Irrigation in the American West: Area, Water and Economic Activity

Noel Gollehon and William Quinby

Elsewhere No. (0004), June 2000

Irrigation is the defining characteristic of crop production in the American West. Irrigated agriculture uses the most freshwater (90 percent) of any economic sector in the West. Surface-water sources such as streams, rivers, and lakes provide 68 percent of withdrawals while the remaining 32 percent are obtained from groundwater sources. According to the 1997 Census of Agriculture, 43 million acres of agricultural land were irrigated in the West, and these lands produced 72 percent of crop sales on only 27 percent of the total harvested crop acreage.

Keywords: Irrigation, water use, water source, crop acreage, crop sales, water markets, Economic Research Service, ERS, USDA, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Get this document in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.

Updated date: June 2000