The Colorado River is drying up. Farmers can help revive it

When you open your refrigerator to prepare dinner, you might see ingredients. I see water.

I see the gallons of water needed to produce each item in my fridge. Water that’s now less plentiful than ever before as the planet warms, reserves run low, and groundwater is depleted. This will change the way we eat. Food scientists like me, who’ve studied water for decades, know this to be a hard-to-swallow truth. But within the new reality, there’s hope: Farmers can help revive our dwindling resources.

Transforming how we eat must include drought-resistant crops. As we adapt to a world with less water, it’s essential to ask: What’s the best investment for every drop? We must recognize a chance to rebalance how water is used, especially as once-plentiful resources like the Colorado River are drying up. The river’s two major reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, lost 50% of their capacity in just five years. The result is nothing short of a water crisis.

Anxiety is rising on the Colorado, which more than 40 million people rely on as their main source of water and power. A total of 56% of the withdrawable amount is used to grow water-intensive crops like alfalfa, which is then used to feed cattle and other livestock. Rather than humans eating those calories directly, they’re consumed by animals, which then feed us—and our ever-growing appetite for animal protein. The water investment is enormous.

For every 2 pounds of beef we buy, nearly 4,000 gallons of water are required. But what if—and this message is coming from the grandson of a Texas cattle rancher—we skipped that step? What if farmers grew climate-resilient crops, chock-full of protein, to feed us directly, saving water along the way?

Let’s look at the town of Blythe in southeastern California. Located near the Arizona border, Blythe draws water from the Colorado River. Despite economic challenges including high unemployment, Blythe and the Palo Verde Valley share a crucial resource: water. This water is largely used to grow alfalfa, almost all of which is dried and shipped out of town. Some of that alfalfa (feed for cows) is even loaded onto a cargo plane bound for Saudi Arabia, where it’s illegal to grow because of the substantial amount of water required to do so.

A pivot to drought-resistant crops could help farmers earn more income while using less water. Take the mung bean. A quick comparison of alfalfa hay and mung bean prices reveals that dried mung beans, depending on market fluctuations, can have a value of five to six times that of dried alfalfa hay. If 100 acres of alfalfa were swapped out for 50 acres of mung beans, the economic value of crop output could more than double, while potentially cutting water requirements in half.

Mung beans are a climate-resilient crop and an ingredient in a range of products on shelves today, from Beyond Ground Beef to Just Eggs. Cultivating mung beans for plant-based foods is already happening in the U.S., including in my home state of Texas.

The planting of other water-smart crops, like the perennial grain Kernza, has begun in parts of Colorado. This strain of wheatgrass, known for its drought-tolerant qualities, is estimated to use 30% less water than alfalfa. Initial uses for this crop range from baking bread to brewing beer, and research is underway to utilize Kernza as an emerging protein source in plant-based foods.

Some of our elected representatives are increasingly concerned with drought challenges and prioritizing the need to deal with dwindling water reserves. In April, Colorado Senator Michael Bennet and 30 other lawmakers drafted a letter urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture to further invest in drought relief in the western United States. In 2023, the bipartisan Colorado River Caucus formed with congressional members from six states along the Colorado River to collaborate on drought issues. Other areas of the country are facing drought as well. In December 2023, Louisiana Congresswoman Julia Letlow wrote a letter to the USDA detailing the impact of drought on local livelihoods (an estimated loss of $1.37 billion in 2023 alone).

Alternative proteins—meat made from plants, derived from fermentation, or cultivated from animal cells—require a fraction of the water and land of conventional animal protein. Plant-based meat produces up to 98% less emissions than conventional meat, and can diversify income streams for farmers at the same time. Record-breaking heat and dry riverbeds are a reminder that it is time to rethink every drop of water—how we use it and how to maximize its potential.

Choosing water-smart crops like mung beans or Kernza means choosing a path focused on long-term solutions. But while the benefits of changing crop mixes are clear, challenges remain. Our country needs more government investment in crop diversification and optimization. More aid is needed for Colorado River farmers to transition to climate-resistant crops. And the alternative protein industry has more work to do to continue to meet the needs of consumers who are seeking products that match conventional meat on taste, convenience, and price.

Some challenges in our warming world are not within our control. But we can tackle water conservation by reducing the water demand of the food we eat while keeping people fed at the same time. It begins with seeing the food in our fridge in a different way.