Agriculture is a major use of water in the West. Water conservation is one aspect of water management. A system of data collection stations and computer programs closely associated with the Hydromet but focused specifically on agricultrual applications and water conservation is collectively known as the AgriMet. The AgriMet system supports Reclamation's water conservation efforts in the same way that Hydromet supports Reclamation's water management and operations efforts.
While most Hydromet stations collect hydrologic and some surface weather data, AgriMet stations collect detailed
surface weather and other data that can be useful to farmers for conserving water
by better planning of their irrigation water needs. Careful application of an optimum amount of moisture
from either irrigation or wells can save substantial amounts of water while producing the same amount
of harvest. Types of data collected from AgriMet stations can include things like solar radiation,
wind data, temperature, precipitation, soil moisture, humidity, or even insect counts. This
slide shows an AgriMet weather station located in Christmas Valley, Oregon. More information
about the AgriMet program is available at http://www.usbr.gov/pn/agrimet/index.html.