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Utah will pay millions for farmers to leave fields empty — and leave water for the Colorado River

Utah’s multimillion-dollar plan incentivizes conservation and aims to do a better job of tracking the water that’s saved — in hopes of getting credit for it in future Colorado River dealings.

(David Condos | KUER) Coby Hunt points across the dam that diverts water from the Green River into the irrigation canal that runs by his field, Aug. 19, 2024. Because he’s been paid to fallow that land, the water he would typically use on his crops has been returning to the Green River downstream.