Center for Biological Diversity

The San Pedro River is the last undammed desert river in Arizona.

The long-running Southwest drought is contributing to different ways of thinking about our water supply and how we use the resource. That trend is evident in how a number of farmers and ranchers are reconsidering what they do.

Paul Schwennesen is a rancher in the lower San Pedro River Valley who determined he could cut back his business's water usage by abo ut 30 percent.

"We're not growing row crops, we're growing pasture which is generally less water intensive," Schwennesen said.

Schwennesen's process of cutting back on water use on his ranch began when he connected with the Arizona Land and Water Trust. Liz Petterson is the executive director and said younger generations often leave the family business and ranchers need new ideas.

"They're looking for a solution to really help protect their family legacy,"  Petterson said.

One example of the Trust's work is providing money for experiments, from private sources, in an initiative to try to put more water into stream flows for riparian purposes.