Donate blood, platelets, Lions Club Blood Drive March 20

By Crystal Apilado Editor-in-Chief

The Winters Lions Club is teaming up with Vitalant to host a community blood drive at the Winters Community Center (201 Railroad Ave.) on Monday, March 20 from 1–5 p.m. Donors have the opportunity to win groceries for a year.

Community mem- bers are encouraged to schedule an appointment, although walk-ins are welcome. To schedule an appointment contact Vitalant at 877-2584825 and mention blood drive code SMFM164 or visit https://tinyurl.com/ ympkwtyv. Donors must bring a photo I.D. with them on the day of the blood drive. They are also encouraged to eat and drink plenty of fluids before donating. Whole blood donors must be at least 16 years old (with a signed Vitalant parental consent form available online at Vitalant. org), weigh a minimum of 110 pounds, and be in good general health.

Donors are able to complete a 10-min-

Lake levels up five inches

ute Fast Track Health History Questionnaire on the day of the blood drive online at vitalant.org/ health.

Questions regarding scheduling and donating can be directed to 877-2584825.

Upcoming Winters Community Blood Drive dates are May 22, July 24, Sept. 18 and Nov. 20.

The water level of Lake Berryessa is up by 4.97 feet during the past week, with an increase in storage of 82,786 acre-feet of water from the lake levels reported on March 7, according to Ken Emigh of the Solano Irrigation District. On the morning of

Tuesday, March 14 the lake level was 420.30 feet above sea level, with storage computed at 1,198,333 acre-feet of water. Evaporation on the lake averaged 43 acre-feet of water per day. The SID is diverting 60 feet per second of water in the Putah South Canal, with 242 feet per second flowing at the Diversion Dam.

Sutter-Yolo Mobile Irrigation Lab to provide agricultural irrigation conservation services

By Alli Permann Special to the Express

Yolo County Resource Conservation District (RCD) is pleased to announce that it has partnered with Sutter County Resource Conservation District to create the Sutter-Yolo Mobile Irrigation Lab. Yolo County and Sutter County RCDs were the recipients of a Water Efficiency and Technical Assistance grant under the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation. The Sutter-Yolo Mobile Irrigation Lab provides agricultural irrigation conservation services for growers in the Southern Sacramento Valley at no cost.

The Mobile Irrigation Lab serves more than 739,679 acres of irrigated land and 5,621 farms in Sutter, Yolo, Yuba, and Colusa counties. In order to extend its reach, the Mobile Irrigation Lab is designed to be a multilingual program with services offered in English, Punjabi, and Spanish.

The Mobile Irrigation Lab features onfarm irrigation system evaluations that provide information from the pump to the emitters/sprinklers. Evaluations include in-field measurements of pressure and flow and result in confidential reports that are hand-delivered to growers. These reports include information on distribution uniformity (DU, how evenly water is applied), a map detailing the locations of pressures and flows collected, application rates, theoretical run times, recommendations for improvement, etc. Additionally, limited funding is available for free pump efficiency tests for approximately 20 growers each year who get an irrigation evaluation. The Mobile Irrigation Lab will also coordinate training for growers that will cover topics such as irrigation efficiency and nutrient management.