KEY POINTS
On the drought-stricken land where Pinal County farmers have irrigated crops for thousands of years, Nancy Caywood stopped her pickup truck along an empty canal and pointed to a field of dead alfalfa.
“It’s heart wrenching,” said Caywood, a third-generation farmer who manages 247 acres an hour outside of Phoenix.
An intensifying drought and declining reservoir levels across the Western U.S. prompted the first-ever cuts to Arizona farmers’ water supply from the Colorado River.
CASA GRANDE, Ariz. — On the drought-stricken land where Pinal County farmers have irrigated crops for thousands of years, Nancy Caywood stopped her pickup truck along an empty canal and pointed to a field of dead alfalfa.
“It’s heart wrenching,” said Caywood, a third-generation farmer who manages 247 acres of property an hour outside of Phoenix. “My mom and dad toiled the land for so many years, and now we might have to give it up.”
Farming in the desert has always been a challenge for Arizona’s farmers, who grow water-intensive crops like cotton, alfalfa and corn for cows. But this year is different. An intensifying drought and declining reservoir levels across the Western U.S. prompted the first-ever cuts to their water supply from the Colorado River.
The canals that would normally bring water from an eastern Arizona reservoir to Caywood’s family farm have mostly dried up. The farm will soon be operating at less than half of its usual production. And Caywood is grappling with a recent 33% price hike for water she’s not receiving.
“We’re not making one dime off this farm right now,” Caywood said. “But we’re trying to hang on because this is what we love.”
More than 40 million people in the West rely on the Colorado River, which flows along Arizona’s western edge. The farmers hit the hardest this year are in Pinal County, a rural stretch of land where agriculture is receding and slowly getting replaced by solar panels and housing developments.
Then there are those who started pumping more groundwater, which raises additional concerns since Arizona’s groundwater supplies are already overused. When Caywood’s grandfather signed the land in 1930, he was drawn in by cheap prices and technological developments that allowed for water to be transported from canals connected to the San Carlos reservoir more than 100 miles away. Last year, the San Carlos reservoir plummeted to zero acre-feet. “There’s always a chance of rainwater, or some snow in the East,” Caywood said. “We have to have hope. Or we throw our hands up and say, ‘We’re done.’”
Megadrought tests resilience of farmers
Arizona’s climate doesn’t have enough rain to grow most crops. Still, for thousands of years, the rivers and aquifers that hold groundwater have supported the state’s now $23 billion agriculture industry. Climate change and dwindling water supplies have wreaked havoc on the once prosperous farms that could endure the arid conditions. The U.S. West is now experiencing a megadrought that’s generated the two driest decades in the region in at least 1,200 years. Scientists say 42% of the drought’s severity can be attributed to human-caused climate change, and warn that conditions could persist for years. The consequences are far-reaching. A prolonged drought will not just reduce local farm income in Arizona, but create tighter supply and increased food prices for consumers across the country. Despite the brutal conditions, Caywood wants to continue the farming legacy of her parents, both of whom died last year. In an attempt to salvage her property, Nancy frequently conducts farm tours to educate people about the water crisis. Her son, Travis Hartman, has leased plots in other irrigation districts that currently have access to Colorado River water.
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