Overview
Agriculture is a major user of ground
and surface water in
the United States, accounting for 80 percent of the Nation's consumptive
water use and over 90 percent in many Western States. This ERS
research program investigates water allocation,
water conservation, and water management issues facing irrigated
agriculture. The focus is on irrigated agriculture, but other sectors
are examined for their competitive influence on water supplies and
impacts of water reallocations among agricultural, environmental,
and urban users. It includes consideration of the role of water
markets, producer decisions, institutional adjustments (including
Federal water infrastructure), and water-related policies with respect
to resource costs, water quality, profitability, and environmental
effects, as well as analysis of the adoption of water conserving
technologies.
Features
Agricultural
Resources and Environmental Indicators: Irrigation Water Management—Efficient
irrigation systems and water management practices can help maintain farm
profitability in an era of increasingly limited and more costly water
supplies. Improved water management practices may also reduce the impact
of irrigated production on offsite water quantity and quality, and conserve
water for growing nonagricultural demands.
Irrigation,
Water Conservation, and Farm Size in the Western United States—While
just 16 percent of all harvested cropland in the U.S. is irrigated, this
acreage generates nearly half the value of all crops sold. Because agriculture
accounts for over 80 percent of water consumed in the U.S., conserving
irrigation technologies have become central to the challenge of balancing
water demands among alternative uses.
Recommended Readings
Integrating Commodity and Conservation
Programs: Design Options and Outcomes—Can a single program support farm income and encourage producers to adopt environmentally sound farming practices? While simple in concept, attempting to roll the farm income support features of existing commodity programs and conservation payments into a single program raises questions.
Agricultural Resources and
Environmental Indicators—This ERS basebook contains a wealth
of information covering a broad range of subjects in resource and
environmental economics. Topics covered include water resources (water
use and value, irrigation water management, and water quality impacts
of agriculture).
See all recommended readings...
Recommended Data Products
The data product Western
Irrigated Agriculture summarizes the farm-structural characteristics
for irrigated farms in the 17 Western States based on USDA's
1998 Farm and Ranch Irrigation Survey.
Related Briefing Rooms
Agricultural Chemicals and Production
Technology
Conservation Policy
Environmental Interactions
with Agricultural Production
Related Links
USDA/NRCS—Maintains
an irrigation website with technical water management information
and links to irrigation-based search engines and many other websites
of irrigation interest.
USDA/NASS conducts the Farm
and Ranch Irrigation Survey, a primary source of irrigation
and water management information.
Glossary
Brief definitions of irrigation systems
and land treatment practices, water use terms, and irrigation water-use
efficiency terms.
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