The drought caused a lot of problems over the summer and reminded a lot of people of the importance of water, especially for agriculture. However, now that the worst is (hopefully) over, people are going to start asking questions about preserving and protecting that water.
In Texas, the discussion regarding to water is now focusing on agriculture and irrigation. Over the last few days irrigation specialists at Texas A&M have been urging farmers to watch their irrigation at all times and also to avoid using it if possible.
This of course puts agriculture in the cross hairs for using too much water. In response, Texas Farm Bureau has released a list of the top 10 facts farmers should be prepared with as the discussion heats up. The facts are based on a study recently released by the Texas Water Resources Institute.
1) Groundwater is by far the source of most agricultural irrigation in the state, accounting for 86 percent of the irrigated acres (in 2000). Surface water made up 11.6 percent and the remaining 2.4 percent used a mix of groundwater and surface water.
2) The state’s irrigated acres are concentrated in those areas that have good soil and available water. Most irrigation is in West and South Texas, far from the state’s major population centers in Central, North and Southeast Texas.
3) Annual estimated water use in Texas totaled 13.2 million acre-feet in 2009, with about 57 percent used for irrigation. Total annual irrigation has remained steady, averaging approximately 9.5 million acre-feet since the late 1970s.
4) While statewide agricultural irrigation rates have stayed relatively constant since the mid-70s, per-acre corn yields have increased by 62 percent since 1975 while cotton yields have more than doubled.
To get the rest of the facts, keep reading at Texas Agriculture Talks.
Image courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
