I would guess almost everyone in Utah realizes we live in a desert, but if we needed any convincing, the hot, dry summers we have surely do the trick. With temperatures regularly soaring above 100 degrees down in southern Utah, it is easy to see the results of irrigation on the land. But even in our mountain valleys, soil quickly turns hard and inhospitable without water, teaching us the valuable lesson that food grows where water flows. 

Despite a rapidly growing and urbanizing population in our state, you can find pockets of agriculture just about everywhere. You can see it in the delicious melons from southeastern Utah, the cattle and sheep grazing in the hills of our public lands, the dairies in central Utah helping to cool us off with delicious ice cream, or the wheat I’m growing on my farm in Cache Valley – we all rely on water to help grow the food we love and depend on. But this doesn’t happen by accident; instead, it takes planning, foresight, and innovation to use water better. 

Better water management and efficient irrigation means farmers can grow more and better food, with less of an impact on our environment. This is something we’re all committed to. We’ve seen this as farmers have partnered with the State of Utah to improve our irrigation systems and become more efficient users of our limited water. 

The summer and early fall are great times to see how water is in all the food we eat. I love to interact with those who try their hands at growing food through their own gardens, as they learn the successes and, at times, failures of trying to reap a successful harvest. It can teach us that no matter our intentions, the quality of seeds we’ve used or the time we spent plotting out the perfect garden, we will not be successful without water. 

I invite you to visit a farmers market near you, where you can connect and build a relationship with some of our farmers or ranchers. You’ll see that behind every delicious peach, ear of corn, or flame-grilled burger is a family with a story of using our water to grow food – food for our own families, and yours.