Analysis: precision irrigation today
Our own articles on how irrigation water is measured, scheduled and saved, written since the project ended. Each one lists its sources. For the project years, see the blog and the news archive.
- Does irrigation really use 70% of the world's fresh water?
Where the famous 70% figure comes from, what FAO's latest data say, and why a 2025 study puts irrigation's share anywhere between 45% and 90%. - US irrigation 2018–2023: fewer farms, fewer acres, slightly less water
What the USDA's 2023 Irrigation and Water Management Survey shows: 212,714 irrigating farms, 53.1 million acres, 81 million acre-feet, and how farmers still decide when to irrigate. - Regulated deficit irrigation: when giving trees less water works
What deficit irrigation is, what FAO and a five-year almond trial say about water savings and yields, and when cutting water saves nothing.