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Farmers who rely on irrigation face a troubling conundrum in the 21st century: they cannot produce their crops without water extracted from rivers and aquifers, and their cumulative use of water is depleting those water sources, placing them in competition with cities and other users. In this workshop, we’ll explore the history of irrigation, water governance and rights, as well as explain why water scarcity has emerged as one of the greatest societal challenges of our time. The majority of the workshop will focus on solutions, and the role that farmers can play in implementing them. We’ll talk about what ‘sustainability’ means for water use, and explore opportunities for beginning farmers to work with other farmers, urban leaders, conservation organizations and investors to improve the water efficiency of their farms, earn supplemental revenues by ‘growing water’ and assure their water security in a dynamically changing world.
