Water Technology

Water Technology. . Over the last 150 years, technology to store water and deliver it to local farmland has continually changed and improved. Increasing efficiency, reducing salinity, applying water to uneven or elevated areas, and automating systems are among the goals of modern irrigation., Flood irrigation was replaced by gated pipe, which was replaced by side roll and center pivot sprinklers., On the smaller end of the spectrum, drip irrigation is replacing lawn sprinklers as water becomes more valuable with increasing population and development., These efficiencies have allowed for the expansion of irrigated agriculture by 36,000 acres in Montezuma and Dolores Counties and provided a 50-year domestic supply for local communities., Ute Mountain Ute Farm and Ranch Enterprise manages 7,700 irrigated acres planted in non-GMO corn, alfalfa, wheat and other crops, in addition to 700 head of cattle., Located on tribal land at the toe of Sleeping Ute Mountain, the enterprise has produced high crop yields with less water using equipment like center pivot sprinklers., To handle the scale, some center pivots extend more than 1300 feet from center to the last tower with 680 sprinklers installed on the line. Control equipment ensures that exactly the amount of water needed by the crop is delivered, measured by moisture and nutrient probes and in some cases operated remotely by mobile phone., Caption , Top left: A massive underground tunnel measuring one mile long made water delivery possible from McPhee Reservoir.