Save water – drink beer, right?

There may be some truth to that.

A Camp Verde startup called Sinagua Malt is working with nearby farmers to supply Arizona brewers with malted barley, the stuff that gives beer its color and a good portion of its taste.

No one in Arizona produces malt, forcing brewers and bakers to source the key ingredient from out of state. Sinagua believes there is enough interest in locally produced malt to entice more farmers to plant barley, which is great for conservation efforts because it uses far less water than Arizona staples like cotton and alfalfa.

Barley also grows in the winter, at a time when there are fewer demands for water on the nearby Verde River. The Nature Conservancy is involved in the malting project because it believes barley could lessen the summer farming water suck, even out flows and ultimately make for a healthier river.

This is smart, market-based environmentalism – and a potential path forward for other farmers facing an uncertain water future.

Big water cuts are looming

Arizona is working on a plan to shoulder expected cuts to our water supply in coming years. The goal of the plan – generally referred to as the drought contingency plan-plus – is to even out the impacts across water users.

But no matter how the plan shakes out, farmers in Pinal County will be hit hard because their water rights are among the first on the chopping block when shortages are declared. There is talk of paying farmers to fallow land, but that’s just a Band-Aid solution.

The reality is Arizona still needs farming – not only because it’s more sustainable to stock stores with local produce, but because fallowing land also takes jobs and revenue with it.

Conservationists have talked for years about weaning farmers off cotton and alfalfa, which suck up far more water than other crops – roughly 5 acre-feet of water per acre, compared to about 3 acre-feet for wheat and barley, according to a 2015 University of Arizona study.

An acre foot is 325,851 gallons, so the difference is significant. Especially when you consider that there are more than 85,000 acres of cotton planted in Pinal County, according to the 2012 Census of Agriculture. It’s the county’s top crop.

But switching crops isn't that easy

But the switch to less water-intensive crops isn’t as easy as switching seeds – partly because of cotton’s deep roots in Arizona, but also because there’s an established market for it and alfalfa.

Some have said that crop switching won’t catch on until irrigation becomes so costly or scarce – either by regulation or sustained drought – that cotton and alfalfa no longer pencil out.

But that's why the Sinagua experiment is so important.

Barley may not pay off now as feed, but the Verde Valley soil produces good yields and a quality product. Offering a facility to turn barley into malt opens a new, more profitable market for farmers to sell their grain.

"Ultimately, it's got to work out financially for the farmer," co-founder Chip Norton said.

Sinagua worked with Hauser and Hauser Farms to switch 144 acres from summer corn to winter barley this year, and Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co. in Gilbert is planning to use the malt when it goes into production this fall.

The impact goes far beyond farming

That may not seem like a lot, considering farms in Pinal County average about 1,200 acres, but Norton says that 144 acres of barley kept an estimated 45 million gallons of water in the Verde River during its summer low point.

Imagine the impact if other small-scale operations like Sinagua peppered the state. That's the Nature Conservancy's goal, at least, to replicate this model across the arid West.

Similar efforts are underway to switch to wheat in Colorado and vegetables in Nevada, the conservancy's Kim Schonek said, though Sinagua is the furthest along. It has purchased barley and equipment and is in the midst of a crowdfunding campaign to raise the last bit of the cash for initial operating costs.

Even if you don’t drink beer, you should be rooting for the effort to succeed.

It is using the best carrot of all – profit, not government regulation or taxpayer bailouts – to help farmers use water even smarter than they were before.

Allhands is azcentral's digital opinions editor. Reach her at joanna.allhands@arizonarepublic.com.

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