Collaboration to Conserve River Flows

Introduction

Image Details

The 185-mile long Verde River, a tributary of the Colorado River, is one of the largest perennially flowing rivers in Arizona. It acts as a crucial source of drinking water for the Verde Valley and the metropolitan area of Phoenix, Arizona as well as a critical source of water for local wildlife. The river also serves as a major irrigation source for local farmers. The Verde Valley contains 6,000 acres of irrigated land, and the average farm size is just under 20 acres. Flows in the river have diminished due to water diversions, groundwater pumping, and worsening droughts from climate change climate change
Climate change includes both global warming driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns. Though there have been previous periods of climatic change, since the mid-20th century humans have had an unprecedented impact on Earth's climate system and caused change on a global scale.

Learn more about climate change , causing concern for farmers who rely on a stable flow from the river in order to water their crops throughout the year.

In 2009, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) implemented the Verde River Agricultural Systems Program (the Program) in order to keep water in the Verde River for current and future generations. With an initial collaboration of thirty groups, including foundations, trusts, farmers, agricultural producers, and ditch managers, the Program provides incentives for farmers to reduce their water use to conserve the river’s perennial flow. The Program encourages farmers to work with them by providing financial incentives and ideas for different irrigation methods to implement on their lands that conserve water.

Key Issues Addressed

Critical Habitat: The Verde River provides critical habitat for nearly 50 threatened, endangered, sensitive, and special status fish and wildlife species.

The Verde River is vulnerable to reduced flows due to water diversions, groundwater pumping, and worsening droughts from climate change. Reductions in flows, particularly during peak demand (summer), put farmers’ annual crop growing abilities at high risk within an arid ecosystem where water is already limited and seasonally strained. 

The Verde River has over 35 diversions that have contributed to decreased river flow and rendered portions of the river nearly dry in the summer months. New housing development is increasing the need for groundwater pumping which reduces natural recharge of the river. Simultaneously, climatic change is further stressing the water supply through more frequent and intense droughts.

Finally, water delivery systems in the Verde Valley have not been updated. These older systems leak due to degradation or inefficient design, which leads to valuable amounts of water being lost to the river. 

Project Goals

• Increase river flow in low-flow regions to secure water for all stakeholders, especially farmers that need it to grow their crops.
• Restore resiliency throughout the Verde River ecosystem during the summer months by reducing the amount of water diversions to keep more water in the river. 

Project Highlights

• Water Savings: From the 59 projects completed between 2017 and 2022, the Verde River Project has saved 2,691 acre-feet of consumptive use water and 38,762 acre-feet of non-consumptive use water. TNC estimates water savings on a project-by-project basis given quantifiable reductions in water consumption and water use inefficiencies. They use these methods to measure success because it is difficult to measure how flows vary throughout the river’s course as there are limited gauges to collect data from in the Verde River system.
• Program Growth: Because of the Program’s success and growing demand from farmers, there is now a permanent, full-time manager at TNC whose main focus is on agricultural projects. This staffing addition helps TNC coordinate and implement more water-saving projects as the program continues to expand. Beyond this manager, TNC is adding even more staff to the Program to maintain its success and longevity. Adding workers demonstrates the importance of the intersection of agricultural production and water conservation for the Verde River.
• A Success Story: The Program’s work on the Sinagua Malt project demonstrated how a shift to growing water-friendly crops, like barley, can still lead to profits for farmers. Farmers addressed the local demand for barley by building a malt house in Camp Verde. The Program ensured that farmers grew barley locally by reducing the financial risks to farmers through short-term contracts. Farmers planted and harvested barley on local farms. Then, they converted the barley from raw grain into malt at the malt house. The resulting malt was sold to local breweries for a profit. 

Lessons Learned

Image Details

Implementation of the Program by TNC was successful because of thoughtful and productive engagement with landowners. TNC facilitated farmer-decided solutions by offering a list of suggested irrigation system changes, providing input on request, and not telling farmers which solution they should implement.

If the implementation of new irrigation methods went awry, TNC would start back at square one with farmers to ensure they were still able to find success and would not bear the burdens of ineffective project implementation. If one method did not work, they would pivot and try another one. This way of supporting farmers allowed for the long-term success of projects and helped with relationship building.

Holding regular Program participant meetings has provided more opportunities for agricultural producers in the area to share lessons learned about new water-saving techniques that worked well for them as well as techniques that did not. For example, the Yavapai Apache Nation is currently expanding their agricultural production, and local producers have helped support them through knowledge sharing. Farmers recognize they have a common interest in growing crops in more water-efficient ways. This means that everyone has the opportunity to be successful using different techniques, while still sharing information with others. 

Next Steps

• Offer a variety of methods to upgrade water delivery systems across a couple hundred acres of farmland per year in the Verde Valley, through the installation of drip irrigation, center pivots, and flood irrigation
• Upgrade system piping for 25 ditches to prevent leaks
• Expand work into long-term water planning, stormwater planning, and effluent usage, specifically through the effluent resource project with the Yavapai Apache Nation

Funding Partners

• Walton Family Foundation
• Bonneville Environmental Foundation
• Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust

Resources

• Growing Food and Saving a River
• Sinagua Malt Investment Project 2-Pager

Contacts

• John Ford, The Nature Conservancy: john.ford@tnc.org
• Kimberly Schonek, The Nature Conservancy: kschonek@tnc.org

CART Authors

• Audrey Wilfong, CART Student Writer, University of California-Riverside
• Anna Weinberg, Research Specialist, University of Arizona

Suggested Citation

Wilfong, A. and Weinberg, A. (2023). “Collaborating with Arizona Farmers to Conserve Flows in the Verde River.” CART. Retrieved from https://www.fws.gov/project/collaboration-conserve-river-flows.