Arizona Agriculture: Water Film
It starts with a group of individuals with a vision to trigger a change in their community. Meet the visionaries behind a Verde River project who transformed agricultural farming practices and created a new distribution channel that safeguarded the river’s water flow and enriched the area’s farming legacy. See how it takes the support of an entire community and the willingness of local town and city officials to make a change. Learn how this project uncovered new farming practices and water-saving methods that preserve not only our state’s farming heritage but one of our most vulnerable resources: water.
Meet the Speakers:
Kim Schonek, Verde River project manager at the Nature Conservancy, noticed that water levels of the Verde River were decreasing, especially during the summer months when farms in the region were using more water.
Together with Kevin and Claudia Hauser, Hauser and Hauser Farms owners, Kim and the Hausers explored ways to change how they were farming. Through a practice called crop swapping, they grew barley, a winter crop that required less water during the summer months, and improved the soil.
Chip Norton, the owner of Sinagua Malt, was also involved in protecting the Verde River and supporting the ongoing conservation efforts by creating Sinagua Malt. The facility malts the region’s barley and provides its end product to craft breweries, distilleries, and homebrew supply stores across Arizona.
Steve Ayers, Economic Development Director of Camp Verde and co-owner of Sinagua Malt, shares how the project was actualized with the support of town officials and the community and how the project can serve as a model for other towns and cities to consider when looking for ways to protect natural, agricultural, and economic resources.
