<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/great-salt-lake-farmers-voluntary-conservation-actions/>
"The Bear River flows out of Wyoming’s Uinta Mountains, winding 350 miles
through sagebrush meadows and agricultural fields in Idaho and Utah before it
fans out into wetlands 50 miles north of Salt Lake City. It’s the longest river
on the continent that does not drain into the sea, and the largest source of
water filling the Great Salt Lake.
One of the river’s last stops before it reaches the lake is Mitch and Holly
Hancock’s farm, NooSun Dairy. Like hundreds of other farmers, the Hancocks
divert water from the Bear River to irrigate crops like alfalfa hay and corn
that feed their 3,000 cows.
Since they live in the desert, the Hancocks spend a lot of time asking
themselves how to protect and maximize their water, which Holly calls “one of
our most valuable resources.”
“The only thing we can control on our farm is how efficient we are,” Holly
explains. She was born on the farm in 1982, the same year her parents bought
it. She says one of the family’s guiding principles for managing their business
is: “How can we improve our processes so that we do more with less?”
Holly and Mitch recently made several improvements to their irrigation system
to conserve water. They piped the farm’s earthen ditches so less water is lost
to evaporation or seepage as it travels from the river to their fields. Mitch
recounts that before the piping project, it took 45 minutes for water to reach
one of their hay fields. Now it takes 45 seconds. “All that savings from point
A to point B now stays in the lake,” Mitch says. “And every inch helps, right?”
Farmers and ranchers are key to helping solve Utah’s water crisis. In the face
of a shrinking Great Salt Lake, irrigators like the Hancocks are stepping up to
voluntarily conserve water in creative ways. And the benefits go both ways: Not
only do such efforts keep the lake and its ecosystem alive, they also help
agricultural producers grow food more efficiently."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
