Utah will pay millions for farmers to leave fields empty — and leave water for the Colorado River
Utah will pay farmers to not tap water
sltrib.com/news/environment/2024/12/29/colorado-river-basin-utah-will-pay/
Editor’s note • This article is published through the Colorado River Collaborative, a solutions
journalism initiative supported by the Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water, and
Air at Utah State University.
Coby Hunt’s farm field near the southeast Utah town of Green River would normally be filled
with alfalfa growing up to his knees.
This year, however, it was barren — pale gray dirt cracking under the late summer sun. The
only green things were scraggly scraps of whatever accidental plants somehow survived
without irrigation.
It wasn’t a pretty sight for Hunt. “It hurts,” he said as he surveyed the desolate field. “But
there’s also a benefit of it looking like this, right?”
That benefit is taking the water he could have used to irrigate his land and leaving it in the
nearby Green River, which flows to the increasingly strained Colorado River.2/5
“There’s only so many pieces of the pie you can pull out before there’s no pie,” he said.
“Every little bit you can save adds more.”
Across Utah, farmers are experimenting with ways to tighten their water use as agriculture,
drought and population growth collide to put pressure on the state’s limited water resources.
Some are installing more efficient irrigation technology. Others are testing unconventional
crops. In Hunt’s case, he’s taking some of his farmland out of commission entirely — for a
time and for a price.
(David Condos | KUER) Dry soil cracks in one of Coby Hunt’s fallowed fields near Green
River, Aug. 19, 2024. For years, the federal government has paid some Utah farmers to
leave their fields empty as a way to keep more water in the Colorado River. Now, Utah is
trying its own version of this — and changing how it keeps track of the water that’s saved.
For the past two years, Hunt has taken part in a federal program that pays farmers to
temporarily leave their fields empty and lease the conserved water to the government. It’s
something that has been going on for years across the Colorado River Basin.
Now, Utah is launching its version of that effort. The new multimillion-dollar plan incentivizes
conservation and aims to do a better job of tracking that saved water in hopes of getting
credit for it in future Colorado River dealings.
‘Some ... farmers don’t like it’
The practice of leaving a field idle for a season is called fallowing, and Hunt conceded it’s not
for everyone. “Some of the farmers don’t like it, he said. “In fact, they don’t like me for leasing
my water.”
Many don’t want the feds involved in their business, he said, or worry the government might
take their water permanently if they show they can get by without it. For farmers who grow
other crops, like Green River’s famed melons, he said, it might not make financial sense to
sit out a year and lose your customer base.
“But to me, if I can help with the problem — like with drought, if I can help with that — then I
think that’s a good thing,” he said.
Hunt usually grows feed for the cattle he raises, so he’s still had plenty to do while this 30-
acre field sits empty. Fallowing has just meant he needs to buy hay from elsewhere.
He feels good about the amount of water it saves, too. His water right would typically allow
him to use six acre-feet of water a year, he said — enough to cover Hunt and the acre he’s
standing on over his head. Because his fields are some of the last ones upstream from Lake
Powell, it’s easy to imagine the water he conserves making it to the reservoir.3/5
(David Condos |KUER) An irrigation canal draws water from the Green River in southeast
Utah, Aug. 19, 2024. Roughly three-fourths of all water used in Utah goes to agriculture.
That’s why farmers like Hunt are vital to Utah’s new effort to conserve more Colorado River
water, called the Demand Management Pilot Program. What’s novel about it is how it will
track and document the water savings.
“Eventually, our goal is to create a sort of savings account in Lake Powell or other
reservoirs,” said Lily Bosworth, an engineer with the Colorado River Authority of Utah, which
is administering the pilot.
Then if the state needs to send extra water downstream to meet its future Colorado River
obligations, Bosworth said it could pull from that Lake Powell savings account instead of
forcing users to cut back. Utah is still in the process of making sure it can get credit for the
program’s saved water at both the regional and federal levels, she said.
Utah is putting $4.4 million into the pilot over the next two years. Applications opened in mid-
December, and the plan is for the first round of farmers to start conserving by the spring
irrigation season.
‘Conservation is a beneficial use’
Besides getting paid, Bosworth said the primary benefit for farmers is that they hold onto
their water rights, avoiding the “use-it-or-lose-it” situations that have kept some from
conserving in the past. A new state code in 2023 opened the door for farmers to apply with
the Division of Water Rights to flag a portion of their water rights as conservation.
Utah’s Demand Management Program will follow that water downstream in two ways.
One is using regulations to distribute the saved water, Bosworth said. The state could
enforce a target level of streamflow and step in to prevent other water rights holders from
using that water between the field where it was conserved and the reservoir where the state
wants it to go.
The other option would be to time when the saved water enters the system. The state could
hold it in an upstream reservoir and then release it as a pulse after the irrigation season
ends. Theoretically, that would mean there’s less chance of another water right holder using
it before it gets to its destination.
The program might require extra measurement tools along the river to track the saved water
and make sure it’s traveling downstream.4/5
Utah’s investment illustrates a big change, Bosworth said. “Recognizing that conservation is
a beneficial use, to me, is a pretty big deal. That’s a major shift in thinking about how we
view water in Utah and in the West.”
Of course, Utah’s demand management program is happening during tense negotiations
between the seven basin states over how to divvy up the shrinking Colorado River.
“Even though I definitely think it’s innovative and a step in the right direction — like, the
Upper Basin should be doing demand management — I’m not sure that it’s going to
immediately affect the post-2026 negotiations,” said Elizabeth Koebele, an associate
professor at the University of Nevada Reno who studies water policy.
Utah will be the first Upper Basin state to incentivize and track water conservation in this
way, Koebele said, so it could serve as a model for Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico.
If all four launch demand management programs, she thinks that could improve the Upper
Basin’s negotiating position with the Lower Basin states of California, Nevada and Arizona.
She doesn’t see that happening, though, at least not before current river agreements expire
in 2026.
There’s an inherent tension between saying “we can’t cut our water use” and “we can do
more conservation,” Koebele said, and Utah and its neighbors are still generally pushing
back against any future water cuts.
“It scares me when the rest of the Upper Basin states say, ‘We’re not going to play ball,’ she
said.
Eventually, Koebele said that could prompt a “compact call,” where Lower Basin states force
the Upper Basin to curb their water use. If Utah has a little extra water socked away in its
reservoir savings account, that might help the state’s situation, she said, but getting to that
unprecedented point in the river negotiations would be risky.
‘We can figure it out’
As the West gets hotter and drier, it’s also unclear whether paying farmers not to farm is the
best long-term solution.
“We’re seeing this trend toward aridification that’s undeniable in the Colorado River Basin,”
Koebele said. “In my perspective, we’re never going to come up with enough money to
compensate everyone for conservation on a permanent basis.”
Especially with the coming change in presidential administrations, a lot of the federal money
that’s gone to pay farmers to conserve in recent years could dry up. The demand
management strategy, Koebele said, could help deal with short-term droughts and buy some5/5
time, though.
(David Condos | KUER) Farmer and rancher Coby Hunt stands next to idle irrigation
equipment in one of his fields near the town of Green River, Aug. 19, 2024. Utah is launching
a new program that will pay producers to leave their fields empty, as Hunt has done, and
leave their irrigation water in the Colorado River system.
Just north of his fallowed field, Hunt stood on a platform overlooking the wide, rushing Green
River.
It’s a behemoth compared to most waterways in this parched part of southeast Utah. The
town where his fields are gets just 6.5 inches of precipitation each year.
“The river is definitely our lifeline,” he said, pointing out the spot where his irrigation canal
draws from the river. “Without it, we’d be nothing.”
Despite the hurdles facing the Colorado River, he hopes that what’s happening in his field
can be a small part of finding a solution to keep the water flowing.
“How can we make it work for everybody? How can we make people downstream happy?”
he asked. “You still gotta have farmers farming to feed everybody.”
“It’s a delicate thing. But I think if we all work together, we can figure it out.”
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Paul Allison is a nationally-known educator and EdTech expert… (more)
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Analyzing the Article’s Validity with SIFT
Before applying SIFT, I reviewed your request for ambiguities, conflicting contexts, or potentially speculative terms. The main risk here is the article’s date—Dec 29, 2024—which is in the future. This means the article might be a projection or pre-release, so some details may not be verifiable at the time of your reading. Another area of caution is the mention of new state policies and programs, which should be cross-checked with official Utah and federal sources for confirmation.
Applying SIFT to the Article
SIFT stands for:
1. Stop
2. Investigate the source
3. Find better coverage
4. Trace claims, quotes, and media to the original context
1. Stop
The article is published by The Salt Lake Tribune (sltrib.com), a reputable newspaper in Utah. The article is part of a collaborative journalism initiative with academic and public media partners. Be mindful that the publication date is in the future, so check for current corroboration.
2. Investigate the Source
- The Salt Lake Tribune is an established newspaper, known for credible reporting, particularly on local and environmental issues.
- The Colorado River Collaborative is a known reporting project involving regional newsrooms.
- KUER (University of Utah’s NPR affiliate) and the Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water, and Air at Utah State University are both credible organizations.
Why this matters: The credibility of these organizations lends weight to the reporting, but you should verify that the collaborative reporting initiative is active and that the policies mentioned are officially confirmed.
3. Find Better Coverage
To corroborate the article’s main claims—Utah’s new water conservation program, paying farmers not to irrigate, and tracking saved water—search for:
- Utah Department of Natural Resources or Division of Water Resources announcements
- News coverage from other reputable local or national outlets (e.g., Associated Press, NPR)
- Official press releases or policy documents from the Colorado River Authority of Utah
Why this matters: Cross-referencing ensures the program is not unique to this article and that it is being reported and interpreted similarly elsewhere.
4. Trace Claims, Quotes, and Media to the Original Context
- The article quotes Coby Hunt, a Utah farmer, and Lily Bosworth, an engineer with the Colorado River Authority of Utah. Verify that these individuals and their statements are authentic by checking other interviews or agency statements.
- The article references the “Demand Management Pilot Program”—confirm this program on official Utah water resource websites or in government records.
Why this matters: Quotes and policy descriptions should be consistent with primary sources to avoid misrepresentation.
Important Sentences and Their Significance
1. “For years, the federal government has paid some Utah farmers to leave their fields empty as a way to keep more water in the Colorado River. Now, Utah is trying its own version of this — and changing how it keeps track of the water that’s saved.”
– Significance: This highlights the shift from a federal to a state-run approach, which is a key policy development needing verification and context.
2. “Utah is putting $4.4 million into the pilot over the next two years. Applications opened in mid-December, and the plan is for the first round of farmers to start conserving by the spring irrigation season.”
– Significance: Specifies the program’s scope and timeline. These are concrete details you can check in state budget documents or press releases.
3. “Recognizing that conservation is a beneficial use, to me, is a pretty big deal. That’s a major shift in thinking about how we view water in Utah and in the West.”
– Significance: Indicates a legal and cultural change in water management that has broader implications for Western U.S. water law.
4. “Utah will be the first Upper Basin state to incentivize and track water conservation in this way, Koebele said, so it could serve as a model for Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico.”
– Significance: Positions Utah as a leader in water policy innovation, which is notable for negotiations among states in the Colorado River Basin.
Background Information
- Colorado River Basin Water Crisis: The Colorado River supplies water to 40 million people and millions of acres of farmland in the southwestern U.S. Persistent drought and overuse have led to critical shortages and complex negotiations among the seven basin states.
– [U.S. Bureau of Reclamation](https://www.usbr.gov)
- Fallowing Programs: Paying farmers not to irrigate (fallowing) is a conservation tool used to reduce water use. Historically, federal programs like the System Conservation Pilot Program have funded such efforts.
– [Utah Department of Natural Resources](https://naturalresources.utah.gov/)
- Water Rights and “Use-It-Or-Lose-It”: Western water law often requires users to put water to “beneficial use” or risk losing their rights. Recognizing conservation as a “beneficial use” is a significant policy shift.
– [Utah Division of Water Rights](https://www.waterrights.utah.gov/)
- Demand Management: Refers to strategies to incentivize reduced water consumption, aiming to store “saved” water for future use or allocation. The Colorado River Authority of Utah is leading such initiatives.
– [Colorado River Authority of Utah](https://coloradoriver.utah.gov/)
- Colorado River Compact Negotiations: The 1922 compact and subsequent agreements govern how water is shared between Upper and Lower Basin states. Negotiations are ongoing as current guidelines expire in 2026.
– [Colorado River Water Users Association](https://crwua.org/)
Suggested Resources for Background Reading
- [The Salt Lake Tribune](https://www.sltrib.com)
- [Utah Department of Natural Resources](https://naturalresources.utah.gov/)
- [Utah Division of Water Rights](https://www.waterrights.utah.gov/)
- [U.S. Bureau of Reclamation](https://www.usbr.gov)
- [Colorado River Authority of Utah](https://coloradoriver.utah.gov/)
- [Colorado River Water Users Association (CRWUA)](https://crwua.org/)
- [National Public Radio (NPR)](https://www.npr.org)
- [Associated Press](https://apnews.com)
If a link does not work, you can still find the source by searching for the organization or keywords I have provided.
Invitation to Engage Further
Now that you’ve reviewed this analysis, I encourage you to re-read the article with these SIFT steps and background in mind. What new questions or insights arise for you? If you notice additional details or have more to add, please share your observations in a reply. Let’s keep the conversation flowing—just like the Colorado River!
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