Using less of the Colorado River takes a willing farmer and $45 million in federal funds

A turf buyback program run by the Washington County Water Conservancy District in Utah pays residents to swap their lawns for native plants. It's reducing the amount of water used for landscaping amid a drought.

The Utah state government is offering grants to encourage and enable farmers to invest in water-saving technology amid a severe drought. A farmer who wants to install a better irrigation system, like drip irrigation, will pay for half of the upgrade and the state will pay for the other half.

Colorado is only now recovering from a 16-year long drought that resulted in the aquifer irrigation system becoming increasingly dry. Until the farmers decided to tax themselves for water consumption, realizing that saving water now and taxing themselves would protect their farms and livelihood in the long run.

A hydraulic network of man-made water tanks built 2,000 years ago, called an ellangawa, collects rainwater that locals in Maeliya, Sri Lanka, can release during the dry season to support the rice crop and recharge the groundwater.

Nevada launched a $25 million pilot program in 2023 that pays farmers to voluntarily retire groundwater rights in over-pumped basins. The state-funded buyback purchases water rights at competitive rates and retires them to reduce unsustainable groundwater extraction, with the help of local organizations like the Walker Basin Conservancy. Since forming, the program retired approximately 22,500 acre-feet of groundwater rights, and the program's success led to unanimous bipartisan legislation to expand it.

Utah is ditching the “use it or lose it” water rights doctrine to encourage farmers to conserve water amid severe water shortages. Instead, it’s encouraging farmers to use less water while allowing them to keep their rights to it. The government is awarding funding for efficiency upgrades and creating a system for farmess to lease out the saved water.

In the Ladakh region of Northern India, vertical artificial glaciers called “ice stupas” melt at a slower pace than natural glaciers, helping farmers to store water for irrigation during the spring drought. Through contests with cash prizes, more than 500 people in 45 villages have been trained to build their own ice stupas.

Residents of Napa, California, are replacing their lawns with native, low-water landscaping to use less water and save money on water bills. Many were incentivized by the city’s Cash for Grass rebate program that offers per-square-foot rebates for those who make the swap.

A nonprofit in India focused on supporting farmers, Urmul Seemant Samiti, is helping pastoralists transition to using hydroponics to grow fodder for their livestock amid increasing droughts. Alongside hydroponic fodder startup Hydrogreens, the organization trains pastoralists to use sprinkler systems to create fog that waters their indoor crops.

Tucson-based Mission Garden’s crops are thriving in a drought-stricken region because of the use of techniques and knowledge from the Tohono O’odham Nation to plant traditional local crops and native plants that can handle the lack of water.