Wyoming Halts Effort to Measure Irrigation Losses in Colorado River Basin
Wyoming has shelved a state-funded project to measure water lost from irrigation in the Green and Little Snake River basins. The contractor could not gain access to all 20 planned ditches and faced unexpected costs, so only 12 were measured. Officials say the work could resume as part of a broader Upper Colorado River Basin accounting effort with neighboring states.
Wyoming lawmakers set aside $500,000 in 2023 for a study of irrigation-related water losses in the Green and Little Snake River basins. The following year, the Wyoming Water Development Commission contracted Stantec Consulting Services for slightly more than $400,000 to survey 20 ditches. Public meetings in Baggs and Pinedale preceded difficulties obtaining landowner participation and representative sites.
Only 12 ditches were ultimately measured, which officials said was insufficient for basin-scale conclusions. The project manager noted that access can disrupt irrigation systems, and a local conservation district manager said landowners held mixed views about government work on their property, particularly involving water.
The shelving may leave Wyoming and other Upper Colorado River Basin states with less precise information about irrigation losses as they negotiate drought-stressed allocations. Farmers, ranchers, irrigation districts, and downstream water users could be affected if future accounting relies on incomplete data or shifts to broader multi-state studies. It may also influence how quickly voluntary conservation or efficiency projects are designed, though the pause itself does not change existing water rights or use.