Utah is launching a new multimillion-dollar program that pays farmers to leave their irrigation water in the Colorado River — and tracks where that saved water ends up.

Farm irrigation uses a lot of water across the West. In one Utah community, however, farmers already grow crops without any irrigation. It might seem like an answer to the state's water woes, but the reality is not so simple.

Alfalfa dominates Utah farm fields. It also takes a lot of irrigation. So, some farmers and ranchers in Utah’s Colorado River Basin are experimenting with alternative crops that might help agriculture diversify and survive in a future with less water.

Navajo family farms once lined the San Juan River in southeast Utah, but many have fallen idle. A water rights settlement with Utah has given some Navajo residents hope those farms can return.

Native Americans have grown food in the desert for ages, but many tribal agricultural traditions have disappeared. Now, people in southeast Utah are working to bring Navajo traditions back — one fruit tree and garden bed at a time.

Between drought, climate change and competition for the Colorado River, Utah faces a precarious water future. Roughly three-fourths of the state’s water goes to agriculture and Utah is investing millions to help farmers and ranchers modernize their irrigation.

Even after a wet winter, the runoff that’s forecast to flow downstream in Utah’s Colorado River Basin looks underwhelming compared to snowpack levels.