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) builds public-private partnerships to fund bold research addressing big food and agriculture challenges. FFAR was established in the 2014 Farm Bill to increase public agriculture research investments, fill knowledge gaps and complement the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s research agenda. FFAR’s model matches federal funding from Congress with private funding, delivering a powerful return on taxpayer investment. Through collaboration and partnerships, FFAR advances actionable science benefiting farmers, consumers and the environment.

Connect: @FoundationFAR

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