Protecting Upper Colorado River is Protecting Food, Rural Communities

By Dan Keppen

Much of the recent mainstream coverage of Colorado River agriculture focuses on Arizona’s desert farms or the lettuce fields of California’s Imperial Valley. But upstream—in places like the snow-fed headwaters of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming—the river’s lifeblood sustains another equally critical resource: irrigated agriculture in the Upper Basin.

Colorado River water grows wheat, corn, vegetables, and orchards. This region not only produces crops—it anchors rural economies, supports wildlife habitat, and supplies the feed that sustains America’s dairy and beef industries.

As the Basin faces drought and shrinking reservoirs, some propose a “simple” fix: take water from agriculture and send it to cities. It sounds easy but is dangerously shortsighted. Once water leaves a farm permanently, the land changes forever. The ripple effects go far beyond the fence line—lost jobs, shuttered main streets, reduced food security, and degraded ecosystems.

Upper Basin agriculture is already efficient and resilient. There, alfalfa and other forage crops are essential to a domestic food system that minimizes imports and transportation emissions.