A New Era for Irrigation (1996) / Chapter Skim
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1 THE FUTURE OF IRRIGATION
1 THE FUTURE OF IRRIGATION
Pages 8-19
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From page 8... ...
The reasons for the uncertainties facing the practitioners of irrigation are neither surprising nor mysterious. Intense competition for water among an increasingly wide range of users, changing economics, increased environmental concerns, changing public values, and other trends in modern times are putting new pressures on irrigation.
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From page 9... ...
The ancestors of the present-day Pima, Hopi, Tohono O'odham, Hualapai, Havasupai, Yaqui, Pomo, and other American Indians grew corn, peaches, beans, squash, melons, and other crops through an intricate network of ditches and canals. In many instances, today's irrigation canals follow the same general layout of prehistoric canals, such as in the Salt River valley in central Arizona.
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From page 10... ...
First, because irrigation is practiced largely in arid regions, although it is increasingly used in subhumid and humid regions to ensure timely availability of water, it is increasingly coming into competition with other sectors of society for a scarce resource water. Second, although irrigated agriculture surely is not alone in causing negative environmental impacts, irrigation can degrade water quality, deplete streamflows, reduce ground water levels, and alter stream channel morphology and local hydrologic regimes.
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From page 11... ...
; 2. Develop historical and geographical analogies from past irrigation experience that might have practical value for future decisions; and 3.
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From page 12... ...
Indeed, one of the biggest limitations on making analogies based on current or past experience lies in our inability to quantify or measure behavioral and cultural factors. There is also uncertainty inherent in extrapolation that limits what this committee can and cannot say about the future of irrigation.
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From page 13... ...
They may facilitate, or eliminate, long-term water management alternatives. Long-term decisions, such as reservoir construction or indefinite water rights, facilitate some short-term flexibility and options while impeding others.
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From page 14... ...
Indian policy, practicably irrigated acreage became the standard measure of Indian water rights. Although relatively little was done then to secure and develop water supplies for Indian irrigation projects, the dedication of significant quantities of water to tribal use now, as treaties are enacted, has enormous implications for future irrigation in the United States.
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From page 15... ...
Related to those trends, federal policies evolved to provide less funding, impose higher interest charges, and require cost sharing for irrigation projects. At the same time, public interest in environmental protection increased, as evidenced in environmental legislation such as the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the Coastal Zone Management Act of
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From page 16... ...
are assured of adequate supplies, and the nation derives greater overall net benefits from its water resources. In addition, irrigators would benefit from the increased value of their water rights, would have increased incentives to conserve water or take land out of production, and would have more capital to invest in water conservation technologies.
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From page 17... ...
This committee met with many people during the course of the study, and it was clear that many of those most active in irrigation and its associated industries view irrigated agriculture as a business. The farmers, in particular, held this view; they are all sophisticated industrialists operating relatively large enterprises, and they see themselves as business people.
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From page 18... ...
It also addresses broad issues with potentially far-reaching impacts such as American Indian water rights, the global agricultural economy, and the changing political climate, each with respect to implications for the future of irrigation.
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From page 19... ...
1991. Water resources: Increasing demand and scarce supplies.
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