Israel's Drought Lessons for California

Daily Beast ^ | 11/17/2015 | Seth Siegel

[SeekAndFind]

As California continues its longterm battle with droughts, perhaps it should look to another arid land for some advice. 1. Ban flood irrigation

Flood irrigation wastes approximately half the water used to evaporation.

According to a 2010 irrigation survey in California, flood irrigation accounted for 43% of irrigated land, including 78% of corn, 79% of grains, and 85% of sugar beet. In Israel, no farmer has used flood irrigation since the early 1970s.

2. Provide tax incentives to purchase drip irrigation equipment

Drip irrigation is 90-95% water efficient and increases crop yield, but many farmers are put off by the cost of the equipment – especially because they think of their current source of water as being essentially free. In California, drip irrigation has been growing substantially since 1995 and now accounts for 39% of irrigated fields, but it is scarcely utilized in field crops, accounting for only 7% of corn.

By contrast, in Israel, 75% of irrigated fields are utilizing drip irrigation. [The other 25% are sprinkler irrigated.]

To spur adoption, both federal and state tax policy should encourage purchase of drip irrigation with tax credits or accelerated depreciation.

3. Re-use highly treated wastewater

In California only 13% of wastewater is reused, of which slightly more than one third, or 5% of the total amount of wastewater, is used for agricultural irrigation. Israel, though, reuses 86% of its wastewater (or treated sewage) for agriculture, accounting for over 60% of the water used in agriculture.

4. Have desalination plants ready for drought

Despite its 840-mile coast and history of severe droughts, California’s only operational seawater desalination plant produces a tiny 275,000 gallons a day. The largest desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere, producing over 50 million gallons per day, will shortly open soon in Carlsbad, CA.

[babble-on]

Anything that asks California’s farmers to lift a finger or change a single thing about what they are doing with the water in that state will be met with a tidal wave of vitriol from them.

[G Larry]

Israel doesn’t shut off the water, pretending to protect some fish.

California shuts off the water to some of the worlds most productive farm land because it advances Bambi’s Population Control plan.

[elpadre]

with the substantial political clout of US environmental organizations why are we so far behind in such simple solutions??? Are they so agenda bound on fossil fuels they are blind to matters that really matter,

[CondorFlight]

But California will spend $68 billion (before cost overruns) to get a high-speed train to nowhere.

For a small fraction of that money, it could have fixed its water problems.

[umgud]

All good ideas, but what water footprint does all our millions of illegal use up?

[Hugin]

The good news it that the CA drought is likely to be over this year. The bad news is we may see record flooding.

[jcon40]

11). build more surface water storage facilities.

[Carry_Okie]

California shuts off the water to some of the worlds most productive farm land because it advances Bambi’s Population Control ChiFi's Real Estate Manipulaiton plan.

Fixed. Between high speed rail, Delta smelt, and burning people out of ex-burbs, it's all about money.

[masadaman]

Could write many words, but in brief, California's grain and cereal crops with the exception of rice are insignificant in its vast agricultural production by value and by planted acreage. Most high value crops like table and wine grapes, almonds and citrus are not on flood irrigation and have been on drip or sprinkler since the 1980's and 90's.

It was an American, Prof. Dan Goldberg, who brought drip irrigation to Israel as a benefactor to the young State. Cereal crops by their nature do not lend themselves to drip irrigation. In fact Israel produces an insignificant amount of its own daily needs, importing most grain from Russia and Ukraine.

Siegel is a NY lawyer,lives in Manahattan and must think that California farmers are in the dark ages. He could not be more ill-informed.

[wbarmy]

GTMO has run a desalination plant since 1964 producing 750,000 gallons per day. The plant isn’t that big and many can be placed with a very small footprint.

[bgill]

Deport all the illegals would cut the water usage tremendously. Fine the daylights out of those who use over x amount of water on their estates.

[SJackson]

I thought it was all global warming