Sustainable wastewater reuse for agriculture

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | June 6th, 2024

Sustainable Water Management Strategy for Specialty Crop Expansion in the Sacramento Valley

Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) | June 26th, 2018

The Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) is an association of local governments in the six-county Sacramento Region of El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yo

The Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) is an association of local governments in the six-county Sacramento Region of El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo, and Yuba counties (excluding the Tahoe Basin in Placer and El Dorado counties) and the 22 cities therein. SACOG provides planning and funding for the region and serves as a forum for the study and resolution of regional issues. SACOG prepares the region’s long range plan which considers both transportation and land use. Through the lens of rural planning, SACOG has actively engaged in a Rural-Urban Connections Strategy (RUCS) Program that has studied ways to enhance rural economies and natural assets. The RUCS Program includes a scenario analysis modeling tool that links a parcel-level crop map with environmental and economic factors, including a comprehensive profile of per acre operational cost and return metrics for each crop. The study described in this report looks at how new agricultural crops and markets coupled with improved irrigation techniques will support new specialty crop acreage in the SACOG area. While new and improved irrigation techniques can result in better crop yields and decreased water demands, increases in irrigation efficiency also result in reduced groundwater recharge from irrigation return flows. SACOG received grant funding from the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to evaluate the feasibility of recharging groundwater on agricultural lands within the SACOG portion of the Sacramento Valley to benefit specialty crop production. The primary goal of the project is to bring together a broad range of different factors impacting groundwater recharge and infiltration and to identify areas across the region that are most suited for strategic flooding of specialty crop fields; in other words, areas that will most efficiently and effectively facilitate recharge, while minimizing cost to the specialty crop producer. Ultimately, this feasibility information will be incorporated into SACOG’s RUCS model to evaluate the potential benefits of recharging groundwater on agricultural land for the benefit of specialty crops.

Sustaining California Agriculture in an Uncertain Future

Pacific Institute | July 22nd, 2009

The report Sustaining California Agriculture in an Uncertain Future shows that California agriculture can flourish despite diminishing water supply and future uncertainty

The report Sustaining California Agriculture in an Uncertain Future shows that California agriculture can flourish despite diminishing water supply and future uncertainty from climate change, but it will require great strides in increasing the water efficiency of the agricultural sector. Many farmers and irrigation districts have already been making water-use efficiency improvements. Yet the analysis estimates that potential water savings of 4.5 – 6 million acre-feet each year can be achieved by expanding the use of efficient irrigation technologies and management practices.

Synthesizing Conservation Motivations and Barriers: What Have We Learned from Qualitative Studies of Farmers’ Behaviors in the United States?

Society and Natural Resources (Routledge) | August 15th, 2019

Since 2011, qualitative studies examining adoption of conservation practices and programs (CPPs) have burgeoned. This article presents a systematic review of al

Since 2011, qualitative studies examining adoption of conservation practices and programs (CPPs) have burgeoned. This article presents a systematic review of all U.S.-based qualitative investigations into CPP adoption since 1996. We found three themes are discussed primarily as motivating adoption: farmer characteristics, environmental awareness, and trust in information sources. Four themes are discussed primarily as barriers to adoption: farm management, negative perceptions of a conservation practice, perceptions that adoption is a risk, and land tenure. Four themes were discussed as both motivations and barriers: economic factors, social norms, perceptions of government programs, and farm characteristics. Overall, we found farmers’ economic and management needs and their perceived and actual limitations to conservation behavior influenced adoption. Implications of our findings for policymakers and practitioners include promoting systems-based conservation strategies and stressing the benefits of conservation practices.

Tehachapi Reclaimed Water Project

City of Tehachapi | September 24th, 2024

As part of the proposed project, the City would change the location of application of the secondary treated effluent produced at the Tehachapi WWTP from the agricultural

As part of the proposed project, the City would change the location of application of the secondary treated effluent produced at the Tehachapi WWTP from the agricultural fields near the Tehachapi Municipal Airport to a new location south of the Borrow Pit. Overall WWTP effluent production and WWTP throughput capacity would remain unchanged as would the time of year of application (from April to October).

Temporal changes in the vertical distribution of flow and chloride in deep wells

National Groundwater Association (NGWA) | July 4th, 2005

The combination of flowmeter and depth‐dependent water‐quality data was used to evaluate the quantity and source of high‐chloride water yielded from different depth

The combination of flowmeter and depth‐dependent water‐quality data was used to evaluate the quantity and source of high‐chloride water yielded from different depths to eight production wells in the Pleasant Valley area of southern California. The wells were screened from 117 to 437 m below land surface, and in most cases, flow from the aquifer into the wells was not uniformly distributed throughout the well screen. Wells having as little as 6 m of screen in the overlying upper aquifer system yielded as much as 50% of their water from the upper system during drought periods, while the deeper parts of the well screens yielded 15% or less of the total yield of the wells. Mixing of water within wells during pumping degraded higher‐quality water with poorer‐quality water from deeper depths, and in some cases with poorer‐quality water from the overlying upper aquifer system. Changes in the mixture of water within a well, resulting from changes in the distribution of flow into the well, changed the quality of water from the surface discharge of wells over time. The combination of flowmeter and depth‐dependent water quality data yielded information about sources of high‐chloride water to wells that was not available on the basis of samples collected from nearby observation wells. Changing well design to eliminate small quantities of poor‐quality water from deeper parts of the well may improve the quality of water from some wells without greatly reducing well yield.

Temporal variability in irrigated land and climate influences on salinity loading across the Upper Colorado River Basin, 1986-2017

Environmental Research Letters (IOP) | January 19th, 2024

Tentative Ruling, Friant Water Authority vs. Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability Agency

Superior Court of California, County of Tulare | June 25th, 2024

The Agricultural Significance of Sunshine as Illustrated in California

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) | September 4th, 1919

The California Peripheral Canal: Who Backed It, Who Fought It

California Agriculture (UCANR) | January 3rd, 1983