Colorado drought forces farmers to adapt as water becomes more scarce

Añadido: 2026-05-08

[00:00:00]first alert meteorologist Kelly's and Andrew and joining me as Karen the director of the Colorado Center of Colorado State University. This week we're taking a closer look at the bigger picture the Colorado River agriculture and the solutions shaping our water future. Karen Colorado is often called a headwater state. What does that mean and why is it so important when it comes to our water supply?

[00:00:22]Thank you. Yes, the Colorado is an a headwater state. We receive a lot of precipitation in the form of snow that then is distributed to 18 other states and Mexico. So um because we're home of those Rocky Mountains where we get that snowpack, it's an important water supply in the arid West for many downstream states. Now much of that water feeds into the Colorado River system and we hear the term over allocation a lot when we're talking about the Colorado River.

[00:00:54]What does that actually mean in practical terms for people living here?

[00:00:59]Yeah, what that means is that we have a river system where water users have designated water rights to the water and there's more water rights allocated in the system than there is actual water.

[00:01:14]So at the time when laws were created of the Colorado River in 1922, we over allocated those water rights and where we're at now with decreasing water supply on the Colorado River, we're finding ourselves with too much water use and not enough supply. So what that means for an average user in Colorado for example, is that if you have a water right that was established at a later time, you might not get your water allocated in drier years. If we have a wet year, that's when everyone's water rights are satisfied and and you're not going to run into issues. But in dry years, we start to cut back on those water right uses.

[00:02:03]And that's what we're in right now, correct?

[00:02:06]>> Correct.

[00:02:06]>> Yeah, with the current drought. Now this is a big issue, but it also has ripple effects. Why does that over allocation matter when it comes to both water supply and water quality?

[00:02:17]For water supply, it it matters especially in the context of the Colorado River Basin where we have agreements with other states and Mexico because we are a headwater state to provide a certain amount of water to them every year. And when water supply is more scarce, when we have drought years, it can become more challenging to make those agreements to to fulfill those agreements. And so that is one particular challenge. With water quality, what we see is with less water in the system, we can get an accumulation of pollutants or salinity in our systems and less water to flush those out. So that can also be a concern.

[00:03:07]Now another big piece of the conservation is agriculture. Agriculture uses the majority of Colorado's water.

[00:03:13]What do people need to better understand about how that water is used? Great question.

[00:03:19]Agricultural water use is actually fairly complicated.

[00:03:24]And what's important for people to understand is that agricultural water users are for the most part becoming more efficient in their water use. So they're putting in practices instead of flooding their fields with flood irrigation, maybe they're using sprinkler systems that more efficiently deliver water to their crops.

[00:03:46]There's a lot of adoption of new technologies as well to in further increase efficiency in addition to transitioning to lower water use crops so that we're conserving water for the system. The other part I want to emphasize is that you know, agriculture produces food for our country and for the world and you know, even though agriculture does use a large amount of water, it's going towards food production and food security for the nation and the world.

[00:04:19]Yeah, we definitely definitely need that. Now as the challenge grows, so does the need for new ideas. What are some of the most promising innovations or research areas your team is focused on right now?

[00:04:31]I would say one of the most exciting areas is really in the agricultural technology space. And so using you know, artificial intelligence, using drones to really hone in on precision agriculture, precision application of water so that we're delivering the right amount of water at the right time to crops and we're not overusing that water.

[00:04:56]Additionally, there's a lot of exciting work going on with research on these lower water use crops. So instead of growing alfalfa as a forage for our cattle, which is a big part of the the agricultural economy in Colorado, can we switch to some lower water use crops that are going to provide that same nutritional value, but but just use less water? And you're talking about these solutions, the problem right now is at hand. How long until some of these are implemented and that we can see some of these changes?

[00:05:30]So we are doing pilot demonstration projects on field plots right now.

[00:05:36]I think the next step is to take those to scale and so that involves you know, a whole series of of things where we're both educating farmers and and getting that that adoption of these different crops for example, but then also making sure there's markets. So we aren't having farmers producing crops that there are no markets for.

[00:06:01]That's a really important piece is that has to be economically viable for our farmers as well. And how does this make you feel to be part of some of these changes that could really be some big solutions to help save water especially in a a year like this where drought is really facing everyone?

[00:06:19]It's a really exciting time to be in water and to be in in water in Colorado especially given we are a headwater states and we we influence so many other regions with their water supply. So it's exciting exciting to be driving some of the research and education in this area.

[00:06:38]There's a lot of work to be done.

[00:06:40]Really exciting to collaborate with other partners in this area too. Yeah.

[00:06:44]Well, thank you so much for all the work that you're putting into this and how you're going to hopefully help so many in the future with some of the things that you're working on with your team.

[00:06:53]So thanks for being here. Thank you so much for having me.

[00:06:55]>> Yeah. Well, thank you Karen and we really appreciate your insight on this complex issue and thank you for joining us and we will see you all here back next week for your first alert drought report.