Highlighting western water leaders and providing a forum for irrigators and engineers to discuss solutions and technology.
making your voice heard
What we do at Irrigation Leader Magazine
Irrigation Leader is dedicated to the men and women providing water to irrigators in the 17 western states and beyond. Our interviews with irrigation district managers and personnel; supplier representatives; and leading local, state and federal government officials distill the issues of the day and offer real-world perspectives and insight.
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Current Editions
Here are the latest editions of Irrigation Leader magazine. You can find previous months by selecting the desired edition under the Magazines tab or by visiting our archives here.
Volume 17 Issue 3 March
Fratco has been in the pipe business for well over 100 years, but it has done an excellent job of keeping current with the times. With its earliest roots in clay pipe, the company rapidly transitioned to plastic in the 1960s, and today, it offers corrugated polyolefin…
Volume 17 Issue 3 March
The Verde Ditch Company has been serving farms and residential properties since the mid-1860s. In our conversation with two of its commissioners, Linda Buchanan and Al Dupuy, we learn about its history, its infrastructure, and the modernization work…
Volume 17 Issue 3 March
The Grass Valley French Ditch Company has been supplying water to users near Missoula, Montana, for more than 120 years. In that time, and particularly in recent years, its service area has shifted away from agriculture and ranching and toward residential…
Volume 17 Issue 3 March
In our cover interview with Galen Wittrock, the general manager of the South Platte Natural Resources District, we learn how the district and its users are working to preserve, recharge, and prudently use the groundwater that provides 95 percent of the region’s irrigation…
Volume 17 Issue 3 March
In our cover interview with Eugene Jiron, the governor of the Pueblo of Isleta, we learn about the fundamental importance of the Rio Grande, which traverses the pueblo’s reservation, for its people’s agriculture and way of life. The pueblo is tackling the challenge…
Volume 17 Issue 3 March
In this month’s issue, we speak with two New Zealand leaders who have previously appeared in the magazine, Keri Johnston and Andrew Mockford. After 10 years as the chair of trade group Irrigation New Zealand, Ms. Johnston, a natural resources engineer at…
Volume 17 Issue 3 March
In this month’s issue, we interview both the incoming and the outgoing presidents of the Washington State Water Resources Association (WSWRA). John O’Callaghan, the secretary-manager of the South Columbia Basin Irrigation District, has led the…
Volume 17 Issue 3 March
In our cover story this month, we speak with Jerry Dart, the president of the Wyoming Water Association, an organization “for everyone who loves water”—including agricultural producers, municipalities, businesses, government agencies, nongovernmental…
Sharing The Waters
Sharing the Waters is a book written by the late Robert W. “Bob” Johnson, a career federal water management expert who rose through the ranks of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to eventually serve as its commissioner.
Commissioner Johnson’s insights remind readers that despite the seemingly unprecedented challenges confronting the Colorado River and its users today, contentious matters have always been a part of their history. Yet, he makes it clear that solutions for river and its use will never occur rapidly nor can they likely ever be permanent because as circumstances evolve, so too must the law of the river.
Sharing the Waters can be obtained by making a modest donation to the Water Education Fund.
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Our website serves as a clearinghouse for requests for proposals and job listings published by water agencies and irrigation districts throughout the United States. We post jobs at no charge, in the Irrigation Leader, Hydro Leader, and Municipal Water Leader magazines and websites.