Coby Hunt’s farm field near the southeast Utah town of Green River would normally be filled with alfalfa growing up to his knees. This year, however, it was barren — pale gray dirt cracking under the late summer sun. The only green things were scraggly scraps of whatever accidental plants somehow survived without irrigation. … “It hurts,” he said as he surveyed the desolate field. “But there’s also a benefit of it looking like this, right?” That benefit is taking the water he could have used to irrigate his land and leaving it in the nearby Green River, which flows to the increasingly strained Colorado River. … Across Utah, farmers are experimenting with ways to tighten their water use as agriculture, drought and population growth collide to put pressure on the state’s limited water resources. Some are installing more efficient irrigation technology. Others are testing unconventional crops. In Hunt’s case, he’s taking some of his farmland out of commission entirely — for a time and for a price.

Other Colorado River articles:

• Arizona Mirror: Tribes help boost Lake Mead water supply, hope for lame duck passage of $5B federal water act
• Navajo-Hopi Observer: Conference addresses future of Colorado River Water
• The Colorado Sun: Tug-of-war over Colorado River water 
• Newsweek: Arizona’s Plan to import Over 100 billion gallons of water
• The Desert Review (Brawley, Calif.): Opinion: IID dissolves agricultural advisory board