Southern Utah is not your typical farm country. At a glance, there appears to be more red rock than green fields.
To make a go of it, farms often huddle around the precious few rivers that snake across the sun-baked landscape. That鈥檚 the case for rancher Andy Rice, who raises hundreds of hungry goats and sheep in the town of Boulder 鈥� population 227 鈥� just outside Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
In a bright green meadow packed with more than a dozen types of grasses, clovers and flowers, Rice reached down to pluck a makeshift bouquet. He has intentionally planted diverse species here over the years to improve the ranch鈥檚 sustainability.
鈥淚sn't that beautiful?,鈥� he said, holding up a handful of flora. 鈥淥n top of everything else that's cool about it, it's just really pretty.鈥�
But this is still the dry Southwest. The edges of his lush pasture give way to a rugged sandstone ridge. So this grazing smorgasbord is dependent upon irrigation.
The ranch draws water from Boulder Creek, which flows to nearby Lake Powell, the nation鈥檚 second-largest reservoir and a pivotal piece of the Colorado River system. Between drought, climate change and competition for that river, however, Rice knows the West faces a precarious future.
鈥淲e will have less water. Forever,鈥� Rice said. 鈥淲e have to accept that and 鈥� it's up to us to be more efficient.鈥�
That鈥檚 why he applied for funding from Utah鈥檚 , a $276 million push to help farmers and ranchers modernize their irrigation systems.
Agriculture uses between 70-80% of the Colorado River鈥檚 water, so a lot of ideas about saving the shrinking river rely on getting farmers and ranchers to cut back. The Utah program 鈥� which covers half the cost of buying new, more efficient gear 鈥� provides a case study that other Western states might look to as they search for solutions. However, it鈥檚 not yet clear how big of a dent these types of efforts can make when it comes to saving water on a basin-wide scale.
Rice stood next to the automated center pivot sprinkler system the program helped buy and grabbed one of the dozens of spray nozzles that dangle a few feet above the ground. Compared to the efficiency of the equipment it replaced, he said, the difference is night and day.
鈥淭his farm alone has saved millions of gallons of water. We're using millions less. And we are one tiny farm in one tiny region,鈥� Rice said.
That鈥檚 the idea behind the Utah program. If state money lowers the financial barrier for producers to modernize, the water savings might add up to help Utah get more out of the little moisture it has.
Rice is just one example of the state鈥檚 approved projects 鈥� 551 of them since the initiative began in 2019, said Program Manager Hannah Freeze. The Utah Legislature has set aside $276 million for the effort. As of late 2024, $108 million of that has been assigned to projects. A majority of the money is benefitting the Great Salt Lake, however. Only $23 million has been approved for 112 projects in Utah鈥檚 portion of the Colorado River Basin so far.
It鈥檚 a good start, Freeze said, but a drop in the bucket compared to what it might take.
鈥淚f we were going to make a real dent or reach the majority of the farmers that we have, it's more like a $2 billion number,鈥� she said.
That would require more time, too 鈥� probably around three decades, Freeze said.
Growing the program that much wouldn鈥檛 be easy. Some producers are hesitant to change farming practices. For others, equipment cost remains a barrier even with the subsidy.
Many also don鈥檛 know that government incentives like the optimization program exist. A of irrigators across the Colorado River Basin by the Western Landowners Alliance and the University of Wyoming found a "stark lack of awareness" about state and federal funding meant to help them conserve water.
Eventually, farmers won鈥檛 have much of a choice, noted Freeze.
鈥淭here's going to be water reductions that have to take place,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o if we can come in first and say, 鈥楲et us help you get this improved irrigation system,鈥� then our farmers can stay in business.鈥�
The Utah program offers a glimpse of what a state-funded program to help producers make that transition can look like.
Some science, however, contradicts the idea that installing new, more efficient irrigation systems automatically means saving water in the Colorado River.
New Mexico State University professor Frank Ward and his colleagues found in their that applying less water as consuming less water.
Higher irrigation efficiency means a larger percentage of the applied water makes it to the roots of the plants, which is good for crop yields. But even if that lets a farmer decrease the total amount of water they apply to a field, it often increases the amount of water depleted from the local watershed.
Ultimately, he said upgrading sprinkler systems typically means less of the water applied as irrigation soaks into groundwater and returns to nearby rivers as run-off, disrupting the local water cycle.
鈥淒rip irrigation and center pivot are good things to do.They promote the goal of lower food prices, higher food production and farm income,鈥� Ward said. 鈥淛ust don't call it investments in water conservation.鈥�
To truly assess if a program like Utah鈥檚 is saving water for the Colorado River Basin, he said, you鈥檇 need to also calculate how much of the water applied to crops is lost to , a measurement of the water that evaporates and is released into the air from plants.
In Ward鈥檚 view, there are more effective ways a state could spend its money to conserve water in agriculture. Government funds could pay farmers to or water their fields less than what the crops need for optimal growth. Another option would be to pay growers to or switch sprinkler-fed farmland to a rain-fed ranching pasture.
A lot of these alternatives might not improve the agricultural economy, Ward said, but that鈥檚 a trade-off states need to consider if their ultimate goal is to save water.
When it comes to the Utah optimization program, the results remain a bit hazy.
The state is just beginning to quantify how much water it saves, so comprehensive data isn鈥檛 available yet. A criticized the program for not collecting detailed reports on the impact of its projects.
Early examples like Andy Rice鈥檚 ranch, however, point to the potential role that irrigation modernization efforts could play across the West.
All told, Rice said the upgrades to the field with a new sprinkler represent a quarter of a million dollars. For family farms that buy irrigation equipment with the same money they use to keep the business afloat or buy their kids鈥� shoes, he said it can be hard to justify those costs.
If states across the Colorado River Basin help make it easier for farmers to take that leap, however, he believes that could have far-reaching impacts.
鈥淚f hundreds of farms can save millions of gallons of water, I mean, we can fix it,鈥� Rice said. 鈥淎nd do I feel like we have a responsibility to do that? Yeah, hell yeah.鈥�
This story is part of ongoing coverage of the Colorado River, produced by KUER in Utah, distributed by KUNC in Colorado, and supported by the Walton Family Foundation. It was also produced as part of the . KSL TV photographer Mark Wetzel contributed to this story.
