FORT COLLINS - Colorado State University and Parker Water and Sanitation District are joining forces to help find ways to sustain irrigated agriculture in the state while still meeting the growing water demands of municipalities.

The study - considered the first of its kind in Colorado - will cost more than $1 million over the next three years and is aimed at helping develop water policy that can accommodate often competing needs for an increasingly scarce resource.

"This is a big investment for us, but finding a win-win model that can keep our farmers farming and sustain our rural communities while at the same time finding a way to help meet our urban water needs is what we are after," said Frank Jaeger, Parker Water's district manager. "This is just one piece of the puzzle in finding a solution to meet our community's growing water needs, but it is an important one and I think figuring what is feasible for everyone is the only way to go."

Parker is a community of about 24,000 residents on the southeast edge of Denver.

Jaeger presented the planned study Thursday at the Colorado Water Congress' 49th annual convention in Denver.

The study will look at cropping system strategies such as crop rotation, drought tolerant crops and adoption of optimal irrigation technologies.

"We believe this project is going to provide valuable information for both rural and urban communities in the development of optimal water policy in Colorado," said Tom Holtzer, head of CSU's research team and professor and department head of the school's Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management. "It is going to offer terrific opportunities for our graduate and undergraduate students in agricultural economics, cropping systems, soil science, irrigation management and pest management to observe agronomic and economic principles in a real-world case."

The project's demonstration phase will begin this spring with the planting of crops and testing of irrigation strategies.