Sustainable irrigation is necessary and achievable, but direct costs and environmental impacts can be substantial

Irrigation impacts land and water resources in ways that can reduce farm productivity. Irrigation also causes off-farm impacts, such as waterlogging, salinization, and degradation of water quality in rivers and lakes. Farmers and public officials must determine acceptable levels of the direct and indirect costs involved in sustaining irrigated agriculture. Farm-level and policy decisions will vary among regions with differences in economic development, resource endowments, and public preferences regarding the inevitable impacts of irrigation on the environment. Hence, the notion of irrigation sustainability will vary among regions and over time with differences in public preferences.