Why Aren’t More California Farmers Converting from Flood to Drip Irrigation?
With 80% of California water use devoted to agriculture during this historic drought, you would think that farmers would be making a massive shift from flood to drip irrigation, with a corresponding shift to drip-friendly crops (away from alfalfa, cotton, rice to tomatoes, peppers, other vegetables). A closer look reveals that while drip has much higher yields and produces less ag waste, it is more expensive. That drip uses less water is controversial is some circles, since flood irrigation is thought to “recharge the aquifer”. That the “aquifer” has been abused by farmers is yet another related issue.
According to a recent study by the Union of Concerned Scientists, California Central Valley farmers produce over 250 crops with a yield of $17 billion/yr, which is supplies about 25% of the Nation’s food. However, even though it contains 1% of the Nation’s farmable land, the Central Valley farmers use 17% of the Nation’s (and 70% of California’s) irrigated lands, and a staggering 20% of the Nation’s groundwater (groundwater tables have dropped over 100 ft in some areas). The result is the high impact of fertilizers, pesticides, and agricultural wastewater (largely calcium carbonates and salts that come from the mountains, capable of poisoning soils and wildlife), but more imminently a shortage of water. In previous…
