Volume 11 Issue 6 June 2020
Irrigation is a story of humans harnessing nature. We collect, measure, and move water—sometimes across a field, sometimes across a state or a mountain range— and make crops grow out of what was once barren ground. The elemental power of irrigation is very much on display in our interview with General Manager Brad Wind […]
Mark Wagoner: Overcoming Challenges in Gardena Farms Irrigation District
The Gardena Farms Irrigation District (GFID) is one of the oldest irrigation districts in Washington State, and one that faces particular challenges. A 1936 U.S. Supreme Court decision allows Oregon water users to use as much water from the Walla Walla River as they want, leaving little for irrigators north of the border. This problem […]
Volume 11 Issue 5 May 2020 Washington State Edition
Our cover interview with Mark Wagoner reveals the unusual challenges that the Gardena Farms Irrigation District in Touchet, Washington, faces. To put it simply, the district lacks any significant supply of water from July 1 to October 1, if not later. Nevertheless, the district’s farmers have identified appropriate crops for their situation and are […]
How SePRO Helps Districts Develop Algae and Water Quality Strategies
SePRO is a research-based life sciences company that is a leader in aquatic vegetation and algae management for irrigation canals. It produces a number of well-known aquatic herbicides and algaecides, like Sonar, Clearcast, Nautique, and Captain XTR. Beyond its products, SePRO prizes its ability to establish close relationships with irrigation districts, understand their problems, and […]
Metomotion’s Robotic Tomato Harvester
Metomotion is an Israeli company that has brought together robotics, mechanical design, and artificial intelligence (AI) to develop an autonomous robotic platform that can automatically harvest tomatoes grown in greenhouses, saving significantly on operational and labor costs. Having attracted funding from governmental and corporate sources in Israel and Europe, it plans to begin selling its […]
CropX’s Do-It-Yourself Soil Sensor
CropX is an Israeli ag tech firm that aims to provide farmers with reliable data from below the ground in addition to other data layers. Its do-it-yourself soil sensors can be installed by a farmer in about 5 minutes, and it uses cloud-based software to create a comprehensive picture of the condition of a field—even […]
How Kibbutz Hatzerim Helped Pioneer Drip Irrigation
Kibbutz Hatzerim was founded in 1946 in Israel’s southern Negev Desert. Initially dedicated exclusively to agriculture, the community eventually decided to search for a business or industry to branch out into. At the same time, engineer Simcha Blass was searching for a partner to help commercialize the technology he had just invented: drip irrigation. In […]
Uri Shani: N-Drip’s Revolutionary Drip Line
Inefficient irrigation methods waste huge amounts of water around the world, but up until now, transitioning to more efficient methods like drip irrigation has involved expensive pressure and filtration equipment and expenditures on energy. The Israeli company N-Drip is helping resolve this problem with a new kind of drip line that requires neither pressure nor […]
Volume 11 Issue 5 May 2020
Give the plant everything it needs, but not one drop more.” This was said to me in a conversation with a representative of an Israeli company that traced its roots to the development of drip irrigation over 50 years ago. That quote has stuck with me because of the practical mindset it represents; use […]
Enforcing Washington’s Screening Requirements Through Cooperative Compliance
Water diverters in Washington State may know that fish screening is required by law, but they may not understand the relevant regulations and may struggle to afford compliant fish screens. The mission of the fish screening section of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is to solve these problems. Through its cooperative compliance […]