When Water Means So Much

You say the Colorado River Basin doesn't have enough water? One small shift could make a massive difference. And it would be easy to do—

If only we would do it.

It’s no secret that agricultural water use is a major factor in the West’s water crisis. About 74% of all water diverted from the Colorado River Basin goes to agriculture. Most of that is used to irrigate crops like alfalfa, hay, and pasture. In Utah, alfalfa alone consumes more than half of the state’s agricultural water.

Solve that problem, and you’ve gone a long way toward solving the bigger one.

Roughly 30–40% of Utah’s alfalfa is still flood irrigated. That’s an estimate, but whatever the exact figure, it’s significant. Why? Because about 50% of the water used in flood irrigation is lost—to runoff, evaporation, or deep percolation.

Do the math:

• 74% of our water goes to agriculture—mostly for irrigating crops.
• Half of that goes to alfalfa.
• 30–40% of alfalfa is flood irrigated.
• And 50% of that water is lost.

That means millions of acre-feet of water are wasted every year—water that could be saved by switching to more efficient irrigation systems. Even at their worst, sprinkler systems lose less water. Well-managed systems retain 70–85% of their water. Drip and low-elevation sprinklers push efficiency up to 95%.

So why aren’t we doing this?

We are—slowly. But the real barrier is infrastructure. To replace open ditches with pressurized systems, we need pumps, pressure regulators, pipelines, sprinkler or drip components, control systems, filtration—and skilled labor to install and maintain it all.

Estimated total bill: $4 billion. Utah’s state budget for 2026 is $30.8 billion, so this would represent about 13% of the annual budget.

Do it. And do it now. Come up with the money. Urgency demands it.

Some say it could take 10–20 years to complete the transition. Qater rights issues can be resolved faster with political will, but the real challenge is accelerating the infrastructure buildout.

And that can be done—if we commit the $4 billion and act with the urgency this crisis demands. With funding in place and focused execution, Utah could complete the transition in four years or less.

Do it.