Report Urges Efficiency as a Solution to California's Water Wars
A new study by the Pacific Institute shows ways that California farmers can cut their water use by as much as 17 percent without cutting the productivity of the nation's most productive agricultural region.
The state of California, currently in the midst of a three-year-long drought, is facing significant pressures on its water supply from a combination of factors: The drought is reducing overall availability while a booming population and the state's abundant agricultural productivity are driving demand ever higher.
The result is an ongoing battle for water rights, between agricultural interests, conservation and wildlife advocates, and water for growing urban areas.
A report released today by the Pacific Institute highlights the ways that efficiency on California's farms can take much of the pressure of the state's water crisis.
The report, "Sustaining California Agriculture in an Uncertain Future," suggests that through the adoption of efficient irrigation techniques and water-management practices, the state's farms can save between 4.5 million and 6 million acre-feet of water, or nearly 20 times as much water as was recently set aside for protecting the delta smelt, an endangered species of fish that has been the latest flashpoint in California's water wars.
The three practices that the Pacific Institute recommends in order to achieve these water savings, which equals a 17 percent decrease in the amount of water currently used by California's agriculture industry, are:
Other improvements include upgrading the state's canals, which provides much of the water to farms but 80 percent of which fail to offer an on-demand supply option that is central to improved irrigation; and an expansion of federal, state and county incentive programs to encourage farmers to invest in more efficient irrigation systems that, while costing more up front, offer much larger long-term savings.
The full report, "Sustaining California Agriculture in an Uncertain Future," is available for download from GreenBiz.com. More information, including case studies of successful farms, is available on the Pacific Institute's website.
The result is an ongoing battle for water rights, between agricultural interests, conservation and wildlife advocates, and water for growing urban areas.
A report released today by the Pacific Institute highlights the ways that efficiency on California's farms can take much of the pressure of the state's water crisis.
The report, "Sustaining California Agriculture in an Uncertain Future," suggests that through the adoption of efficient irrigation techniques and water-management practices, the state's farms can save between 4.5 million and 6 million acre-feet of water, or nearly 20 times as much water as was recently set aside for protecting the delta smelt, an endangered species of fish that has been the latest flashpoint in California's water wars.
The three practices that the Pacific Institute recommends in order to achieve these water savings, which equals a 17 percent decrease in the amount of water currently used by California's agriculture industry, are:
• Efficient Irrigation Technology: shifting a fraction of the crops irrigated using flood irrigation to sprinkler and drip systems;In addition to improve efficiency from farming operations, the report also lists a number of policy and infrastructure changes in order to achieve these goals. First and following the adage that you can't manage what you don't measure, the report's authors urge the state to establish coordinated and detailed methods for measuring agricultural water use.
• Improved Irrigation Scheduling: using local climate and soil information to help farmers more precisely irrigate to meet crop water needs; and
• Regulated Deficit Irrigation: applying less water to crops during drought-tolerant growth stages to save water and improve crop quality or yield.
Other improvements include upgrading the state's canals, which provides much of the water to farms but 80 percent of which fail to offer an on-demand supply option that is central to improved irrigation; and an expansion of federal, state and county incentive programs to encourage farmers to invest in more efficient irrigation systems that, while costing more up front, offer much larger long-term savings.
The full report, "Sustaining California Agriculture in an Uncertain Future," is available for download from GreenBiz.com. More information, including case studies of successful farms, is available on the Pacific Institute's website.
