Russ Jundt, the IA’s 2025 Innovator Award winner, has built a career on challenging the status quo in the irrigation industry. As founder of Conserva Irrigation, he has worked to help property owners reduce water waste and improve overall system performance.
Under his leadership, Conserva has upgraded tens of thousands of irrigation systems nationwide, advanced smart irrigation technologies and embedded sustainable practices into everyday operations. His work demonstrates that conservation and profitability can go hand in hand and that innovation in irrigation is as much about process and leadership as it is about hardware and gadgets.
Here, he shares how he got into the industry and the innovation he sees on the horizon.
What drew you into the irrigation industry?
In the early 2000s, I was running a utility construction company with Tom Olson, a good friend from the fifth grade. We installed telephone, communication and fiber lines, and before every job we asked homeowners one question: “Do you have an irrigation system?” If they did, we would have to use different installation methods.
One day in 2001, a customer asked if we installed irrigation systems. I don’t know what came over me, but I said, “Yeah, we’ll come install it on Monday.”
I suffered from what many people do. I didn’t do the hydraulics right. My overall layout was poor. It was disheartening, but the homeowner loved the system from day one, and we learned from it and corrected it.
At what point did you realize there was an opportunity to build a franchise model in the irrigation industry?
In 2006, we bought the first Mosquito Squad franchise. I loved being in business for myself, but not by myself. It was the first time I could call other owners, ask questions and get answers without people protecting trade secrets. We soon bought all the rights statewide.
I told Tom we should buy another franchise and get out of the construction world. I suggested buying an irrigation market and searched Google for irrigation franchises. There were over 4,000 franchise concepts, and not one in irrigation.
After several months of research, I attended my first Irrigation Association show in 2010. I was like a kid in a candy store learning about smart controllers, precision nozzles and pressure-regulated spray bodies.
We launched Conserva Irrigation that year with a model built entirely around water conservation and smart irrigation practices. My first pitch to franchise the concept in 2012 was rejected. We refined the model, piloted it with eight operators and officially began franchising in 2017.
One of our earliest projects as a franchise model helped Target Corporation save 36 million gallons of water, earning us the 2018 IA Vanguard Award. Over time, we helped the company save 250 million gallons of water. It proved irrigation could support a national franchise built on conservation, technology and operational discipline.
In 2018, Tom sold his shares, and since then, the company has scaled to $53 million in annual sales. Last year, I stepped aside from daily operations and now serve as president of national accounts and as an advisor to the brand. I plan to retire on March 31 this year to focus more time and energy on my family.
You’ve emphasized water efficiency as a core part of Conserva’s model. Why is that so important to you?
I’m from Minnesota. Even in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes,” we’ve been terrible with water management. We draw from deep aquifers and overwater, with it running into storm systems, rivers and eventually the oceans. We don’t give aquifers a chance to recharge.
Industry-wide, we routinely apply two to two-and-a-half times the water landscapes need. The industry wastes roughly 1.5 billion gallons daily. Even if you don’t care about saving water or money, it’s better for your life.
We’ve proven that you can dramatically cut waste while still being profitable.
When you think about innovation in irrigation, where do you see the biggest changes coming from?
A lot of people think innovation is all about gadgets such as controllers, sensors and IoT devices. Those are important, but I look at innovation in two ways.
One is operational: better standard operating procedures, improved communication with clients and treating irrigation as an asset and managing it over time. The younger generation entering the industry is much more attuned to sustainability and processes. They’ll disrupt many old habits.
The second is technology and software. We’re seeing software companies and manufacturers bring in serious software engineering talent, and AI will play a big role.
I see a future where you scan a site, feed the data into an algorithm, and it produces a highly efficient design, material takeoff and even an installation plan.
Labor is a challenge across the trades. How do you see technology helping irrigation contractors tackle that?
Labor is one of the biggest challenges we face. Technology won’t replace people, but it will make them more productive.
We’re piloting autonomous mowing robots as a technical entry point. When we install a robotic mower, we also must install and manage the irrigation and the controller. It opens the door to more of our core business.
We’re also looking at drones. In agriculture, drones monitor crop stress and soil health. We see an opportunity to use them on large residential properties, HOAs and commercial sites to produce real-time reports on plant health, coverage gaps and overwatering or underwatering.
I see more autonomous equipment such as trenchers, layout tools and robots that mark fence or pipe lines. All of this helps contractors do more with the people they have, while improving quality and efficiency.
Looking ahead five to ten years, what excites you most about the future of the irrigation industry?
What excites me is that the walls are starting to come down. For years, golf, residential, commercial and agriculture were separate.
We’re starting to break down silos. Technologies exclusive to golf courses or agriculture are appearing in residential and commercial irrigation. Software and AI are making it easier to design, manage and optimize systems at scale.
We’re just getting started. There’s a tremendous amount of innovation ahead. If we do it right, we’ll use the right amount of water at the right time, protect landscapes and build stronger, more
