<font color=blue>INDUSTRY BUZZ</font> Consider These Water Conservation Goals

With Smart Irrigation Month right around the corner in July, many of us in the irrigation business are thinking about what we can do to promote water conservation as part of our daily routines. The choices we make in our various occupations in irrigation all have an impact on how much water we use. As we consider the future of the irrigation business, I felt compelled to reach back into the Irrigation Association archives and share a list of specific goals that the association developed several years ago.

Certainly, many new materials and methods have emerged in irrigation, but the concepts listed below have not changed with time. As each of us considers our daily routine, think about the following guiding principles for water conservation and how each of us may use them as tools to be better stewards of our water resources:

1. 1. Measure all water use.
    
2. Price water to recognize its finite nature. Pricing mechanisms should provide incentives to users who conserve water and impose penalties for those who waste it.
    
3. Hold all water users responsible for protecting the quality of water resources at their disposal.
    
4. Create financial systems to reward users for efficient irrigation systems. Key elements to observe are system design, operation and maintenance, combined with effective scheduling and management practices.
    
5. Create national education programs for all water users emphasizing the absolute necessity of supporting regulatory policies that reward conservation and efficient water use.
    
6. Support water reclamation initiatives, particularly for irrigation, including the use of reclaimed water from municipal, industrial, agricultural and other available sources where practical.
    
7. Give increased support to developing new water resources, conveyance and storage facilities to enhance dependable water supplies for urban and agricultural use. Give proper consideration to legitimate environmental concerns.
    
8. Participate in water conservation planning as an ongoing program. These plans must be in place prior to a critical need and must provide for each water user's acceptance of a fair share of any water conservation effort.
    
9. Institute studies to identify water use and misuse by all segments of the water-using industry to provide data on which to base decisions regarding equitable water distribution during periods of shortage.
    
10. Promote policies that allow for the lease, sale or transfer of established water rights, and/or the lease, sale and transfer of water without jeopardizing established water rights, whenever possible.

As discussions continue around the country about the need to use water wisely, these statements are worth having in our toolboxes. Just reading them may make you think about the simple choices you make daily.

These statements were developed by a small group of individuals that had the vision to understand timeless principles that should be considered as water policy is applied to agriculture and the landscape. As pressure on water resources increases, water use policy will change. In fact, policy is already changing in many areas of the country.  Consideration of the principles listed above will serve to make water policy better for all water users.