"What we're seeing is the same strategies that boost agricultural productivity will improve water quality, and that's not always the case," CSU professor Tim Gates told the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District recently. Unlike other water conservation strategies, lowering water tables in the valley could produce more water for beneficial use - potentially more than the city or Pueblo uses each year. In the process, Arkansas River water quality would improve because salinity, selenium and metals would be reduced by 30-40 percent. Seepage from canals and excessive runoff from fields contribute to waterlogging, or water tables that are too high. This in turn leaches more salt into the soil and water. Productivity could be improved by 10-20 percent with better irrigation practices.

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