Status and Needs Assessments

Date:	1996-2004
Location:	California and other western states
Sponsors:	US Bureau of Reclamation and California Department of Water Resources
Reports Available:	ITRC Reports No. 04-007, 02-007, 00-005, and 96-004

Status and Needs Assessment

Status & Needs Assessment Graph

Since 1996, ITRC has conducted four status and needs (benchmarking) assessments for various sponsors on federal and non-federal irrigation districts throughout the western United States. For these assessments, personnel from over 100 districts have been interviewed to gather data on their irrigation management, service, and future plans. These districts include over 90% of the irrigated acreage in the US Bureau of Reclamation's Mid-Pacific Region, as well as USBR districts in eastern Washington, northern Idaho, and western Montana.

The data gathered was then analyzed to identify:

General demographic information
The degree of water flexibility provided to farmers
The extent of existing and planned district modernization
Educational programs in which districts currently participate or have accomplished
Improvements that can be made in regards to technology and water conservation
What types of assistance districts will require in the future to make those improvements

Reports for the first four assessments (in 1996, 2000, 2002, and 2004) are available from the ITRC reports page.