- Author: John Madsen
The 17 western states have approximately 40 million square miles of irrigated farmland, supplied by an extensive network of irrigation canals. Without this system of irrigation, farming in most of the western states would not be possible. Irrigation systems in California were first authorized by the state legislature in the 1870's, but the statewide system was vastly expanded first in 1933, and then later in 1960 with the California Aqueduct. Without these irrigation systems, California agriculture would be vastly different.
Anytime you combine shallow water with sufficient clarity, you provide a habitat for plants to grow. Most irrigation systems in California have some level of weed infestation. Unlike the weed problems of the...
- Author: Richard Smith
- Author: Michael D Cahn
- Posted by: Gale Perez
Richard Smith is the Vegetable Crop Production and Weed Science Farm Advisor and Michael Cahn is the Irrigation and Water Resources Farm Advisor. Both are with the University of California Cooperative Extension in Monterey County.
Cultural practices for producing lettuce are changing with the development of new technologies and with the advent of new economic pressures. The shortage of labor has spurred development and adoption of...
- Author: Cheryl A. Wilen
On April 1, 2015 Governor Brown mandated a 25% water reduction in urban water use. While you may have seen the news articles about some private citizens or even some public areas being irrigated like water is an unlimited resource, my observation is that most homes and public areas are in fact reducing their outdoor water use.
However, there were some problems that are coming along with that. I first noticed it when I was walking to the UC Riverside campus on April 14. The landscapers had cut off the water to the medians so all the turf was dead but now some drought tolerant weeds were growing. I think the campus had cut off irrigation to “non-essential” areas so that they could maintain adequate...