Help power Marketplace this winter when you support the show today. Donate Now!

Is paying farmers to conserve Colorado River water worth the cost?

Jul 2, 2024
Four Western states are paying farmers and ranchers tens of millions of dollars this year to conserve water as part of a short-term plan to save water from the Colorado River.
Four Western states are paying farmers and ranchers tens of millions of dollars this year to conserve water from the Colorado River.
Sandy Huffaker/AFP via Getty Images

Most of the Colorado River's diverted water goes to agricultural uses, study finds

Apr 1, 2024
A whopping three quarters of the river's water that is used by humans goes to irrigation for farms and livestock, according to the journal Communications Earth & Environment.
Water flows from irrigation pipes for cattle grazing land near Whitewater, Colorado.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

The Colorado River water rights deal is a stopgap. What's next?

May 23, 2023
This proposal could save the river system from imminent collapse, but in 2026, the current drought management guidelines will expire.
The Colorado River may lose another 20% of its water in the coming decades because of climate change, said Kyle Roerink of the Great Basin Water Network.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Supreme Court hears case on Navajo Nation water rights

Mar 20, 2023
Amid regional efforts to conserve the Colorado River's flow, the U.S. government argues it has no duty to enforce Navajo water rights.
At the Supreme Court on Monday, the federal government acknowledged the Navajo Nation’s water right but argued that it has no duty to enforce that right.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Drought threatens hydropower produced by Colorado River

Jan 25, 2023
Facing a prolonged megadrought, Western states must prep for huge water-use cuts.
Lake Powell, a reservoir on the Colorado River. The river supplies hydroelectric power across the West, but it faces dwindling water levels.
Robyn Beck//Getty Images

Water managers float idea of paying farmers to reduce use of Colorado River

Dec 19, 2022
The seven states have until late January to agree on massive water conservation measures or the feds say they’ll impose cuts. 
Officials have proposed using federal money to pay Colorado River basin farmers between $100 and $400 per acre-foot of water conserved. Above, a stretch of the waterway in Arizona.
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Why is it so hard to negotiate a Colorado River conservation deal?

Oct 6, 2022
It's been almost two months since the basin states blew past a federal deadline to negotiate major water conservation.
Without significant conservation, the seven basin states that depend on the Colorado River for water and hydroelectric power risk shortages.
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images