Talking Points

Survey of Irrigation Organizations
Talking Points for enumerators, survey administrators, and public affairs staff.
October 2019

Overview

For the first time in over 40 years, the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), will reinstate the Survey of Irrigation Organizations in collaboration with the Economic Research Service (ERS). This survey, last conducted by the Department of Commerce for the year 1978, gathers statistics on irrigation organizations which are defined as a group of individuals, a company, a governmental district or agency, or an individual that operates facilities to supply irrigation water to two or more farms or ranches, or stores irrigation water. It may be either a formal legal organization, or an informal or cooperative arrangement. In many parts of the country, particularly in the arid portions of the West, irrigation is necessary for the production of most crops. Water for irrigation is obtained from two primary sources: surface water (such as streams and lakes) and ground water (such as wells and springs).

The Survey of Irrigation Organizations will include 24 States. The reference year for the survey is 2019 the estimated sample size is 6,500. Data collection will take place from February 2020 through May 2020 and will occur via paper, internet, phone, and in-person interviews.

To learn more about the Survey of Irrigation Organizations, visit:
www.nass.usda.gov/go/irrorgs

Key Messages for Enumerators

• Please complete your Irrigation Organizations Survey.

• Your response is valuable and helps your business, government, and policymakers understand the current state of agricultural irrigation.

• We care about your privacy, and work to ensure it at every step as required by law.

• For more information, please contact Adam Cline at (202) 690-8818, or [email protected].
  
  
  

• The results of this survey will help identify challenges and constraints facing irrigation organizations. Survey findings will inform government, industry, and policy makers on local irrigation supply practices and their impact on drought resilience. The findings should be particularly valuable to irrigation organizations in promoting knowledge transfer on water-supply management strategies at the local level. Government and industry policy is also shaped by these data.