The Central Valley Issue
By Kris Polly
California’s Central Valley is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world, growing fruit, vegetables, grains, and nuts for domestic and international consumption. Like many regions in the West, it is also facing drought, groundwater overdraft, and other water supply challenges. This month, we focus on the irrigation professionals who are working to preserve and strengthen Central Valley ag through smart water management and new technologies.
Established in 1887, Turlock Irrigation District was the first irrigation district in California. General Manager Michelle Reimers tells us about how today, it is actively investing in modernizing its infrastructure while moving forward with exciting initiatives such as Project Nexus, a pilot project for installing solar panel canopies over sections of its canals.
Oakdale Irrigation District’s 2007 water resources plan mapped out a strategy for selling surplus water to fund system modernization, leading to more surplus. We speak with recently retired General Manager Steve Knell and Water Operations Manager and District Engineer Eric Thorburn to learn more about this cycle.
The Friant Water Authority operates and maintains the Friant-Kern Canal, which supplies San Joaquin River water to more than 30 irrigation districts, but the canal’s capacity is being affected by overdraft-caused ground subsidence. CEO Jason Phillips tells about how the authority is responding.
Daniele Zaccaria, an associate professor at the University of California, Davis, and an agricultural water management specialist at the University of California Cooperative Extension, tells us about his research and outreach work on irrigation and water management.
Modesto Junior College agriculture instructor Ryan Patterson tells us about the school’s irrigation and agriculture mechanics programs, which are giving students hands-on experience with new technologies, such as Rubicon gate systems.
We also speak with Daniel Cozad, the executive director of the Central Valley Salinity Coalition, about the coalition’s efforts to address salt and nitrate infiltration to ensure a sustainable future for Central Valley agriculture.
A thorough response to water supply and subsidence issues requires detailed knowledge of the aquifers below the surface, which the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) is gathering through airborne electromagnetic surveying. Katherine Dlubac and Steven Springhorn of DWR tell us more about the valuable data this method supplies.
Exciting advances in irrigation and water management are afoot in the Central Valley. I hope you enjoy learning more about them.
Kris Polly is the editor-in-chief of Irrigation Leader magazine and the president of Water Strategies LLC, a government relations firm he began in February 2009 for the purpose of representing and guiding water, power, and agricultural entities in their dealings with Congress, the Bureau of Reclamation, and other federal government agencies. He may be contacted at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.