As the single largest water-consuming industry, agriculture has
become a focal point for efforts to promote water conservation.
The drive for water use efficiency has become institutionalized
in agriculture through numerous federal, state and local
programs. Since the 1980s, some water districts serving
agricultural areas have developed extensive water conservation
programs to help their customers (From Aquapedia).
Local grower Fritz Durst is a sixth generation farmer out of
Capay Valley. Over the last 30 years, Durst says he and his
family have taken a no-till approach to farming. … Tilling
the land rids it of weeds, pests, and prepares the soil for
planting seeds. In the process, it also emits carbon dioxide,
and causes soil to erode. Erosion of top soil happens much
faster through tillage because the natural elements of rain and
wind remove nutrients from the earth.
Amid the unpredictable impacts of climate change, UC Davis has
been recently awarded $10 million in grant funding by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and
Agriculture. Researchers from a wide range of fields — from
socioeconomics to agricultural groundwater and soil health —
will collaborate to optimize groundwater and agricultural
irrigation sustainability in the Southwest for farmers to
improve crop yield and cost efficiency.
John Cushman knows that succulents have tricks up their
sleeves. He believes those tricks could shape the future of
farming. Geneticists have long tried to understand the
biochemical marvel of the succulent, and there is still much
they don’t know. But these botanical curiosities have two
important things in common. They’re really good at storing
water. And they work at night. Now, Cushman and his team
want to build off the lines of genetic code that give desert
plants their superpowers. He wants to make soybeans
behave a little more like succulents.
Farmer Erik Herman said he couldn’t help but feel a tinge of
remorse as he looked out over the dirt field where an orchard
of 8,000 fig trees stood until earlier this month, when they
were uprooted by bulldozers in the name of conservation. The
orchard, seven miles outside Madera in the sprawling San
Joaquin Valley, is another casualty of the water shortage that
is forcing farmers in the nation’s top-producing agricultural
region to abandon otherwise fertile ground en masse.
A team of scientists, including experts from the University of
Adelaide, suggest that reliance on modern irrigation
technologies as a water-use efficiency strategy is a ‘zombie
idea’ — one that persists no matter how much evidence is
thrown against it. In a paper in Environmental Research
Letters, the international research team reviewed more than 200
supporting research articles and found technology adoption as a
water-saving method for improving irrigation efficiency is
ineffective, and can actually worsen water scarcity.
Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration has signaled its desire
to go ahead with rigid fish flow increases despite the
deepening drought and hydrology changes in precipitating
patterns the state’s own experts are anticipating. The state
last week abruptly broke off negotiations with agencies
representing water users on the Stanislaus, Merced, and
Tuolumne watersheds regarding its desire to implement new fish
flows that will essentially reduce water available for urban
and farm uses.
With water scarcity an increasing problem, some marijuana and
hemp cultivators are seeking solutions beyond automation or
growing methods, including using drought-resistant plant
strains that require less water and can withstand higher
temperatures. Ryan Power, CEO of California-based Atlas Seeds,
said the California-based seed company is identifying what it
deems “drought-tolerant” marijuana and hemp varieties.
June Moua started growing cherries, tomatoes and grapes in east
Fresno County 10 years ago. Now she grows a few different types
of crops. But her most profitable are the water-intensive Asian
greens like mustard greens and bok choy. … She says she
learned how to farm from her father when she was younger. Since
then, she’s learned even more through trial and error. She
enjoys bringing these Southeast Asian crops to farmers markets
in Los Angeles, but the drought has put her in a tough
position.
As California weathers another drought, tools that can help
farmers and ranchers maximize the water they do get are being
sharpened. The newest effort to measure such water use was
launched last week by a public-private coalition featuring
three federal agencies – the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S.
Geological Survey – and a number of universities and private
entities.
A new online platform launched yesterday that uses satellites
to estimate water consumed by crops and evapotranspiration
across the West. Called OpenET, the platform makes water
management data available in 17 western states. Data on the
amount of water used in agriculture has been fragmented and
often expensive, keeping it out of the hands of many farmers
and decision-makers. OpenET hopes to allow users to easily view
and download important water data.
If you’re having a salad for lunch today, chances are it comes
from the “Salad Bowl of the World,” the lush farmland that
stretches for some 90 miles across California’s Salinas Valley.
Lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, broccoli, strawberries, celery,
cauliflower and more grow in abundance there, a source of pride
and profits for farmers who work the land. But none of it
would be possible without water, and that’s the
problem. -Written by Paul Brandus, a columnist for MarketWatch and
the White House bureau chief for West Wing Reports.
Four states in the drought-wracked West considering whether to
pay farmers to cut their water use see federal infrastructure
legislation as a possible revenue source. The $550 billion
bipartisan legislation approved in the Senate includes $25
million for the four states—Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and
Wyoming…. Paying people to cut water use is an option under a
2019 drought contingency plan the four upper division states
signed with three states in the Lower Colorado River Basin —
Arizona, California and Nevada.
Nestled in the hills north of San Francisco lies a tiny
microclimate where farmers grow apples with no irrigation at
all. The multi-year drought that besets California? Not here.
Sunburn? Not typically a problem. Those uber heat waves that
baked the West Coast this summer? They skipped western Sonoma
County.
In a new push to stop further depletion of California’s
shrinking aquifers, state regulators are turning to technology
once used to count Soviet missile silos during the Cold War:
satellites. Historically, California’s farmers could pump as
much as they wanted from their wells. But as a consequence of
that unrestricted use, the underground water table has sunk by
hundreds of feet in some areas, and the state is now trying to
stabilize those aquifers. Regulators need to calculate just how
much water each farmer is using …
Across a sprawling corner of southern Tulare County snug against the Sierra Nevada, a bounty of navel oranges, grapes, pistachios, hay and other crops sprout from the loam and clay of the San Joaquin Valley. Groundwater helps keep these orchards, vineyards and fields vibrant and supports a multibillion-dollar agricultural economy across the valley. But that bounty has come at a price. Overpumping of groundwater has depleted aquifers, dried up household wells and degraded ecosystems.
Innovative efforts to accelerate
restoration of headwater forests and to improve a river for the
benefit of both farmers and fish. Hard-earned lessons for water
agencies from a string of devastating California wildfires.
Efforts to drought-proof a chronically water-short region of
California. And a broad debate surrounding how best to address
persistent challenges facing the Colorado River.
These were among the issues Western Water explored in
2019, and are still worth taking a look at in case you missed
them.
Groundwater helped make Kern County
the king of California agricultural production, with a $7 billion
annual array of crops that help feed the nation. That success has
come at a price, however. Decades of unchecked groundwater
pumping in the county and elsewhere across the state have left
some aquifers severely depleted. Now, the county’s water managers
have less than a year left to devise a plan that manages and
protects groundwater for the long term, yet ensures that Kern
County’s economy can continue to thrive, even with less water.
As California embarks on its unprecedented mission to harness groundwater pumping, the Arizona desert may provide one guide that local managers can look to as they seek to arrest years of overdraft.
Groundwater is stressed by a demand that often outpaces natural and artificial recharge. In California, awareness of groundwater’s importance resulted in the landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in 2014 that aims to have the most severely depleted basins in a state of balance in about 20 years.
The message is oft-repeated that
water must be conserved and used as wisely as possible.
The California Water Code calls water use efficiency “the
efficient management of water resources for beneficial uses,
preventing waste, or accomplishing additional benefits with the
same amount of water.”
This printed issue of Western Water examines
agricultural water use – its successes, the planned state
regulation to quantify its efficiency and the potential for
greater savings.
30-minute DVD that traces the history of the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation and its role in the development of the West. Includes
extensive historic footage of farming and the construction of
dams and other water projects, and discusses historic and modern
day issues.
There are two constants regarding agricultural water use –
growers will continue to come up with ever more efficient and
innovative ways to use water and they will always be pressed to
do more.
It’s safe to say the matter will not be settled anytime soon,
given all the complexities that are a part of the water use
picture today. While officials and stakeholders grapple to find a
lasting solution to California’s water problems that balances
environmental and economic needs, those who grow food and fiber
for a living do so amid a host of challenges.
This beautiful 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, features
a map of the San Joaquin River. The map text focuses on the San
Joaquin River Restoration Program, which aims to restore flows
and populations of Chinook salmon to the river below Friant Dam
to its confluence with the Merced River. The text discusses the
history of the program, its goals and ongoing challenges with
implementation.
As the single largest water-consuming industry, agriculture has
become a focal point for efforts to promote water conservation.
In turn, discussions about agricultural water use often become
polarized.
With this in mind, the drive for water use
efficiency has become institutionalized in agriculture
through numerous federal, state and local programs.
