Technical service, extension, and education on irrigation projects: A collaborative approach to managing water worth fighting over

Excerpt

If one thing was certain in the western United States in 2007, it's that Mark Twain had it right when he reportedly said, “Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over.” Demands for water in many basins of the West exceed supply even in normal years, and seven years of drought and a warm spring in 2007 contributed to record low flows in many streams. To top it off, populations are exploding in parts of the West, furthering competition between agriculture, urban, and recreational uses.

The drought, while challenging and sometimes even devastating, has had the positive effect of heightening water resource awareness and potentially serving as a catalyst for sustainable water management. In October 2007, for example, the Western Governors Association hosted a conference entitled “Water Policies and Planning in the West: Ensuring a Sustainable Future” that focused on water planning for growth, watershed approaches to planning, and responding to climate change and drought. This conference is one of several recent efforts to bring together scientists, policy makers, resource managers, and water users to support sound policy and water management.

In the western United States, irrigated agriculture accounts for roughly 80% of water consumption, making agriculture a major …