IN YOUR ORCHARD
THE ALMOND BOARD
With Continued Shortages, ABC Offers Guide for Growers to Help Water Situation
The chronic shortage of surface water supplies in California combined with the increased regulation of groundwater pumping continues to put many growers in a bind.
Producers have no control over how much rain and snow falls in any given year and is captured behind dozens of dams up and down the state. Increasingly, however, more and more almond growers can play an important part of helping to recharge aquifers that have been tapped during extended periods of drought. That second scenario — helping to replenish underground water supplies that have been pumped to make up for little or no deliveries — is the focus of an exciting new resource from the Almond Board of California (ABC).
On-farm recharge is defined as “the application of surface water above crop demand in agricultural fields such as almond orchards using existing or supplemental irrigation infrastructure for the purpose of recharging the aquifer.” For growers who have access to surplus surface water during the winter and the right soil conditions, the guide lays out three ways they can begin to recharge underground water supplies. It also includes real-life results from growers with orchards in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys that participated in trials with positive results over the past decade. Recharge is particularly important in the San Joaquin and Central Valleys, where many underground basins are designated as “critically overdrafted.” The guide addresses four key questions growers should answer when considering whether OFR can work for them:
The Introduction to Groundwater Recharge guide was unveiled December at The
Almond Conference 2021 in Sacramento. It is intended to be a roadmap for growers interested in learning more about ways to use their dormant winter orchards or specially designed basins on their property to recharge aquifers. “Part of the solution is in your hands,” Jesse Roseman, ABC’s Senior Specialist for Ag and Regulatory Affairs, told the audience during a panel discussion on water at the conference. “On-farm recharge (OFR) is one of the most efficient ways to put water back in the ground. We really need the scale of almond orchards. Working land is such a critical piece of this solution and one that farmers can participate in.”
• Do I have access to surface water for recharge ?
• Is my orchard suitable for recharge ?
•What recharge methods are available ?
•What orchard management changes are necessary to perform recharge ? The guide discusses the three main ways to implement on- farm recharge: • Flooding dormant orchards – The most thought of method where surface water is applied to orchards during the winter. In many of the test cases, this involved flooding orchards in between storms during the dormant season. Growers must have access to surface supplies during the winter, soils that allow for deep percolation,
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