On Aug. 21, the Bureau of Reclamation announced a new short-term plan for water management in the Colorado River Basin.
The Upper Basin, which includes Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Utah, will reduce water consumption by 200,000 acre-feet per year over the next two years. That’s enough to supply roughly 600,000 American households annually.
How might the Upper Basin states substantially reduce water usage?
A promising way to save water may come in the form of agricultural water leasing, which is the focus of Utah’s Demand Management Pilot Program.
The state paid $4 million over the last two years to lease 20,000 acre-feet of water from farmers in the Colorado River Basin region of Eastern Utah.
Scott Thayn is a farmer in Carbon County and one of around 25 who participated in the program across both seasons.
“It's freed up time and money for me to do improvements on my farm," Thayn said, "and that wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for the funding that we got through this program."
Marc Stilson is the principal engineer at the Colorado River Authority of Utah. He said that the scope of the program is simple and the achievements speak for themselves.
“It's not easy; it's not perfect, but we've had farmers jump on board and figure out ways to make water conservation work," Stilson said. "It's voluntary, temporary, and compensated.”
While the program has been successful for farmers like Thayn, research also demonstrates that summer fallow periods can negatively impact soil health. This could lead to production issues further down the line.
Stilson said that the program requires producers to pay attention to soil health even as they let their fields go unirrigated. Ultimately, he explained the priority of the program is saving water in whatever ways might be complementary to farm operations.
Even if it might not maximize water savings, Stilson said that the program intentionally puts farmers and farm operations first.
“We don't have such stringent rules that cause problems or make it harder for farmers to do what they're doing, because that's not the intent," he said. "The intent is to support our agriculture sector and save some water for the purposes of meeting our downstream commitment.”
The demonstrated success of the program across 2025 and 2026 has now attracted federal money. Stilson said that the Bureau of Reclamation is prepared to invest $100 million into Upper Basin states over the next two to three years.
Roughly a quarter of that money would likely go to Utah, along with accountability for saving around 50,000 acre-feet.
“By standing up the pilot program, we're ready to go," said Stilson. We have an existing program that we can funnel this federal money into and hit the ground running.”
Utah is the only state in the Upper Basin that has already tested a demand management program. In a year of negative superlatives — lowest snowpack, lowest levels at Lake Powell and Lake Mead — the water savings already accrued by Utah farmers offer a glimmer of hope for Colorado River Conservation.
This article is published through the Colorado River Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative supported by the Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water, and Air at Utah State University. See all of our stories about how Utahns are impacted by the Colorado River at greatsaltlakenews.org/coloradoriver.
