{"id":9875,"date":"2015-12-16T09:45:57","date_gmt":"2015-12-16T16:45:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/?p=9875"},"modified":"2015-12-16T09:45:57","modified_gmt":"2015-12-16T16:45:57","slug":"to-defeat-the-drought-look-under-your-feet-from-the-national-journal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/12\/16\/to-defeat-the-drought-look-under-your-feet-from-the-national-journal\/","title":{"rendered":"To defeat the drought look under your feet – from the National Journal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"vineyard\"<\/a><\/p>\n

By Ted Hesson<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you strolled past a vine\u00adyard on Don Camer\u00adon\u2019s land four win\u00adters ago, you would have seen something odd: wa\u00adter, up to a foot-and-a-half of it, drench\u00ading the\u00a0grapev\u00adines and turn\u00ading a nor\u00admally pic\u00adtur\u00adesque field in\u00adto an un\u00adsightly bog.<\/p>\n

The 63-year-old Camer\u00adon is the gen\u00ader\u00adal man\u00adager and vice pres\u00adid\u00adent of Ter\u00adran\u00adova Ranch, a 5,500-acre farm in Cali\u00adfor\u00adnia\u2019s San Joa\u00adquin Val\u00adley. Or\u00addin\u00adar\u00adily, he wouldn\u2019t flood-ir\u00adrig\u00adate his crops\u2014the farm doesn\u2019t have dir\u00adect ac\u00adcess to wa\u00adter from a river or stream, even when the weath\u00ader is wet. In\u00adstead, he re\u00adlies on ground\u00adwa\u00adter and typ\u00adic\u00adally em\u00adploys drip ir\u00adrig\u00ada\u00adtion, a pre\u00adcise and eco\u00adnom\u00adic\u00adal meth\u00adod of dol\u00ading out wa\u00adter to crops, in or\u00adder to con\u00adserve the un\u00adder\u00adground re\u00adsource.<\/p>\n

So, the soggy plots were an ex\u00adcep\u00adtion\u00adal sight, but there was a reas\u00adon be\u00adhind it. Camer\u00adon was host\u00ading a risky ex\u00adper\u00adi\u00adment that, if suc\u00adcess\u00adful, could help re\u00adplen\u00adish the ground\u00adwa\u00adter sup\u00adply un\u00adder his fields, a vi\u00adtal re\u00adsource for his farm and oth\u00aders like it.<\/p>\n

In Cali\u00adfor\u00adnia, still in a pun\u00adish\u00ading four-year drought, wa\u00adter is an in\u00adcreas\u00adingly sought-after\u2014and con\u00adten\u00adtious\u2014com\u00admod\u00adity. Busi\u00adnesses and elec\u00adted of\u00adfi\u00adcials have had to re\u00adthink their ap\u00adproach to the crit\u00adic\u00adal re\u00adsource. The long-term fear is that the drought\u2014not caused al\u00adthough likely ex\u00adacer\u00adbated by cli\u00admate change, sci\u00adent\u00adists say\u2014is only a pre\u00adview. A 2014 pa\u00adper<\/a>\u00a0pub\u00adlished in the journ\u00adal Geo\u00adphys\u00adic\u00adal Re\u00adsearch Let\u00adters<\/em> found that, while the main cause for the cur\u00adrent drought was nat\u00adur\u00adal vari\u00adab\u00adil\u00adity in the cli\u00admate, hu\u00adman activ\u00adity made the drought 15-20 per\u00adcent more severe. The six coau\u00adthors poin\u00adted to \u201ca chron\u00adic dry\u00ading trend that \u2026 is pro\u00adjec\u00adted to con\u00adtin\u00adue grow\u00ading throughout the rest of this cen\u00adtury.\u201d<\/p>\n

This could en\u00addanger the state\u2019s long-term sup\u00adply of ground\u00adwa\u00adter. Dur\u00ading the cur\u00adrent drought, farm\u00aders have used ground\u00adwa\u00adter as a backup to keep their crops watered and thriv\u00ading. But if green\u00adhouse-gas emis\u00adsions keep mak\u00ading Cali\u00adfor\u00adnia warm\u00ader, droughts could be\u00adcome more fre\u00adquent and in\u00adtense, fur\u00adther strain\u00ading the state\u2019s ground\u00adwa\u00adter sup\u00adply. It won\u2019t run out any\u00adtime soon, but the long-term risks in\u00adclude dried-up streams and wet\u00adlands, sink\u00ading land, and pos\u00adsibly a de\u00adgrad\u00ading of ground\u00adwa\u00adter qual\u00adity bey\u00adond re\u00adpair.<\/p>\n

The con\u00adcern about ground\u00adwa\u00adter sup\u00adply led the Nat\u00adur\u00adal Re\u00adsources Con\u00adser\u00adva\u00adtion Ser\u00advice, part of the fed\u00ader\u00adal De\u00adpart\u00adment of Ag\u00adri\u00adcul\u00adture, to award a team of en\u00adgin\u00adeers $75,000 to ex\u00adplore in\u00adnov\u00adat\u00adive flood\u00ading tech\u00adniques to re\u00adplen\u00adish the ground\u00adwa\u00adter re\u00adserves be\u00adneath Camer\u00adon\u2019s farm. (The Ter\u00adran\u00adova Ranch matched the grant dol\u00adlar-for-dol\u00adlar.) Here\u2019s how the pro\u00adject was in\u00adten\u00added to work, be\u00adfore the drought set in: Whenev\u00ader the north fork of the nearby Kings River floods, the ex\u00adcess wa\u00adter is di\u00adver\u00adted to his prop\u00aderty. It in\u00adund\u00adates cer\u00adtain fields for long peri\u00adods of time, let\u00adting the wa\u00adter seep in\u00adto the soil and re\u00adfill the aquifer. The goal: to see if the crops, or\u00addin\u00adar\u00adily ir\u00adrig\u00adated with pre\u00adcise amounts of wa\u00adter, can with\u00adstand a long peri\u00adod of flood\u00ading without dam\u00adage.<\/p>\n

\n

When the river last flooded in 2011, he sent some of the over\u00adflow to fal\u00adlow fields and also to act\u00adive vine\u00adyards, where the wa\u00adter sat for two months and five-and-a-half months, re\u00adspect\u00adively. The farm also over-ir\u00adrig\u00adated its pista\u00adchio orch\u00adards and fields of al\u00adfalfa hay, so that wa\u00adter would pass down through the roots and reach the aquifer. His prop\u00aderty was an ideal choice for the pro\u00adject, be\u00adcause of its ac\u00adcess to flood\u00adwa\u00adter and its sandy, por\u00adous soil. Ac\u00adcord\u00ading to a fol\u00adlow-up re\u00adport, 30 per\u00adcent of the wa\u00adter di\u00adver\u00adted to the fields dribbled in\u00adto the aquifer; the rest of it re\u00adduced the ground\u00adwa\u00adter Camer\u00adon needed to draw for ir\u00adrig\u00ada\u00adtion. In the vine\u00adyards, where the wa\u00adter sat longer, 50-75 per\u00adcent of it filtered down to the aquifer.<\/p>\n

And, no crops were hurt in the pro\u00adcess; in\u00addeed, some of them thrived. \u201cWe were able to demon\u00adstrate and to doc\u00adu\u00adment that we could ac\u00adtu\u00adally re\u00adcharge land with ex\u00adist\u00ading crops in place,\u201d Camer\u00adon says.<\/p>\n

The 2011 ex\u00adper\u00adi\u00adment went so well that the Cali\u00adfor\u00adnia De\u00adpart\u00adment of Wa\u00adter Re\u00adsources gave a $5 mil\u00adlion grant to the Kings River Con\u00adser\u00adva\u00adtion Dis\u00adtrict, a pub\u00adlic agency, to work with Camer\u00adon to in\u00adcrease the pro\u00adject\u2019s ca\u00adpa\u00adcity. Camer\u00adon is en\u00adthu\u00adsi\u00adast\u00adic, so much that the farm plunked down $2 mil\u00adlion of its own cap\u00adit\u00adal on top of the grant. They\u2019re adding a more per\u00adman\u00adent in\u00adfra\u00adstruc\u00adture\u2014canals, pipes, pumps\u2014that will let him move lar\u00adger quant\u00adit\u00adies of storm wa\u00adter or flood\u00adwa\u00adter to his farm. Of course, they\u2019ll need a heavy flood to test it out, something he hopes will come soon: \u201cWe\u2019re build\u00ading the ark,\u201d he says, \u201cbut we haven\u2019t seen the flood yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Camer\u00adon\u2019s in\u00adnov\u00ada\u00adtion, of us\u00ading flood ir\u00adrig\u00ada\u00adtion to re\u00adfill the ground\u00adwa\u00adter sup\u00adply, could be tried else\u00adwhere, of\u00adfi\u00adcials say, as long as the farm\u00aders have ac\u00adcess and rights to the wa\u00adter. But per\u00adsuad\u00ading farm\u00aders that the re\u00adward out\u00adweighs the risk won\u2019t be easy, says Lu\u00adana Ki\u00adger, a spe\u00adcial as\u00adsist\u00adant to Cali\u00adfor\u00adnia\u2019s state con\u00adser\u00adva\u00adtion\u00adist at the fed\u00ader\u00adal ag\u00adri\u00adcul\u00adtur\u00adal agency. An orch\u00adard can take sev\u00aden years be\u00adfore the trees start to pro\u00adduce, say, al\u00admonds. \u201cYou do not want to waste that in\u00advest\u00adment of sev\u00aden years of no in\u00adcome,\u201d Ki\u00adger says, \u201cand then, the first year you get some ac\u00adtu\u00adal nuts on the tree, you drown out your trees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sci\u00adent\u00adists don\u2019t know for sure how much ground\u00adwa\u00adter ex\u00adists in Cali\u00adfor\u00adnia, so they can\u2019t really say when the re\u00adsource could run out. But Jay Famigli\u00adetti, a hy\u00addro\u00adlo\u00adgist at the Uni\u00adversity of Cali\u00adfor\u00adnia (Irvine), be\u00adlieves the Cent\u00adral Val\u00adley could lose its easy-to-ac\u00adcess, pot\u00adable ground\u00adwa\u00adter in sev\u00ader\u00adal dec\u00adades if cur\u00adrent trends con\u00adtin\u00adue, leav\u00ading com\u00admunit\u00adies scram\u00adbling for sup\u00adplies.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t hy\u00adpo\u00adthet\u00adic\u00adal. In East Port\u00aderville, an un\u00adin\u00adcor\u00adpor\u00adated town in cent\u00adral Cali\u00adfor\u00adnia pop\u00adu\u00adlated mostly by poor Latino farm work\u00aders, nearly half the house\u00adholds re\u00adpor\u00adted in June that their wells had gone dry due to the drought and over-ex\u00adtrac\u00adtion. Res\u00adid\u00adents couldn\u2019t af\u00adford to dig deep\u00ader, so the Ag\u00adri\u00adcul\u00adture De\u00adpart\u00adment stepped in last month with a $500,000 grant to\u00adward a new com\u00admunity well.<\/p>\n

Ground\u00adwa\u00adter has al\u00adways been vi\u00adtal to Cali\u00adfor\u00adnia\u2019s wa\u00adter sup\u00adply, and any threat to its fu\u00adture is scary. In a nor\u00admal year, it makes up about 38 per\u00adcent of the total wa\u00adter sup\u00adply; in a dry year, 46 per\u00adcent or more<\/a>, ac\u00adcord\u00ading to the state\u2019s De\u00adpart\u00adment of Wa\u00adter Re\u00adsources. While the re\u00adsource is fairly abund\u00adant\u2014an es\u00adtim\u00adated 2 tril\u00adlion gal\u00adlons<\/a>\u00a0of wa\u00adter have been pumped from the ground dur\u00ading the cur\u00adrent drought\u2014dec\u00adades of us\u00ading too much of it could cause the land above the shrink\u00ading aquifers to sub\u00adside. Pump\u00ading out un\u00adder\u00adground wa\u00adter can dam\u00adage build\u00adings, cause roads to buckle, and change the el\u00adev\u00ada\u00adtion of streams and canals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cGround\u00adwa\u00adter levels in much of the Cent\u00adral Val\u00adley have gone lower than we\u2019ve ever meas\u00adured,\u201d says Gra\u00adham Fogg, a pro\u00adfess\u00ador of hy\u00addro\u00adgeo\u00adlogy at the Uni\u00adversity of Cali\u00adfor\u00adnia (Dav\u00adis) Cen\u00adter for Wa\u00adter\u00adshed Sci\u00adences. The farm\u00aders in many loc\u00adales, he adds, \u201care pump\u00ading more ground\u00adwa\u00adter than the sys\u00adtem can sus\u00adtain.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the San Joa\u00adquin Val\u00adley, south of San Fran\u00adcisco, so much wa\u00adter has been pumped from the ground that the land is sink\u00ading faster than ever be\u00adfore\u2014by nearly two inches per month in some loc\u00ada\u00adtions, ac\u00adcord\u00ading to a re\u00adport<\/a>\u00a0in Au\u00adgust by the state\u2019s wa\u00adter agency. That puts in\u00adfra\u00adstruc\u00adture at risk. Be\u00adsides the threat of land sub\u00adsid\u00adence are longer-term wor\u00adries that aquifers might be\u00adcome chron\u00adic\u00adally de\u00adpleted or that, in places closer to the Pa\u00adcific Coast, salt\u00adwater might ir\u00adre\u00advers\u00adibly con\u00adtam\u00adin\u00adate the ground\u00adwa\u00adter.<\/p>\n

The con\u00adcerns have been so wide\u00adspread that Cali\u00adfor\u00adnia\u2019s le\u00adgis\u00adlature passed a pack\u00adage of laws in Au\u00adgust 2014 to reg\u00adu\u00adlate the us\u00adage of ground\u00adwa\u00adter. Grow\u00aders were ini\u00adtially skep\u00adtic\u00adal of the le\u00adgis\u00adla\u00adtion, which al\u00adlows loc\u00adal agen\u00adcies to man\u00adage un\u00adder\u00adground wa\u00adter sup\u00adplies, but they even\u00adtu\u00adally real\u00adized that change was in\u00adev\u00adit\u00adable, ac\u00adcord\u00ading to Kar\u00aden Ross, sec\u00adret\u00adary of the state\u2019s De\u00adpart\u00adment of Food and Ag\u00adri\u00adcul\u00adture. \u201cOnce it was signed in\u00adto law,\u201d she re\u00adcounts, \u201call of the or\u00adgan\u00adiz\u00ada\u00adtions rolled up their sleeves.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Ross\u2019s mind, reg\u00adu\u00adlat\u00ading un\u00adder\u00adground wa\u00adter re\u00adsources will help farm\u00aders in the long run. She sees ground\u00adwa\u00adter as \u201cour sav\u00adings ac\u00adcount to get through a drought. But if we\u2019re be\u00adcom\u00ading overly de\u00adpend\u00adent on pump\u00ading ground\u00adwa\u00adter in non-drought peri\u00adods, without do\u00ading pro\u00adjects to re\u00adcharge those basins, we will not have that sav\u00adings ac\u00adcount for fu\u00adture droughts.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Link to article<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ted Hesson If you strolled past a vine\u00adyard on Don Camer\u00adon\u2019s land four win\u00adters ago, you would have seen something odd: wa\u00adter, up to a foot-and-a-half of it, drench\u00ading the\u00a0grapev\u00adines and turn\u00ading a nor\u00admally pic\u00adtur\u00adesque field in\u00adto an un\u00adsightly … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[234],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-drought"],"yoast_head":"\r\nTo defeat the drought look under your feet - from the National Journal - CDFA's Planting Seeds Blog<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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