(Selected research findings from FY 23)
Irrigation water delivery organizations manage more than 80 percent of fresh surface water withdrawals
This is the fourth report in a series of economic briefs on key topics related to irrigation organizations using data collected in USDA’s 2019 Survey of Irrigation Organizations (SIO). This report examines these delivery organizations inflows and outflows and the extent of water transfers both within and across delivery organizations. Inflows to irrigation water delivery organizations make up nearly half of the average surface freshwater withdrawals in the United States and are especially important in more arid western regions. Much of the water flowing into delivery organizations’ systems comes from Federal water projects or is directly withdrawn from natural surface water bodies. Most water delivered by organizations goes to farms and ranches, with the remainder going to municipalities and domestic or other users.
Declining well capacity and diminishing water quality are the most commonly cited groundwater overdraft concerns among groundwater organizations
This is the third report in a series of economic brief on key topics related to irrigation organizations using data collected in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2019 Survey of Irrigation Organizations (SIO). This report summarizes information from the SIO about organizations that influence on-farm groundwater use and addresses the knowledge gap about these organizations. These organizations include groundwater districts, as well as some water delivery organizations that also directly influence on-farm groundwater use. Some of these organizations operate under the auspices of State agencies of natural resources, while others are not associated with State or local governments.
About 40 percent of cow-calf operations use rotational grazing, but less than half of those are under intensive systems
This report examines detailed information on the use of rotational grazing (in which grazing animals are cycled through multiple fenced grazing areas or paddocks) by U.S. cow-calf operations, an important subset of all cattle operations. Rotational grazing is frequently discussed as a livestock management practice with the potential to provide a range of public benefits or private gains. Private gains include improved animal health, forage productivity, and more drought resilient grazing livestock systems. Public benefits include improved soil health and increased soil carbon sequestration.