Regenesis Management Group Aligns with Colorado State
Regenesis Management Group, LLC, a company that focuses on the efficient use of finite natural resources through the development of innovative techniques, software, and instrumentation, said it has entered into a long-term research and development arrangement with Colorado State University to facilitate water conservation research.
The arrangement involves the Warner College of Natural Resources at Colorado State University along with faculty from the Colleges of Agricultural Sciences and Engineering. It is designed to provide for interdisciplinary research in the areas of agricultural crop optimization and will result in tools designed to assist in management of the water budget for farms and protect the rights of downstream water users. This is the first arrangement of its type designed to bring “above-the-surface” and “sub-surface” technical competencies together to track overall water usage, while managing proper accounting of irrigation return flows. The goal is to allow water users to better utilize their water resources for agriculture, while optimizing their consumptive use for alternative applications. The agreement also allows Regenesis Management Group to assume certain intellectual property rights as a result of the research for applications in the private sector.
“The exciting long-term, collaborative research and development agreement is focused around certain limited irrigation, crop optimization, instrumentation, and monitoring techniques,” says Ed Warner, faculty affiliate in the Department of Geosciences and Joint Venture Liaison at Regenesis Management Group. “When you transfer your agricultural water rights, all that you will receive credit for is the consumptive use portion. Our goal is to maximize that component for the benefit of the water right owner.”
The continued use of water in agriculture and the need to use some of this resource to meet future municipal and industrial water needs in Colorado is a similar issue throughout much of the western United States. Yet, there are concerns regarding how the economies of agriculturally dependent communities are affected by the potential transfer of water to other uses. Regenesis Management Group is initiating a combination of processes, instrumentation, and technology to provide a system to sustain irrigated agriculture while meeting the increasing urban water needs in Colorado, in addition to other western states.
"This is our first major research partnership arrangement with possibly the most recognized agricultural and natural resource institution in the region,” says Robert Stollar, Science and Research liaison at the firm. “We are truly excited and look forward to the results of this research with the hopes that the work we are doing will result in a paradigm shift. It is really that powerful.”
The process known as SWIIM™, or Sustainable Water and Innovative Irrigation Management™, involves the application of irrigation cropping systems, the use of instrumentation, and implementation of a proprietary software-based model. When utilized in correct order and in proper quantities, this comprehensive approach acts as a conserving technology, with the monitoring and verification of saved water use.
The company intends that this research will result in the development of processes to quantify and transfer proportional consumptive use water to other users and allow for an easy-to-follow process to facilitate the many potential uses of water rights throughout Colorado – from agriculture to municipal, and everywhere in between.