- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert

The Wall Street Journal today ran a brief article about California's water situation as part of its Innovations in Agriculture series.
Reporter Jim Carlton noted that California leads the nation in farm revenue, but is also one of the country's driest states, and most populous. How do we do it?
"If you have limited water supplies, you have to be as careful and efficient as you can with it," says Larry Schwankl, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Land, Air and Water Resources at UC Davis.
The article described advances in irrigation technology that have...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert

The Hansen Research and Extension Center hosted a water workshop this week, touching on a topic that is one of the University of California's top priorities, according to an article in the Ventura County Star.
“We want to make sure the community knows about what Hansen is doing and share some of the research sponsored by Hansen," the story quoted Jose de Soto, the center director.
Sixty to 90 percent of residential water is used outside the home, but typically gardeners irrigate based on estimates of plant...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert

The Bakersfield Californian reported that it isn't just the listless economy ravaging Kern County agriculture. The industry's woes are pinned on water.
Reporter Courtenay Edelhart spoke to the director of the UC Agricultural Issues Center, Dan Sumner, about the national economic downturn's impact on ag. With the exception of the dairy industry, Sumner said, agriculture prices haven't been that bad over the past year.
The state of California has, however, suffered three years of...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert

The idea was dropped after grower Andy Wilson raised objections to the plan saying the reclaimed water contains trace amounts of boron and sodium, which could accumulate in the soil and eventually kill trees. Instead, the city will sponsor a 10- to 15-year UC Riverside study to learn how boron affects trees and fruit.
According to the article, written by David Danelski, UCR soil...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert

A frequent research collaborator with UC Cooperative Extension, West Side farmer John Diener made the front page of the Fresno Bee on Sunday with a story about the potential for water savings with a center-pivot irrigation system.
On airplane flights over middle America, passengers have for decades seen large circles made by center-pivot irrigation on the quilt of farmland landscape below. The system is just beginning to catch on in California, and Diener, working with UC, is an early adopter.
Diener told Bee reporter Robert Rodriguez that the pivot system is 10 to 20 percent more efficient than furrow irrigation.
"One of our challenges is how...