The team award was presented by Gov. John Hickenlooper at the
University of Colorado in recently to theroot zone water quality
model (RZWQM2) development team of eight USDA-ARS scientists at
Ames, Iowa, Akron and Fort Collins. Annual CO-LABS awards
recognize achievements at Colorado's 24 federal labs and other
research facilities. The RZWQM2 is a comprehensive cropping
systems model that simulates the effects of changes in
management practices (tillage, planting date, fertility, plant
population), climate variability, soil condition, irrigation
management, etc. on crop production and yield. Results from
model simulations are used to identify and guide water saving
practices that enable Colorado farmers to sustain food
production with increasingly limited water supplies. Model
results have also been used to devise systems to protect water
quality throughout the United States and internationally. The
RZWQM2 has been used to generate data that farmers use in
assessing production risk associated with making chang