Making Progress

Irrigation Scheduling
Deciding when and how much water to apply to a field has a significant impact on the total amount of water used by the crop water use efficiency and irrigation efficiency. Using a more scientific approach to scheduling has generally been shown to decrease the amount of water applied while improving yield.

Do More!  Lindmore ID is a member of EWGSA (East Kaweah Groundwater Sustainability Agency)  Visit www.EKGSA.org to learn more and find ways to make a difference.

Saving Groundwater

The Department of Water Resources posted some suggested conservation methods on their website atwww.water.ca.gov.

Irrigation System Improvements
Irrigation system improvement involves modifying the irrigation method or use of hardware and software to properly apply water to the field while minimizing water losses. For example improved furrows, combination of furrow and sprinkler, and changing from surface irrigation (flood, furrow and border check) to pressurized systems (sprinkler, drip, microirrigation). This increases uniformity and decreases applied water.

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Watering past the ET value of a crop becomes inefficient because crops no longer take up excess water.

An organization called CUESA (Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture) published an article online that reports 10 differerent ways farmers can conserve water with links to informative research articles.   Here is a quick list:

Click here to read more about UC Davis' research

DWR Suggestions

Read the full article here

Conservation Education

Tailwater Return Systems
To provide adequate water to the low end of the field, surface irrigation requires that a certain amount of water be spilled or drained off as tailwater. Tailwater return systems catch this runoff and pump the water back to the top of the field for reuse.

10 Ways Farmers Are Saving Water​

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1. Drip

Irrigation


2. Capturing and
Storing Water

3. Irrigation
Scheduling 

4. Drought-
Tolerant Crops


5. Dry
Farming

6. Rotational
Grazing
7. Compost
and Mulch

8. Cover

Crops


9. Conservation
Tillage/Drainage

10. Going
Organic

Evapotranspiration

Our groundwater usage must be kept in check in order to maintain fresh and safe groundwater for our future.  As we over-consume groundwater, seawater enters into the freshwater aquifer, salinizing it to an unusable point for human or agriculture consumption.

Still More



Ways to Save

According to UC Davis researchers, the key to agricultural water conservation is to reach a crop's evapotranspiration (ET) value.