- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
California's ongoing drought is raising the interest of wine grape growers in dryland farming, reported David Pierson in the LA Times. Pierson interviewed Napa Valley growers who are already dry farming their vineyards. While it may be feasible to rely solely on rainfall in the Napa Valley, San Joaquin Valley growers would have a hard time setting a grape crop without irrigation.
"If you don't water in the San Joaquin Valley, you're not getting a yield," Larry Williams, a professor in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis and based at Kearney...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The California drought is helping UC Cooperative Extension advisor Larry Forero focus his outreach program. Forero is working closely with livestock producers to help them maximize the benefit they get from the water they have available, according to a profile of the farm advisor written by Tim Hearden and published in Capital Press.
The story said Forero is working with a rancher in eastern Shasta County to measure the efficiency of well water on irrigated pasture. He plans to share results with other ranchers at "irrigation school" in January. (Date and location TBA at
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Nervousness over California's epic drought has given way to alarm, reported Joby Warrick in the Washington Post. Streams and lakes are drying up, and now the aquifers are being pumped at an unsustainable rate.
The massive shift to groundwater has helped farmers survive this year, but a UC Davis study says tapping groundwater at the same rate into the future could soon deplete this valuable resource.
"A well-managed basin is used like a reserve bank account,"...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Small changes in irrigation habits can result in big water savings said an Earth Day report in the Merced Sun-Star written by Thaddeus Miller.
The article focused on the Earth Day festivities at UC Merced, but the water-savings tips came from David Doll, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Merced County. A large fraction of home water use happens in the yard. Doll said reducing lawn watering time and fixing broken sprinklers are important first steps to water conservation.
Grass lawn can use more water than many agricultural crops - including almonds, walnuts and tomatoes....
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The historical California drought of 2013-14 continues to dominate the news, and reporters are turning to the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources sources for analysis and commentary.
NBC News spoke to Doug Parker, director of the California Institute of Water Resources, about drought implications already being felt in the California agricultural sector.
He said an estimated 500,000 acres of farmland...
