[Water_news] 2. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: SUPPLY - 8/7/07

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment 

 

August 7, 2007

 

2. Supply -

 

 

Imperial Irrigation classes teach conservation

Imperial Valley Press – 8/4/07

By Jonathan Dale, staff writer

 

In a desert area such as the Imperial Valley where agriculture is the lifeblood of the area, water is undoubtedly the DNA that holds the strands of life together.

The Imperial Irrigation District held its second series of classes this week in conjunction with college professors to teach irrigators and farmers how to conserve as much of that DNA as possible — the strongest response thus far by the IID to one of the driest years in the history of the Valley so far in 2007.

“Basically what we’re doing is, we’re trying to teach irrigators to conserve water,” Ed Martin of the University of Arizona in Tucson said. “It’s irrigators who are actually turning the water on and off, so we came here to kind of empower them with water conservation techniques.”

With a video and PowerPoint presentation in English and Spanish, Martin and his fellow presenters were tasked with teaching local irrigators when and why certain amounts of water should be used on different soils.

The classes, which lasted all week in locations throughout the Valley, are a direct result of an alarmingly low amount of water available locally this year. “The reason we’re doing this is, the IID has a limited water supply now,” IID key customer coordinator Dean Currie said. “This year, because we haven’t had much rain, we are now expected to use more water than we’re approved for 2007.

“If that continues through the year, we’ll have to pay that back to the river authorities,” he said.

Everything from the salinity of water used in irrigation to moving water tables was covered by the myriad of professors.

Martin, a professor of irrigation engineering at UA, said the classes were very nearly what he teaches on the university’s campus.

“It was basic plant/soil/water relationships,” Martin said. “Some of it I use in my class.

“(Irrigators) do a great job with what they’re doing, but sometimes they don’t know the science behind it,” he said.

With a turnout of close to 300 irrigators and foremen throughout the Valley, Currie said the series of classes were a sure success, meaning changes in the flow of water to the region could have less of a negative effect here than was thought before.

“Things have changed with water down here, so we’re going to have to be smarter and more efficient with water use,” Currie said. “This is what the farmers thought would work.”#

http://www.ivpressonline.com/articles/2007/08/07/top_weekend_stories/satnews05.txt