WILLIAM J. GRIBB - DONALD J. BROSZ

Irrigated agriculture exceeds any other consumptive use of water in Wyoming. As in all western states, irrigated agriculture in Wyoming accounts for 80 to 85 percent of the consumptive use of water. Approximately 75 percent of the farms and ranches in the state use irrigation. Flood irrigation methods are used on 1.3 million acres and sprinkler irrigation on 200,000 acres (primarily in southeast Wyoming). The total land in irrigation (1.5 million acres in 1987) has decreased steadily from the 1.9 million acres in irrigated acreage as of 1970. Irrigated acreage has decreased because of expansion of residential lands and a decrease of agriculture as an economic activity. According to the 1987-1988 estimates prepared by the Wyoming Agricultural Statistics Service, commodities produced on irrigated lands generated revenues totaling $215 million. Hay (all types), sugar beets, barley, corn, and dry edible beans accounted for the biggest share of these revenues.

The distribution of the current irrigated lands throughout the state is uneven. Some counties have few acres in irrigation while others have a substantial amount. Plate 14 shows the irrigated acreage by county. Most of the irrigated lands are adjacent to the major rivers flowing through Wyoming. Closer inspection shows that the majority of the irrigated lands are close to the headwaters of major rivers. Three major areas of irrigated lands in Wyoming are: the southeastern corner, the west-central region, and the southwestern portion. Most of the irrigated lands in the southeastern corner are near the headwaters of the North Platte and Laramie rivers and along the North Platte close to the eastern border of the state. This can be illustrated by the fact that both Carbon and Goshen counties have more than 100,000 irrigated acres along the North Platte River. Carbon County has more than 145,000 irrigated acres in the foothills and small valleys west of the Medicine Bow Range while Goshen County has more than 103,000 acres on the plains near the eastern state border. The intermountain valley in Albany County contains more than 117,000 acres of irrigated land.

The west-central region has several major rivers flowing through it, contributing to the largest concentrations of irrigated land. The region is dominated by the Bighorn, Wind, Shoshone, and Greybull rivers. The counties which have the most irrigated land are Fremont with more than 135,000 acres, Park having more than 112,000 irrigated acres, and Big Horn with approximately 106,000 acres.

The third region with a large amount of irrigated land is Wyoming's southwestern corner. Sublette County has almost 160,000 irrigated acres found mainly in the northern part of the county. Uinta County has more than 105,000 acres of land in irrigation, the majority along the stretches of the Black's Fork and the Bear rivers on the western state border. The Star Valley accounts for a large portion of the 91,000 irrigated acres in Lincoln County. Both areas are bounded by mountains with the flat river valley floor offering excellent farming conditions.

Plate 14 was compiled from data in the US. Bureau of Census (1989). A map of irrigated and irrigable lands cannot be displayed accurately at the scale of maps published but is available from the Wyoming Water Development Commission (1981).

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