Agricultural Water Conservation in the Colorado River Basin: Alternatives to Permanent Fallowing Research Synthesis and Outreach Workshops
Abstract
As increasing water scarcity occurs in the Colorado River Basin, water users have been looking for new sources of supply. The default solution is to transfer water from the cheapest and most plentiful source — agriculture — to supply new water demands in the region. However, if pursued in haste, and without sufficient information, the likely outcome may be permanent fallowing, along with serious economic disruption to agricultural communities, loss of valuable farmland, loss of important amenity values, and a loss of a sense of place in many rural communities within the basin. This project was undertaken to explore ways to minimize harm to agriculture if transfers out of agriculture were to occur. Four detailed synthesis reports of the four common methods used to temporarily transfer water from agriculture were produced by the project. The water saving methods covered by the reports are: (1) Deficit Irrigation of Alfalfa and other Forages; (2) Rotational Fallowing; (3) Crop Switching; and (4) Irrigation Efficiency and Water Conservation After the reports were drafted, three workshops were held, one in the Upper Basin in Grand Junction on November 4, 2016, one in the Lower Basin in Tucson on March 29, 2017, and one in Washington, DC on May 16, 2017 to disseminate the findings. Over 100 people attended these workshops.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2017
- Bibcode:
- 2017AGUFM.H13S..03U
- Keywords:
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- 1834 Human impacts;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 1880 Water management;
- HYDROLOGY;
- 4327 Resilience;
- NATURAL HAZARDS;
- 6319 Institutions;
- POLICY SCIENCES