Gunnison River Basin
  • Gunnison Basin Roundtable
  • News
    • Newsletter Archive
  • Resources
    • Water Plans & Management
      • Colorado Water Plan
      • Gunnison Basin Implementation Plan
      • Colorado Climate Plan
    • Projects
      • Lower Gunnison Project
        • Lower Gunnison Watershed Plan
        • North Fork Water Conservancy District
        • Crawford Water Conservancy District
        • Bostwick Park Water Conservancy District
        • Uncompahgre Project
      • No Chico Brush
      • Stream Management Planning
    • Agriculture
      • Soil Health Practices
      • Funding Opportunities
      • Water Banking
    • Domestic
      • Efficiency Tips
      • Drinking Water Providers
      • Conservation Planning
    • Recreation
    • Environment
    • Water Quality
      • Salinity Control in the Gunnison and Colorado River Basins
      • Selenium Management
      • Public Health & Environment
  • Events
  • Contact
Gunnison River Basin
[email protected]
  • Gunnison Basin Roundtable
  • News
    • Newsletter Archive
  • Resources
    • Water Plans & Management
      • Colorado Water Plan
      • Gunnison Basin Implementation Plan
      • Colorado Climate Plan
    • Projects
      • Lower Gunnison Project
        • Lower Gunnison Watershed Plan
        • North Fork Water Conservancy District
        • Crawford Water Conservancy District
        • Bostwick Park Water Conservancy District
        • Uncompahgre Project
      • No Chico Brush
      • Stream Management Planning
    • Agriculture
      • Soil Health Practices
      • Funding Opportunities
      • Water Banking
    • Domestic
      • Efficiency Tips
      • Drinking Water Providers
      • Conservation Planning
    • Recreation
    • Environment
    • Water Quality
      • Salinity Control in the Gunnison and Colorado River Basins
      • Selenium Management
      • Public Health & Environment
  • Events
  • Contact
menuMain Menu
  • Home
  • Water Plans & Management
    • Colorado Water Plan
    • Gunnison Basin Implementation Plan
    • Colorado Climate Plan
  • Projects
    • Lower Gunnison Project
      • Lower Gunnison Watershed Plan
      • Partnership Updates
      • North Fork Water Conservancy District
      • Crawford Water Conservancy District
      • Bostwick Park Water Conservancy District
      • Uncompahgre Project
    • No Chico Brush
    • Stream Management Planning
  • Agriculture
    • Funding Opportunities
    • Soil Health Practices
  • Domestic
    • Conservation Planning
    • Drinking Water Providers
    • Efficiency Tips
  • Recreation
  • Environment
  • Stories
  • Water Quality
    • Salinity Control in the Gunnison and Colorado River Basins
    • Selenium Management
    • Public Health & Environment
  • Events
  • Our Partners
  • Who We Are
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • News
    • Recent News
    • Newsletter
    • Partnership Updates
    • Twitter Feed
Close Menu

Gunnison River Basin Blog

Categories: Agricultural Updates

Report: Colorado’s farm water use exceeds national average, despite efforts to conserve

An irrigation ditch flows on the Marshall Mesa in Boulder County. Credit: Jerd Smith

Farm water is critical to Colorado’s effort to balance a growing population with a water system stressed by drought and climate change. Farmers are the largest users of water in Colorado and other Western states. On the Front Range, for instance, growers use about 89 percent of available supplies, according to the Colorado Water Plan, while cites and industry consume less than 10 percent.

State water officials and environmentalists have long called for finding ways to use less water on farms as one way to make Colorado’s drought- and growth-pressured supplies go further.

Although some individual operations are finding success in improving water efficiency, the new report shows little progress has been made on a statewide level. While the national average has gone steadily down since 2003, Colorado’s ag water use has not changed, remaining almost exactly where it was 17 years ago, according to the USDA’s Irrigation and Water Management Survey, which is conducted every five years.  -More-

 

 

 

Recent Updates
  • Taylor Park Reservoir Operations

    July, 7th, 2021

    The most recent Taylor Park Reservoir update report uses July 1 forecast of 56,000 AF of runoff into Taylor Park Reservoir (57% of average). The forecast [Read More...]

  • Aspinall Unit and Gunnison Tunnel Operations

    June, 22nd, 2021

    June 17, 2021 Update from Ryan Christian, – USBR   Gunnison River flows have dropped off quickly over the last few days and there is a [Read More...]

Read All Blog Posts
menuMain Menu
  • Home
  • Water Plans & Management
  • Projects
  • Agriculture
  • Domestic
  • Recreation
  • Stories
  • Water Quality
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • News
Contact Our Office
Contact Form
Sending
Gunnison River Basin
© 2022 Gunnison River Basin & Partners
Our Partners
Gunnison River Basin
View All Partners
Join Our Newsletter!
Subscribe Today
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Subscription Form
Sending
Website & Design by Melinda McCaw Media