- Author: Mike Hsu
![Researchers standing in a flooded Thompson seedless grape vineyard](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/Green/blogfiles/98299small.jpg)
Light irrigation before flooding stimulates microbes to remove nitrates from soil
With California enduring record-breaking rain and snow and Gov. Gavin Newsom recently easing restrictions on groundwater recharge, interest in “managed aquifer recharge” has never been higher. This process – by which floodwater is routed to sites such as farm fields so that it percolates into the aquifer – holds great promise as a tool to replenish depleted groundwater stores across the state.
But one concern, in...
/h3>- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
![A lush green carpet of cover crop grows between blooming rows of almond trees.](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/Green/blogfiles/87897small.jpg)
Cover crops seem to offset their water use by improving soil moisture retention
Cover crop research conducted by a team of university researchers is now helping to inform and shape policy to implement the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) in several San Joaquin Valley counties.
“The Madera County Regional Water Management Group appreciates continued scientific discussions on SGMA-related issues, and especially enjoyed hearing from researchers on cover crops,” said Tom Wheeler, chair of the Regional Water Management Group for Madera County and a Madera County supervisor. “This is work that should be helpful to growers as...
- Author: Madison Sankovitz, student intern
![Healthy-looking green alfalfa field.](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/Green/blogfiles/87622small.jpg)
When California experiences drought due to a lack of rain and snow and the reservoirs don't fill up, people pump water out of the ground to meet their needs. But that practice has its limits, as groundwater aquifers -- underground layers of porous rock -- get depleted, similar to how water squeezes from a sponge.
Many of California's groundwater aquifers, especially in the San Joaquin Valley, are critically overdrafted. They are being depleted faster than they are being recharged by water from the surface percolating through the soil to groundwater. Overdrafting is a concern because California relies on groundwater aquifers as a water storage and supply resource. They must be...
- Author: Tiffany Dobbyn
![Surrounded by green leaves, Isaya Kisekka on left in red checked shirt and blue jeans, and two young women and a young man look at a neutron probe in a field.](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/Green/blogfiles/86586small.jpg)
Effort Will Develop Ways to Minimize Risk from Climate Extremes for Southwest Growers
Researchers from the University of California, Davis, have been awarded a $10 million
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
![California's developed water is vital to urban areas, irrigated agriculture and the environment.](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/Green/blogfiles/82219small.jpg)
You hear it every time drought returns to California: “Turn off the faucet when you brush your teeth.” “Collect shower water in a bucket before it warms up.”
While valuable, these tried and true drought resilience strategies can also deflect attention from the monumental challenges posed by droughts to natural areas, waterways, agriculture and people in California. Far-sighted and discerning management of the state's annual precipitation and groundwater is critical, particularly as droughts become more frequent due to climate change, said Faith Kearns, the academic coordinator of UC's California Institute for Water...