Weather extremes are the new normal. Climate change is undeniable. A bright and sustainable future in the West requires that communities integrate land and water policy decisions. The Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy is working to secure our water future.
Watch the Babbitt Center signature video to learn more about our approach toward solving water management and land use integration challenges.
Land use decisions are made every day that shape our water future. Therefore, it is critical to coordinate land and water use decisions. The Babbitt Center seeks to advance the integration of land and water management to meet the current and future water needs in the Colorado River Basin. Our efforts will advance water sustainability and resilience not only in the Colorado River Basin, but throughout the West, and ultimately throughout the world.
Cultivating Change
Irrigated agriculture in the U.S. Southwest and northwest Mexico faces a future where water supplies will not only be reduced, but also less reliable and more expensive. In a region where irrigated agriculture uses nearly 75 percent of the water supply in the Colorado River Basin, occupies more than four million acres of land, and provides food for local and global markets, the impact of reduced water supplies for farmers—in some regions, as much as 40 percent over the next century—will be far-reaching. The Babbitt Center is focused on improving water resiliency and regional sustainability through efforts with rural, urban, and Tribal agricultural stakeholders.
Two agricultural regions in Colorado and Arizona are working to improve water resiliency and regional sustainability.
