The Importance of Irrigated Agriculture in the Colorado River Basin and the Western U.S.

 
In the Colorado River Basin, competing water interests have mounted a sustained campaign against agricultural water use in the Basin, often pointing to alfalfa as one crop that uses too much water and should no longer be produced. 
 
Alliance Executive Director Dan Keppen touches on this topic in “The Importance of Irrigated Agriculture in the Colorado River Basin & the Western U.S.” This essay was featured as the cover story for the current edition of The Water Report, a publication that provides monthly detailed analyses from a variety of industry experts across the West. 

Other Colorado River articles featured in Water Report Issue #233 include:

• “The Pursuit of Balance” by Lawrence J. MacDonnell, Senior Fellow, Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy and the Environment;
• “The Law of the Colorado River: Overview & Key Components” by Jennifer Diffley, Culp & Kelley, LLP; and
• “Mapping the Colorado River Basin in the 21^st Century” by Zach Sugg, Associate Director for Research, Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy”. 

CLICK HERE for the PDF version of Issue #233.

And check out The Water Report website: www.thewaterreport.com

Increased demand for high-protein-source dairy products and meat has been reflected in soaring prices of alfalfa hay in recent years. Still, some believe the amount of water used to irrigate alfalfa is a major contributor to Colorado River Basin’s water shortage. They fail to recognize alfalfa’s economic efficiencies, environmental impacts and agronomic benefits to our ecosystem.

CLICK HERE to hear the other side of the story, presented by Ayman Mostafa, Ph.D., a field crops and entomology specialist and director of the Urban Agriculture Production, Small-Scale and Beginning Farmer Program at the University of Arizona. Many thanks to the California Farm Bureau Federation for publishing this excellent commentary!

The Family Farm Alliance and California Farm Water Coalition last November produced a White Paper titled, “Our Food Supply at Risk; The Importance of Alfalfa Production in the American West,” which further details the valuable role alfalfa plays as a principal feed source for the nation’s livestock and diary industries, its environmental benefits, and contribution to effective drought management.