Molly Peters

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Irrigation Innovation - Bloomberg Businessweek

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Clients: Bloomberg Businessweek, The Intercept, The Wall Street Journal, High Country News, HuffPost

School: Bard College Hartford Art School

Traditional flood irrigation sy...ater than microdrip irrigation.

Traditional flood irrigation systems use far more water than microdrip irrigation.

An N-Drip system feeds water into a cotton field.

A canal with a flood irrigation...s irrigated with N-Drip system.

A canal with a flood irrigation system is on the right. For comparison, the cotton field on the left of the road is irrigated with N-Drip system.

N-Drip tubes feed water into rows of cotton.

A farm laborer performs mainten...required for the N-Drip system.

A farm laborer performs maintenance work on the flood irrigation system. This labor is not required for the N-Drip system.

N-Drip system irrigating a cotton field.

A butterfly and bee pause on co...rigated with the N-Drip system.

A butterfly and bee pause on cotton flowers near a developing boll in a field irrigated with the N-Drip system.

Bill Perry stands in one of his...es him significant labor costs.

Bill Perry stands in one of his cotton fields, irrigated with the N-Drip system. He mentioned that a huge benefit of the N-Drip system, in addition to the water conservation, is that it is far less labor intensive than traditional flood irrigation, which saves him significant labor costs.

Water flows into a flood irriga...canal on a farm in Tonopah, AZ.

Water flows into a flood irrigation canal on a farm in Tonopah, AZ.

The Colorado River is a major w...lorado River Indian Reservation

The Colorado River is a major water source in the southwest USA which is increasingly managed as water becomes more scarce.

CRIT Farms, Colorado River Indian Reservation

Tubing from the N-Drip system l...lorado River Indian Reservation

Tubing from the N-Drip system left in a field of sorghum which was already harvested. The drip irrigation system was installed this year as a trial, and much of it has been removed following the harvest, but the farm hopes to expand their use of the system in coming seasons.

CRIT Farms, Colorado River Indian Reservation

Josh Moore, General Manager of ...lorado River Indian Reservation

Josh Moore, General Manager of CRIT Farm, walks on part of their irrigation and water system.

CRIT Farms, Colorado River Indian Reservation

The canal near a sorghum field ...lorado River Indian Reservation

The canal near a sorghum field has internal waterfalls to help create water pressure to feed the flood irrigation system.

CRIT Farms, Colorado River Indian Reservation

Tubing from the N-Drip system i...lorado River Indian Reservation

Tubing from the N-Drip system is left in a field of sorghum which was already harvested. The drip irrigation system was installed this year as a trial, and much of it has been removed following the harvest, but the farm hopes to expand their use of the system in coming seasons.

CRIT Farms, Colorado River Indian Reservation

Hay bales sit alongside a road ...lorado River Indian Reservation

Hay bales sit alongside a road on CRIT Farms. This hay had been ordered by a department of transportation to help with erosion near roads.

Colorado River Indian Reservation

Josh Moore, General Manager of CRIT Farms, holds grains of sorghum leftover after the harvest.

CRIT Farms, Colorado River Indian Reservation

Canals formerly used in the flo...lorado River Indian Reservation

Canals formerly used in the flood irrigation system at CRIT Farms.

Colorado River Indian Reservation

Sunset along the Colorado River...lorado River Indian Reservation

Sunset along the Colorado River.

CRIT Farms, Colorado River Indian Reservation

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Thumbnail of Traditional flood irrigation sys_water than microdrip irrigation.

Thumbnail of An N-Drip system feeds water into a cotton field.

Thumbnail of A canal with a flood irrigation _is irrigated with N-Drip system.

Thumbnail of N-Drip tubes feed water into rows of cotton.

Thumbnail of A farm laborer performs maintena_ required for the N-Drip system.

Thumbnail of N-Drip system irrigating a cotton field.

Thumbnail of A butterfly and bee pause on cot_rrigated with the N-Drip system.

Thumbnail of Bill Perry stands in one of his _ves him significant labor costs.

Thumbnail of Water flows into a flood irrigat_ canal on a farm in Tonopah, AZ.

Thumbnail of The Colorado River is a major wa_olorado River Indian Reservation

Thumbnail of Tubing from the N-Drip system le_olorado River Indian Reservation

Thumbnail of Josh Moore, General Manager of C_olorado River Indian Reservation

Thumbnail of The canal near a sorghum field h_olorado River Indian Reservation

Thumbnail of Tubing from the N-Drip system is_olorado River Indian Reservation

Thumbnail of Hay bales sit alongside a road o_olorado River Indian Reservation

Thumbnail of Canals formerly used in the floo_olorado River Indian Reservation

Thumbnail of Sunset along the Colorado River._olorado River Indian Reservation

Public Project

Irrigation Innovation - Bloomberg Businessweek

Copyright Molly Peters 2025

Updated Sep 2021

Location Arizona

Topics Agriculture, Climate Change, Conservation, Documentary, Editorial, Environment, Food, Journalism, Landscape, Media, Photography, Photojournalism

"A tiny piece of plastic is helping farmers use far less water. An Israeli company’s modest innovation in drip irrigation could forever change agriculture, especially in resource-starved environments... N-Drip is the brainchild of Uri Shani, a professor of soil physics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a former chairman of Israel’s water authority. He set out seven years ago to devise a microdrip irrigation system cheap enough to make sense not just for lettuces and berries but also commodity crops such as soy and corn, which make up the bulk of the world’s agricultural output." - Elizabeth G. Dunn

Drip irrigation is an innovative method which uses drastically less water than traditional flood irrigation, with more consistent water distribution throughout the fields, less fertilizer wasted through runoff, and far less labor needed to maintain the system.

As the southwest USA grapples with climate change and an ongoing severe drought, and water resources like the Colorado River are shrinking and increasingly controlled, methods like this one offer promise for the future to conserve agricultural water use without affecting crop output negatively.

Photographed for Bloomberg Businessweek, see the full story here.

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