Oakdale Irrigation District’s Virtuous Cycle: Conserving Water and Selling It to Finance Modernization
Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) enjoys well-established water rights—from the Stanislaus River, deep wells, and water reclamation and drainage recovery systems—that allow it to provide abundant water to its growers even during times of drought. The district’s 2007 water resources plan mapped out a strategy for selling surplus water and investing the money into modernization and […]
Michelle Reimers: Equipping Turlock Irrigation District for the Challenges of an Unpredictable Future
Established in 1887 as the first irrigation district in California and with an irrigation system built in the early 1900s, Turlock Irrigation District (TID) has spent $60 million over the past 20 years maintaining aging infrastructure while modernizing to save water and meet future needs. It is also moving forward with existing initiatives such as […]
Mapping Aquifers From the Sky: California’s Statewide Airborne Electromagnetic Surveys
To implement the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), local and state water managers need better information on groundwater. In response to that need, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) is conducting airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveys to map the subsurface beneath the state’s high-and medium-priority groundwater basins. Irrigation Leader spoke with DWR’s Katherine Dlubac and […]
Daniel Cozad of the Central Valley Salinity Coalition: Addressing Salts and Nitrates in Central Valley Groundwater
Farmers in California’s Central Valley grow around 250 crops and provide one-quarter of the nation’s food. That intensive land use means a big thirst for water. But nitrates and rising salt levels threaten the clean water that communities and agriculture depend on. Irrigation Leader spoke with Daniel Cozad, the executive director of the Central Valley […]
Modesto Junior College: Training the Next Generation of Irrigation Professionals
Located in the heart of California’s Central Valley, Modesto Junior College plays an important role in training students to work in today’s agriculture industry. As part of that process, it promotes new agricultural methods and technologies. In this interview, Irrigation Leader speaks with agriculture instructor Ryan Patterson about Modesto Junior College’s irrigation and agriculture mechanics […]
Donovan Neese: 100 Years of Irrigated Agriculture at the Roosevelt Irrigation District
For 100 years, the Roosevelt Irrigation District (RID) has brought groundwater from South Phoenix to irrigate a large agricultural area in the Avondale, Goodyear, and Buckeye areas of Arizona. Like many Phoenix-area irrigation entities, RID is grappling with the effects of urbanization, aging infrastructure, and water supply issues. Irrigation Leader spoke with Superintendent Donovan Neese […]
Chris Frost: New Reservoirs for New Zealand’s Northland Region
The Te Tai Tokerau Water Trust was created in 2020 to build new water storage and distribution infrastructure in New Zealand’s Northland Region. The trust’s goal is to create economic opportunities in horticulture for two areas in Northland by providing a reliable water source and eventually developing full irrigation schemes. In this interview, Chris Frost […]
Scott Aspenlieder: Representing Irrigated Ag at the Montana Water Resources Association
At the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), and the University of California Cooperative Extension, researchers help growers adopt advanced water management solutions in the face of recurring drought and dwindling water supplies. In this interview, Irrigation Leader speaks with Daniele Zaccaria, an associate professor at UC Davis and an agricultural water management specialist at […]
The Sheehan Family of Washington State: On Dairy Farming, Irrigated Agriculture, and the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan
On their dairy farm in Yakima County, Washington, Karen, and Jason Sheehan raise their children in the same farming way of life in which they were raised. But they conduct their day-to-day operations with an eye toward the future. Irrigation Leader spoke with Karen and Jason Sheehan about using water wisely and collaborating with other […]
Uri Segev: Bringing N‑Drip’s Advanced Microirrigation Systems to Arizona
N‑Drip wants to help solve the global water crisis by helping the world’s farmers convert flood irrigation to gravity-powered microirrigation. Its system, developed by Israel’s former water commissioner, Professor Uri Shani, transforms existing flood infrastructure into cost-effective, precise drip systems, without the use of filters or pumps. Irrigation Leader spoke with N‑Drip’s U.S. vice president […]