This summer, CDFA is asking farmers what this drought means for their farms, their families, and their ongoing efforts to reduce water use and improve efficiency. Almond and walnut grower Manpreet Sandhu of Sandhu Farms in Corning (Tehama County) is a grant recipient from CDFA’s State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP).
What does this drought mean to you, and what are you doing to adapt?
“We’re still weathering the storm. We’re not sure which direction we’re going. Everyone in the farming community is struggling right now. Their product is cheaper and not selling for the right price. The best advice is to save. The fewer expenses you have, and the less water you need to use will directly connect with your energy usage. If you’re applying water in the right places, you’re not watering weeds. Once you start looking at it from a savings perspective, you’ll start asking, ‘What options do I have?’ The simplest option is to install irrometers (soil moisture sensors) and use them to strategically water. If you want to take those measures a step further, you’ll want to look at pressure chambers, which manage water use for specific areas. You can water those small areas and not have to over-water the entire area.”
NOTE: These water savings measures were made possible through a SWEEP grant.
What would your advice to others be for reducing water use and improving efficiency?
“These SWEEP operations which I am doing, I personally feel, drought or no drought, everybody should be doing it like this. If it’s not a very wet winter, we should look at how we can resupply groundwater with surface water, so that groundwater levels at least come up. Otherwise, it’s a one-way street if groundwater levels keep going down. We should have certain incentives to put more water back into the soil. The way I see it is that rainwater, specifically in the wintertime – we should harvest that.”