Conservation

Sprinklers that spray downward can be used to cut back on evaporation by using sprinklers in large fields. This uses only one-third of the water used by regular systems. It is better than furrows, or ditches, because it is cheaper, faster, and saves soil. Sprinklers save from two to five acre-feet of water per acre.

Other methods of conservation include the following:

• Eliminating canal leaks, which account for 25% of diversion.
• Scheduling irrigation and switching to sprinklers
• Gated ditches and lined pipes
• Lining canals is expensive and concrete cracks.
• Hydromet, a computerized network of weather stations to allow better irrigation and reservoir task scheduling.
• Making water cost more makes farmers want to save.
• Drip irrigation, tubing at the roots, has virtually no evaporation and also reduces weeds, which means less herbicide.
• Better furrow irrigation by controlling the amount of water flowing in by using surge valves and shorter furrows will save hundreds of gallons per minute on a regular field and save water by 10-40%.
• Recycling tailwater faster by using a pond.
• Soil Moisture Monitoring so that water can be applied at the right times. The system costs only about two dollars an acre and can save $50 an acre in water.
• Saving a gallon is the same as supplying a gallon.
• Installing water meters at homes make people more water conscious.
• Cash payments to businesses for efficiency.
• Reclaiming water from coolant systems and rinse cycles as well as ice factories.
• Selecting native or low water plants for gardens.
• Changing people's attitudes towards water and saving it not only during droughts.
• Recapturing surface runoff.
• Using low-flow toilets.