- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A drought recovery demonstration Jan. 19 at an almond orchard in Modesto generated significant news coverage. UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) researchers based at UC Davis and UC Cooperative Extension advisors are collaborating on a study aimed at recharging the aquifer by flooding farm fields during the winter. In many areas if the state, the aquifer has been depleted by farmers trying to cope with years of drought.
UC ANR Cooperative Extension specialist Toby O'Geen was the lead author of research published in California...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
With rain falling, interest in UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) research on groundwater banking has been high. In California Agriculture journal, UC ANR Cooperative Extension specialist Toby O'Geen and 13 co-authors shared research on California soils that showed which areas in the state were best suited for water to be percolated down into an aquifer.
The article included a map of California with color coded areas indicating areas that were excellent for groundwater banking down to poor. The story was picked up...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
California growers are plumbing the depths beneath their farms to retrieve groundwater for thirsty crops, an example of the tragedy of the commons, reported Peter Coy in Bloomberg Businessweek.
One reason: California water is not liquid, financially speaking, said a UC Agriculture and Natural Resources expert. California's mechanism for trading water is slow, clunky, and opaque.
“If you wanted to do a trade now, you'd have to meet a broker in a coffee shop somewhere. There's no Wall Street Journal, no Bloomberg, no Carfax,” said
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
New California groundwater legislation will require metering of water pumped from the underground aquifer, a change that is being met with resistance by some landowners, reported Heesun Wee of CNBC.
Wee sought comment from UC Agriculture and Natural Resources groundwater hydrologist Thomas Harter, a Cooperative Extension specialist based at UC Davis.
"The mentality among landowners is, 'This is really my water,'" Harter said. "'It's part of my property and I don't want anybody to look over my shoulder.'"
Farmers typically use groundwater as a water savings account to draw upon when surface...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Thomas Harter, a groundwater hydrologist with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) has called for a change in California law that will make information about the state's dwindling underground stores of water available to the public.
Harter, a UC ANR specialist based at UC Davis, and co-author Laurel Firestone, shared their thoughts in an op-ed penned for The Guardian. Firestone is co-executive director of the Community Water Center in California, which helps disadvantaged communities...
