Agriculture is the number one consumptive use of water in the United States. America’s breadbaskets, fruit baskets, fisheries, meat and poultry production, and its water supplies are deeply connected, and the future of our domestic food supply is dependent on the future of our freshwater supply.
Working toward a more sustainable food supply creates the opportunity to scale real solutions across entire sectors. There are countless ways we can improve how water is managed — from the individual farm to entire basins — through technology, conservation, and policy that reward stewardship rather than extraction.
But it’s not just about the crops; it’s also about the people and communities behind them. Agricultural regions face critical economic and environmental pressures: uncertain water deliveries, increasing energy costs, degraded soil health, and contamination from fertilizer and pesticide runoff. In many places, the imbalance between water supply and demand has led to years of litigation and conflict. By reframing those challenges as shared opportunities, water stewardship can become a bridge — not a battleground — between farm interests, rural communities, and the environment.
Philanthropy plays a powerful catalytic role when it comes to water and agriculture. Investments that strengthen farmer-led innovation, data transparency, and equitable policy development can reduce risk and boost resilience for everyone. The Water Foundation supports projects that partner with farmers to reconnect rivers with floodplains, improve groundwater recharge, and advance nature-based approaches that make farming more adaptable. In California’s Central Valley, for example, growers are now capturing and storing high flows underground, helping replenish aquifers while sustaining productivity. These partnerships show how farmers can be part of the climate solution while securing their own futures. One of the Water Foundation’s grantees, Community Alliance for Family Farmers, helps local growers navigate all this and more.
The Water Foundation champions agricultural innovation that treats water as a shared resource rather than a private commodity. From groundwater management at the community and state level, to using NASA satellites to measure excess water off crops, to advancing policies that reward efficient water use rather than punish it — we can grow a food system that sustains the land, nourishes people, and strengthens rural economies — ensuring the fields feeding America remain fertile for generations to come.