BISMARCK, N.D. — A new state-commissioned study says North Dakota has missed out on an estimated $9.7 billion in economic activity over the past 54 years because the state never fully developed its irrigation potential.
The study was completed by Iowa-based Decision Innovation Solutions after it was approved by lawmakers during the 2025 legislative session. It shows that most of the space available for irrigation development lies within the Missouri River Basin, Souris River Basin and Red River Basin.
Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring joined lawmakers and study partners at the state Capitol on June 12 to release the findings of an irrigation and drainage study commissioned by the 69th Legislative Assembly through House Bill 1531 during the 2025 legislative session. According to Goehring, the roots of the missed potential go back more than 80 years to the Pick-Sloan Plan, the sweeping federal water development program of the 1940s that laid the groundwork for irrigation infrastructure across the Missouri River Basin.
“The potential for irrigation development was part of the original Pick-Sloan Plan of the 1940s but has not yet occurred, resulting in an aggregate economic impact loss of $9.7 billion between 1970 and 2024,” Goehring said. “If irrigation infrastructure had been fully developed in North Dakota by 1970, the crop mix and yield of crops would have been different.”
The study identifies roughly 1.3 million additional acres across the state that could be brought under irrigation based on soil suitability and water availability.
“The study showed that we could develop another 1.3 million acres of irrigation in the state based on soil suitability and water availability,” Goehring said. “Much of that acreage includes the Missouri River Basin, including Lake Sakakawea and the Garrison Diversion canal; the Souris River Basin; and the Red River Basin. The rest of the acreage could be developed using the extensive aquifer resources that exist across our state.”
The study pinpointed the counties with the greatest irrigation potential as McLean, Williams, Sargent, Burleigh, Mountrail, McKenzie, McHenry, McIntosh, Dunn and Bottineau.
Beyond irrigation, the study examined the economic role of legal drainage systems across the state. It found that legal drains in 12 North Dakota counties currently contribute $87.9 million annually to the state economy — a figure researchers say underscores the broader economic value of water management infrastructure for the state’s ag industry, separate from the irrigation shortfall.
