Part 1: Family Farm Alliance Fights for Irrigators

The Family Farm Alliance is a nonprofit organization founded 25 years ago and headquartered in Arizona. Executive Director Dan Keppen says that they have members in all 17 reclamation states, which are arid areas of the US and include Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. He says that they mainly work with the Bureau of Reclamation, but also with other federal agencies and Congress on advocating for farmers in these areas when it comes to water needs. He says the Bureau of Reclamation is vital for these areas because the agency is charged with capturing snowmelt and delivering it for irrigation purposes. Keppen explains much of what the Alliance does is public relations outreach and education. And as for issues, along with monitoring the Waters of the US rule rewrite process, Keppen says that forest mitigation is a big part of the Colorado River management strategy that his organization is pushing for.

“We're saying, Look, this could be a partial solution to the Colorado River. When you look at the health of the watersheds, you got studies. So a direct linkage between the yield and watered amount of water coming out of a watershed compared to how it's being managed and clearly if you can get in and then more aggressively and have controlled burns and then you have a harvestable timber component to these plants. It frees up new water it actually adds to the water the size of the water pie.”

Dan Keppen, Executive Director of the Family Farm Alliance.