Team of USU researchers confirm effective method to conserve water

Researchers at Utah State University have found a more accurate watering system that could save Utahns “between 40 and 45 percent of water,” according to Kelly Kopp, an agriculture professor and water conservation specialist at USU.

That could prove invaluable, as Utah is one of the driest states in the nation, second only to Nevada, according to the Utah Division of Water Resources.

Since 2010, Kopp has led a team of 15 individuals, including faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, in the Climate-Based Irrigation Controller Project, the first study to research water-saving devices, called smart controllers, in the northern Utah climate.

Smart controllers exceed the efficiency of traditional sprinkler systems as they receive weather information from weather stations. The controllers then water crops, gardens and lawns, dependent upon the forecast.

Although the smart controllers are more expensive, the results are unsurpassed, Kopp said.

“In the long-run, the controller will actually pay for itself because of all the water that’s being saved,” said Richard Poteet, a Cache Valley farmer. “Not to mention the quality of plants, food and lawns will go way up because they have been given just the right amount of water.”

For three years, the research team mowed, pruned, installed water controllers and meters, and recorded the results at USU’s Greenville Research Farm.

Kopp shaped her project after the statement given by the Department of Natural Resources that urges people to “become more efficient with the use of existing water supplies.”

The project received national attention and was supported by federal funds as part of the USDA Drought Management Project with some financial help from the university, according to Kopp.

Kopp now travels nationally to speak to various groups about her results. She said she has received “a lot of support and interest.”

“This team has achieved water conservation, and, after over five years of drought, we could use that,” Poteet said.

Jared Dangerfield, Amanda Grover, Lindsey Hall, Heather Shulsen and Rebecca Wheatley contributed to this article.