Overview
Agriculture is a major user of ground and surface water in the
United States, accounting for approximately 80 percent of the
Nation's consumptive water use and over 90 percent in many Western
States. 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.
The effectiveness of public water conservation programs depends
on how such programs account for diverse types and sizes of
irrigated farms, as well as the extent to which such programs
complement other watershed conservation and environmental programs
and policies. The ERS research program investigates water
allocation, water conservation, water management issues and other
challenges facing irrigated agriculture in a changing water
environment. Topics investigated include:
- The value of irrigated agriculture to U.S. agriculture, where
it occurs, and what it produces;
- The cost and water-use impacts of producer decisions regarding
the adoption of irrigation technologies and water-management
practices; and
- Water-related policies affecting resource costs, water quality,
profitability, and environmental effects.
We've redesigned our website. You may be interested in browsing
the material that was available in the Irrigation and Water Use briefing
room, which is available in our archive. It includes a glossary of related term. Also
available in our archive is the data product Western Irrigated Agriculture, which
summarizes the farm-structural characteristics for irrigated farms
in the 17 Western States based on USDA's 1998 Farm and Ranch
Irrigation Survey.