LETTER: A plan to reduce agricultural use of Colorado River water

The Review-Journal reported that agriculture interests use about 80 percent of water drawn from the Colorado River. Experts estimate that 56 percent of the river water is used to grow water-intensive crops such as almonds and alfalfa, which is used to feed cattle.

Growing up in Idaho and now living in Nevada, I have traveled to the intermountain states for 70 years and have recognized the vast amount of BLM and Forest Service land throughout Idaho, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming and Utah. Some areas of these acres have an abundance of water. Why not a simple land swap with the alfalfa farmers in exchange for government-owned land in the above-mentioned states? I would think the government could make a land swap very attractive to those farmers.

Yes, the growing seasonwould be shorter in the north, but offering twice the acreage could guarantee the same amount of production. Most of the irrigation equipment could be relocated with government help.

Many more details would need to be worked out but why wouldn’t Gov. Joe Lombardo contact the Trump administration to pursue the feasibility to this first start in reducing water usage for agricultural, particularly the alfalfa? We shouldn’t be growing a water-intensive crop such as alfalfa in the Southwest desert.