Agricultural Use of Reclaimed Water in Florida

In the shadow of looming threats to global food security, the nexus of water scarcity and economic stability has received increasing attention over the past decade (Elliott et al., 2014; D’Odorico et al., 2018; Rosa et al., 2020). Water bodies and aquifers are depleted in many parts of the world (Elliott et al., 2014), with agricultural irrigation accounting for about 70% of this depletion (Wallace, 2000). Compounded by the swings of a changing climate, traditionally predictable rhythms of rain-fed croplands are being disrupted (Rosa et al., 2020). A growing population under a changing climate creates an urgent need for the expansion of irrigation to meet the demands from food production, which in turn raises concerns about the sustainability of agricultural systems given limited freshwater resources (Rockström et al., 2012).