As the Colorado River shrinks, can new technology save water on farms? The answer is complicated

“I have farmers today that say, well, we're doing everything as good as can possibly be done,” said Paul Brierley, executive director of the University of Arizona’s Yuma Center for Desert Agriculture. “I always say, let's look in 50 years and look back and we'll laugh at these pictures just as much as we laugh at the pictures from 50 years ago.”

He says the list of innovations includes mobile apps, drones, satellites and the use of complex weather data – all to help measure and distribute water.