Kansas task force hears evidence that irrigation technology reduces withdrawals but not acreage

Kansas State University researchers told the Governor’s Water Task Force in Dodge City that adoption of modern irrigation systems and decision‑support technologies has produced measurable reductions in groundwater withdrawals while often preserving irrigated acreage and farm incomes.

Two K‑State presenters, Darren Rudnick, director of sustainable irrigation, and economist Micah (last name not given), summarized national and state-level data showing that moving from flood to center‑pivot irrigation and adding sensors, telemetry and soil‑moisture monitoring can lower water pumped per acre by roughly 3–20 percent, depending on region and technology. They stressed the distinction between the intensive margin (water applied per acre) and the extensive margin (number of acres irrigated), and said most observed declines are on the intensive margin.

The presenters told the task force that when irrigators convert from flood irrigation to center pivots, they typically see a…