2024’s States Where Farms Use the Most Water

What are three of the most water-intensive crops grown in the U.S.?

I think almonds and rice usually come out as top water users, but it is important to note that there are comparatively few of these crops grown in the US on an area basis.

Corn also uses a lot of water despite many years of research and breeding to improve drought tolerance. One reason for corn’s water use is the hotter temperatures that go along with the places where corn is grown. The hotter temperatures cause more transpiration of water from the pores of the corn leaves.

What are three of the most valuable but least water-intensive crops?

Some of the beans and peas (like lentils, chickpeas, kidney beans, pintos, pulses) do well as low-water crops. They evolved in locations that were arid or semi-arid, and those characteristics have been retained over time.

How can state and local governments balance supporting the needs of farmers while maintaining a steady supply of water for everyone?

Good question. Monitoring water use is really helpful. A lot of operations use water without quantifying the amount they use. Monitoring is key for management.

Drip irrigation is another good one. Water can be applied at very specific times and places using drip systems.

Incentives for water conservation can help reduce water use, as can community outreach and extension programs, infrastructure upgrades, crop rotation, and greater adoption of drought-tolerant crops. There are actually quite a lot of ways that the issue can be approached.

What is one sustainable method for reducing water usage (or waste) on farms?

As noted above, monitoring water use, changing the daily pattern of irrigation timing (night vs the heat of day where possible and/or appropriate), adjusting irrigation for seasonal weather patterns, and adopting drip irrigation can provide rapid reductions in water use.

Drip irrigation has some additional benefits, such as reducing the amounts of weeds that grow.

What U.S.-grown crops are most at risk of inflation due to water shortages, if any?

Interestingly, it is the same three as for the first question.

Almonds for example are grown in hot, dry California, and they have deep roots, so both the supply and demand of water is set up for high water use. If drought causes water to become more scarce, that can lead to increased prices passed along to consumers.

If drought requires corn production to shift toward greater irrigation use, this additional cost could affect corn futures. And for rice — which as noted is not extensively grown in the US — water shortages would directly impact yields and the amount of land in rice production.

What are three of the most water-intensive crops grown in the U.S.?

1. Alfalfa

2. Cotton

3. Sugarcane

NOTE: This categorization is not based on the amount of water per unit of crop yield.

What are three of the most valuable but least water-intensive crops?

1. Beans

2. Onion

3. Cabbage

NOTE: This categorization is not based on the amount of water per unit of crop yield.

How can state and local governments balance supporting the needs of farmers while maintaining a steady supply of water for everyone?

1. By providing education and incentives to farmers and to the public to reduce waste.

2. Provide incentives and technology development for reuse of water.

What is one sustainable method for reducing water usage (or waste) on farms?

1. A major use of water in agriculture across the U.S. and around the globe is for irrigation of crops. Irrigation systems are generally not as efficient as they should and/or could be. Technology is available to greatly improve irrigiation efficiency and thereby reduce waste.

2. A second method is to encourage on-farm storage of water that can then be used for many farming operations that would otherwise require withdrawals from groundwater or from streams and lakes.

What U.S.-grown crops are most at risk of inflation due to water shortages, if any?

The crops that are now and will continue to be at risk will be ones grown in some of the most arid or semi-arid regions of the country and where water shortages are becoming more prevalent.

The areas with the biggest problems will be in the western states like California, Utah, Texas, Arizona, and others. These states have large amounts of irrigated acreages and the current trends in water supplies are not indicating positive future conditions.

Some of these states depend heavily on the Colorado River for water supplies, while at the same time, many urban areas in the west are also demanding that water.

The Ogalla aquifer which extends from the high plains of Texas into northern Nebraska has been declining the stored groundwater since the 1950’s, and the long-term trend is not encouraging. Other states like New Mexico and California are also experiencing problems with declining water levels in aquifers.

As a result of the declining availability of surface water and groundwater in these western states, there will be more pressure to use the water more efficiently.

Crops like cotton and sorghum will probably need to become more costly to produce as the ready supplies of water dwindle. The cost of water for agricultural production is currently kept very low, but with decreasing supplies and increasing demand for other uses (urban, suburban, etc.), the cost could potentially begin to rise and this would be impossible to manage without increases in prices.