Agricultural water management in a changing Maryland: stakeholder experiences and attitudes towards weather variability, alternative water sources, and related factors

The state of Maryland has experienced significant but commonly overlooked impacts on water quality and quantity. Future climate change is predicted to further reduce water availability, with nontraditional water sources such as treated recycled wastewater (TRW) as one potential way to mitigate impacts. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 17 Maryland stakeholders—including farmers, extension agents, state agency personnel, and academics—to explore their perceptions and experiences with 1) past, existing and future weather variability; 2) freshwater and reusable water use and management in agriculture; and 3) related factors impacting agricultural water management. Qualitative coding of interview transcripts produced 27 categories containing 291 unique codes and 121 sub-codes. Analysis revealed 24% of interviewees were hesitant to confirm climate change as a human-caused phenomenon, yet all interviewees described changes to the weather over recent decades, including drought, high rainfall events, extreme and unpredictable weather, and changes in temperature. Over half of interviewees had some knowledge of TRW in agriculture, and a majority thought it would be valuable; however, none had direct experience with its application. Many identified implementation barriers, with Distance, Infrastructure/Transport, Cost, and Contamination Concern as the most common codes. Many interviewees did not believe that water provisioning for agriculture was a problem because the region receives enough or more than enough precipitation. Related factors mentioned by interviewees included tension between residential and agricultural water use, land ownership, and concerns over existing or potential regulations. These findings inform our research exploring the use of TRW to support Maryland water sustainability under projected climate scenarios.