The methods used to manage groundwater produced through coalbed natural gas operations (CBNG) are important issues under debate by the public, Federal and State agencies, special interest groups, and energy companies. CBNG water is unaltered groundwater that is typically characterized as sodium bicarbonate enriched water thus CBNG water poses both a sodicity and salinity hazard if applied to soils without treatment. One CBNG water management strategy, managed irrigation, utilizes soil science, water chemistry, agricultural engineering, and agronomic principles to utilize CBNG produced water to produce forage crops while maintaining soil physical and chemical properties. Managed irrigation utilizes geochemical equilibrium modeling to determine soil-applied amendments which mitigate the sodicity hazard of CBNG produced waters along with soil water balances and irrigation scheduling to maintain an appropriate agronomic leaching fraction that prevents salinity accumulation in the plant root zone. This paper provides both an overview and an in-depth review of the scientific basis of managed irrigation techniques. A case study of six irrigation sites, in the Powder River Basin of northeastern Wyoming, that have been irrigated with CBNG water for five years, indicate managed irrigation techniques can be successfully employed to maintain soil physical and chemical properties.