Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID IN_2025_Wang

Impacts of farmland loss on precipitation recycling in Indiana

Institute: Indiana
Year Established: 2025 Start Date: 2026-01-01 End Date: 2026-12-31
Total Federal Funds: $29,985 Total Non-Federal Funds: $29,985

Principal Investigators: Lixin Wang

Project Summary: It's important to understand how water evaporating from the land and plants (i.e., evapotranspiration) contributes to local precipitation, especially in farming areas that rely on rain to grow crops. In Indiana, a large number of farmlands were lost between 2010 and 2022. This loss in farmland can greatly diminish evapotranspiration, which, in turn, leads to a decline in precipitation generated from this process. However, the quantitative impact of farmland loss on precipitation patterns in Indiana remains poorly understood. To fill this knowledge gap, this study aims to 1) identify how much local precipitation comes from evapotranspiration in Indiana from 2010 to 2022, and 2) examine the relationship between farmland loss and changes in precipitation using statistical regression and machine learning models. The findings will help policymakers create better strategies to enhance food and water security not just in Indiana but also in similar regions worldwide.