Montana Water Center

One of our most important contemporary challenges is balancing the multiple demands for water with an increasingly uncertain supply. Maintaining our rich agricultural heritage and working lands in the face of climate change and shifting demographics will require creative approaches across multiple sectors, informed by hydrologic information, sound policy, and communication among producers and other water users on the ground. Irrigation practices, management, and policy can all play important roles in building successful solutions as we work to sustain Montana’s landscapes and communities for future generations.

With this report, we have tried to distill a complex topic that contains considerable nuance, and our intention is not to promote any single type of irrigation method as best practice; clearly, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to our water supply challenges. Our main goal is to emphasize that we need to look carefully at the consequences of any irrigation method or practice, or changes therein, so we can meet our intended water supply goals and avoid unintended outcomes. The best suite of irrigation and water management strategies for a particular watershed will depend on site-specific hydrogeologic, geographic, socio-economic and policy-related characteristics, assessed in the context of watershed-specific needs and objectives. Critical to understanding irrigation hydrology and building successful place-based strategies is the collection of consistent, reliable, and accessible data: we need to measure our water use and understand our demand; we need to know more about how

groundwater and surface water interact; and we need to better understand the socio-economic and policy-related factors that influence the way water moves through our landscapes and supports our livelihoods. Financial investment into the collection, analysis, and communication of water information will pay dividends in terms of guiding proactive decisions and building water sustainability into the future.

In addition to gathering more information, accuracy and care in how we talk about the pathways and fate of water in irrigated agriculture will create a clearer understanding of the net effects of any changes in practice, i.e., water savings or shifts in the timing and location of water availability. It is also important that we consider the full scope of the hydrologic cycle at both farm and watershed scales when assessing potential actions and outcomes.

Finally, we need productive discussion among policy makers to help shepherd and enhance promising strategies that address changes in climate and population growth and increase water security. We also need willingness and buy-in from stakeholders across jurisdictions and sectors to plan and pursue effective water management strategies. Creating sound solutions among diverse and competing interests begins with communication and succeeds in the context of mutual trust and understanding, which provide the foundation for the critical decisions about water that lie ahead.