Increasing Water Efficiency

Increasing Water Efficiency. I’m Greg Martin with Colorado Ag Today.

The Lower Gunnison River Basin will be getting some improvements over the course of the next five years with help from an $8-million dollar USDA grant. Dave Kanzer with the Colorado River District talks about how the funds will be used.

KANZER: We qualified for the Colorado River Basin which was designated as a critical conservation area. Because of this we were able to compete for a unique pot of money under the Regional Conservation Partnership Program. We put together a large partnership of water providers and water users in the agricultural sector to really increase water efficiency and to integrate the water supply side, from reservoirs and canals.

They plan on piping, lining and automating those systems and implementing technologies on the farms. He says it’s a win-win for ag producers.

KANZER: It’s a triple winter agricultural users, the economy and the environment because the agricultural producers have been traditionally faced with a limited supply of water and one which sometimes does not extend through the entire season because of demands that can outstrip supply.

Kanzer says they are leveraging the $8-million to be able to spend about $10-million a year over the next five.

KANZER: We wanted to go in with eyes open that this is a difficult and complex set of issues. It’s not going to happen over night and we really appreciate Colorado Ag Today for highlighting this as we move forward. We think is a great opportunity not only for Western Colorado but really the entire State of Colorado.

And that’s Colorado Ag Today. I’m Greg Martin, thanks for listening on the Ag Information Network of the West.