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July 23, 2009

Farming in a future California with less water

Drip irrigation, or micro-irrigation, is the most efficient way to get the maximum crop yield from a unit of water, the report says; flood irrigation — still the most common form -– is the least efficient; sprinkler systems are somewhere in between.

For instance, the researchers suggest devoting less land to rice, cotton, alfalfa and other field crops, which now get 80 percent of their water from flooding. They recommend giving more to vegetables, vineyards and orchards, crops for which micro-irrigation is more common.

To promote such a shift, the researchers suggest that the capital cost of sprinkler or drip irrigation systems be defrayed by federal subsidies and property tax breaks from state and county governments. They also suggest creating legal mechanisms to let natural competitors for water allocations -– municipal water districts, say, or environmental organizations –- invest in the efficient irrigation systems in return for some of the water saved.

Or you could just make sure that the property rights on water are clear and that all users are charged a market price for the quantity they use. Then you could let people do whatever is economical.

Posted by OneEyedMan at July 23, 2009 6:14 AM

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