# Irrigation district software that ties the water order to the delivery and the bill

> An irrigation district is a local public entity that delivers water from a river, reservoir or well field to farms through canals, laterals and turnouts, and funds itself by assessing landowners. Irrigation accounts for roughly 42 percent of US freshwater withdrawals, about 118 billion gallons a day, across roughly 55 million irrigated acres. Neurobird keeps the order, the gate setting, the measured delivery and the assessment on one parcel record.

- URL: https://neurobird.com/irrigation/
- Product: Neurobird Irrigation District Water Audit Platform
- Niche: irrigation district water
- Buyer: irrigation and water districts
- Status: in development, open for early access
- Updated: 2026-08-21

## What Neurobird Irrigation District Water does

- Take water orders against the parcel and its entitlement rather than against a name on a notepad
- Give ditch riders a run list with gate settings and expected duration for each turnout
- Convert measured flow to acre feet delivered and post it to the parcel automatically
- Recalculate entitlements when allocation changes without redoing the whole ledger by hand

## How it works

1. **Take the order against the parcel** Orders record who asked, for how much, from which turnout, and are checked against the parcel's remaining entitlement before the gate moves.
2. **Give the rider a run list** Each ditch rider gets turnouts, gate settings and expected durations for the day, and logs actual settings and times against them.
3. **Reconcile delivery to assessment** Measured flow converts to acre feet on the parcel record, so the assessment comes off measured deliveries rather than a season end estimate.

## From the source material

> Reclaimed wastewater is a supplemental source of water for thermoelectric power, especially in water-limited areas.

Source: USGS, water use in the United States, https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources/science/water-use-united-states

## Industry context

- **118B** Approximate gallons per day withdrawn for irrigation in the United States, the largest category of freshwater withdrawal after thermoelectric power. (source: USGS, water use in the United States, https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources/science/water-use-united-states)
- **42%** Approximate share of US freshwater withdrawals that goes to irrigation, which is why district level accounting attracts scrutiny. (source: USGS, water use in the United States, https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources/science/water-use-united-states)
- **2023** The most recent federal Irrigation and Water Management Survey, covering irrigated acreage, water sources, systems and costs at farm level. (source: USDA NASS, Irrigation and Water Management Survey, https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2022/Online_Resources/Farm_and_Ranch_Irrigation_Survey/index.php)
- **960** Acreage limit for federally supplied irrigation water held or leased by a qualified recipient under the Reclamation Reform Act, with reporting attached. (source: eCFR, 43 CFR Part 426, https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-43/subtitle-B/chapter-I/subchapter-A/part-426)
- **1 survey** A dedicated federal survey of irrigation organizations exists precisely because districts, ditch companies and associations are a distinct sector with their own accounting. (source: USDA NASS, irrigation organizations, https://www.nass.usda.gov/Surveys/Guide_to_NASS_Surveys/Irrigation_Organizations/index.php)

## Pricing

- Small district: $220 per district, per month
- District: $520 per district, per month
- Regional: $900 per district, per month

## Questions

### What is an irrigation district?

An irrigation district is a local public entity that delivers water from a river, reservoir or well field to farms through canals, laterals and turnouts, and funds itself by assessing landowners. It is a utility, a public body and a water rights holder at the same time, which is why its record keeping obligations are heavier than they look.

### How is delivered water actually measured and billed?

Flow is measured at the turnout in cubic feet per second, and billing is usually per acre or per acre foot delivered. One acre foot is roughly 325,851 gallons, so a small conversion error at the gate becomes a large billing error on the parcel.

### What happens when allocation is cut?

Entitlements are recalculated as a percentage of the full allocation, and every parcel's remaining water changes at once. Districts that hold entitlements in a spreadsheet redo that calculation by hand, mid season, while the phone is ringing.

### Does federal law affect how much water a landowner can take?

On federal projects, yes. The Reclamation Reform Act limits federally supplied irrigation water to 960 acres held or leased by a qualified recipient, with reporting obligations attached, so acreage records are a compliance artefact and not just a billing input.

### Does this replace our SCADA or gate telemetry?

No. It reads from it where it exists. The order, the run list, the measured delivery and the assessment live here, and whatever hardware you have at the gate keeps doing its job.

## Sources

- [USGS, water use in the United States](https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources/science/water-use-united-states)
- [USDA NASS, Irrigation and Water Management Survey](https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2022/Online_Resources/Farm_and_Ranch_Irrigation_Survey/index.php)
- [USDA NASS, irrigation organizations survey](https://www.nass.usda.gov/Surveys/Guide_to_NASS_Surveys/Irrigation_Organizations/index.php)
- [eCFR, 43 CFR Part 426](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-43/subtitle-B/chapter-I/subchapter-A/part-426)

## Contact

- office@neurobird.com
- https://neurobird.com/