Climate change-induced shifts in snow storage and snowmelt patterns pose risks for adverse impacts to people, the environment, and irrigated agriculture. Existing research primarily focuses on evaluating these risks to irrigated agriculture at large scales, overlooking the role of local context in shaping risk dynamics. Consequently, many “at-risk” areas lack insight into how adaptation strategies for managing risk through water supply augmentation or water conservation vary across contexts and over time. To address this gap, we develop a comprehensive index for evaluating irrigated agriculture's risk and adaptation potential to changes in snow at local scales and apply it throughout the western US. Results confirm trends toward escalating risk for changes in snow storage and snowmelt patterns over the century. However, substantial heterogeneity in the extent and drivers of risk exists due to variability in localized interactions between declines in water supply (approximately −9% ± 13% by 2100) and increased agricultural demand (approximately 7% ± 5% by 2100). Despite an existing focus on supply augmentation as a critical adaptation strategy to reduce risk, we show its effectiveness diminishes for many areas over time, declining to an average of −54% of historical augmentation potential by 2100. Conserving water through historical changes in crop acreage and type emerges as a more stable adaptation measure, reducing demand by 7%–8% regardless of time. While particularly relevant for higher elevation, less intensive agricultural settings in snowmelt-dependent regions, findings underscore the need for strategies that support local-scale, context-appropriate adaptation to effectively manage escalating risk as snow changes.

Key Points

• Changes to snow storage and release patterns pose localized and heterogeneous risks to irrigated agriculture, which accelerate in the future
• Potential to manage risk from less snow by augmenting water storage is limited by water supply-demand imbalances in many locations over time
• Conserving water by reducing demand could buffer irrigated agriculture against increased risk even as augmentation potential diminishes

Plain Language Summary

Climate change-induced shifts in snow storage and snowmelt patterns threaten water supplies for irrigated agriculture, necessitating adaptation. In agriculture, adaptation requires balancing water supply and demand locally, which is often overlooked in larger-scale analyses. We develop a framework for evaluating risk and adaptation at local scales in the agricultural sector and apply it to the western US, which is broadly at risk for adverse effects (i.e., physical harm, economic losses, and socio-cultural damage) if water demand cannot be met. Changing snow dynamics negatively impact many local areas over time, although impacts can often be reduced through supply augmentation and water conservation. While the degree of risk and the effectiveness of these adaptation strategies vary across regions and time, increasing demand and supply volatility diminishes opportunities for supply augmentation. This trend underscores the importance of supporting context-appropriate adaptations for agricultural communities facing increased risk to their water supplies.