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Abstract
Groundwater resources are vital for U.S. and global irrigated agricultural production. In the United States, ground-water supplies water to approximately 65 percent of all irrigated acreage. The connectivity among irrigators pumping from the same aquifer--paired with growing concerns about groundwater depletion--led to the creation of many of the groundwater organizations currently active in the United States. Groundwater organizations perform a variety of functions to promote groundwater resource stewardship and address groundwater overdraft and quality concerns that impact groundwater irrigators and other nonagricultural users (i.e., residential and municipal groundwater users). The operations of groundwater organizations are shaped by State-level groundwater law, organization governance, and the other irrigation-related activities performed by the organization (such as delivering water directly to farms and ranches). This report leverages data from the USDA's 2019 Survey of Irrigation Organizations to characterize the unique institutions that steward much of the Nation's groundwater resources.