The Republican River Basin's Pathway Project

Agriculture in the Republican River Basin is dependent on water pumped from the Ogallala Aquifer. With withdrawals exceeding recharge, however, groundwater levels in the region have been in decline. The Republican River Compact Settlement Agreement of 2002 has further compromised water resources in the region, targeting 4,000 wells in Colorado for potential shutoff. This agreement comes on the heels of a multi-year drought, forcing producers and communities in the region to recognize that unless cropping systems are shifted away from high water-use crops, a way of life is destined to come to an end. The situation requires an immediate and large-scale shift on multiple fronts, including strategies that enable producers to successfully innovate. The purpose of this project is to engage producers in an innovative, comprehensive, regional strategy to reduce water consumption by moving operations from high water-use crops to lower water-use crops.