Rio Grande Farmers Have A Unique Relationship With Irrigation Technology

BY KERRY HALLADAY

Researchers at the Texas Water Resources Institute, or TWRI, recent ly completed a phase of research in the Rio Grande Coordinated Agricul ture Project. The effort looked at area farmers’ use of scientific irrigation scheduling technology and what prevents some from adopting it. “Irrigation scheduling is a science where we try to find out how much water is required at what time to achieve a certain crop yield goal,” said Ali Ajaz, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension program specialist for TWRI and investigator on the project.

Ajaz explained that few farmers use scientific irrigation scheduling technology. Instead, many farmers across the country, and in the Rio Grande region in particular, still use conventional ways of determining when to irrigate their crops. This can be anything from the feel of the soil, to visually assessing the condition of the crops to even irrigating when neighbors irrigate.

By contrast, scientific irrigation scheduling technology can integrate the use of soil and plant moisture sensing devices, weather data, computer modeling and other integrations of data into decision making. Such technologies can help farmers target their irrigation to the needs of the crop and the soil, thereby making them much more water efficient.

Surveying unique irrigators

The team — which included Allen Berthold, Ph.D., TWRI assistant director; Taylor Olsovsky, TWRI research associate; and Dhruva Kathuria, Ph.D., former TWRI graduate research assistant — sent surveys out to 1,500 Rio Grande irrigators in Texas and New Mexico. “The survey generally asked about their irrigation scheduling methods and tools,

“We also wanted to see what the main barriers are that hinder the adoption of these modern tools to make irrigation decisions,” Ajaz said. While some of the recent findings line up with earlier findings about barriers to adoption of scientific irrigation technology broadly in the United States, the research specifically quantified the perspectives of Rio Grande farmers. “The Rio Grande region is quite unique,” Ajaz said. “The main reason is the majority of the area farmers rely on surface water supplies.”

Reliance on the surface water from the Rio Grande means being at the mercy of Mother Nature — how much water is in the river — and the irrigation districts. Irrigation districts hold most of the water rights along the Rio Grande and work to distribute its limited water for both urban and agricultural needs. “If farmers want water, they have to ask the irrigation district. But the irrigation district can say, ‘No, it’s not your turn, and you have to wait for a couple days or a couple weeks before you can get the water.’”

Barriers to modern irrigation scheduling technology adoption

While Rio Grande farmers’ lesser control over their irrigation timing impacts the adoption of scientific irrigation scheduling technology, the survey revealed other barriers that played a bigger role.

“Some of the most important adoption barriers were the lack of access to weather data,” said Ajaz. He explained that most modern irrigation scheduling tools are usually coupled with weather data. If an area does not have reliable or varied sources of weather data or weather data networks, the value of the irrigation scheduling tools might be questionable in the eyes of area farmers.

Other barriers to adoption cited by respondents included concerns over the cost effectiveness of the technology, farm- ers’ lack of familiarity with modern irrigation scheduling tools, and associated concerns about potential reduced yields.

“Another major barrier was the uncertainty of future water availability, especially in the Rio Grande region where people have seen several droughts and also the climate change projections are not very promising for the region,” Ajaz said. “Farmers are hesitant to invest in this technology because they are not sure what the water future looks like.”

Looking to the future of irrigation

The survey also showed that some respondents have already adopted scientific irrigation scheduling technologies. Some of the reasons for adoption were very future-focused. “For a majority of growers, the biggest factor that pushed them to adopt some of this technology is to maintain the quality of their land,” Ajaz said. “They earn their livelihood from their land, so they are concerned for its quality.”

Salinity is another issue that makes farming and irrigating in the Rio Grande unique. Surface water from the Rio Grande can be very saline. When that water is used on cropland, the salts in the water get deposited into the soil. This can build up over time, rendering soil unsuitable for growing without mitigation efforts.

“If we can link crop-water-salinity production functions with scientific irrigation scheduling to help growers mitigate these issues, it is one big step forward for them and for us as Extension experts,” Ajaz said. Another encouraging motivator for adopting scientific irrigation scheduling technology that the survey suggested was the farmers’ idea of a duty to future generations. Ajaz called it sustainability awareness.

“We did the survey, and people do think that they are responsible at least to make sure that future generations get the water,” he said. “And now we have quantifiable evidence of that.”

North Alamo Water Supply Corp. contributes to success of rural Rio Grande Valley by providing potable water and sewage services for generations to come BY NORA N. GARZA

Historic may sometimes feel like an overused label to describe 2020 and the early part of 2021, but his toric it was. A global Covid 19 pandemic and Hanna, the first hurricane of an active 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, brought misery and created economic and personal challenges for the Rio Grande Valley. Then a freeze on Valentine’s Day devastated crops and shut down the electrical grid.

Through it all, North Alamo Water Supply continued to make good on its mission to provide water and wastewater service to rural parts of Hidalgo, Willacy and Cameron counties. Clean, safe and reliable drinking water and wastewater services are important for the health and safety of the community, especially, during a pandemic when handwashing is stressed to prevent the spread of disease.

From early lessons learned from power plant failures, NAWSC had been installing generators in all its treatment plants. The generator at the business office on Doolittle Road in Edinburg kept business running smoothly while much of the community was without lights and heat during the freeze.

These weather-related disasters created conditions that were anything but a typical day on the job. During Hurricane Hanna in July 2020 NAWSC plant operators were fighting against fierce winds and torrential rains to keep a second story wall from blowing out. During the February freeze, crews were scrambling to identify and fix leaks on system waterlines and the home owners’ side to prevent a reduction in water pressure.

These climatic events disrupted the power source water and wastewater treatment plants rely on. NAWSC had enough generators on hand to move around the system to keep service running as smoothly as possible during power outages, said Steven P. Sanchez, general manager.

Sanchez heads the largest rural water utility in Texas and the third largest in the Rio Grande Valley. At the end of 2020, NAWSC had more than 51,000 connections for potable water and a little more than 4,700 connections on the wastewater side. This represents a population of well over 200,000.

NAWSC is a leader in South Texas in reverse osmosis, a process that removes solids and contaminants from water by using pressure to push it through specialized membranes. According to Sanchez, NAWSC mines brackish groundwater, which it purifies through reverse osmosis, and then mixes it with water from the Rio Grande.

Standing in front of Mid Valley Agriculture, located north of La Feria, during a ribbon cutting for the Kansas City Road pipeline are, from left, Josh Ruiz, Maria Ruiz, Sandra Garza, Benita Galan, Omar Galan and Sam Ruiz.

As a regional water system, NAWSC services 973.4 square miles and partners with 16 public water systems. Water production comprises five reverse osmosis water treatment plants and six surface water treatment plants with a daily combined production capacity of 36.6 million gallons.

And through all of Mother Nature’s fury and the ongoing drought, NAWSC kept expanding and building new infrastructure to keep up with an ever-growing population. Demand for both potable water and wastewater services grew at a rate of slightly more than 4 percent.

This summer, two events were conducted to celebrate the completion of two major projects and according to Sanchez, to welcome area residents into the family. Public and safety officials attending the event were in agreement of the importance of working collaboratively with city, county, state and federal agencies to benefit rural residents, who live in some of the poorest communities in Texas.

The first ribbon cutting was held May 6 north of La Feria to mark the completion of the Kansas City waterline. The 14,100 feet of 8-inch waterline is bringing first-time water service to residents in the rural communities of La Feria and Santa Rosa. The event was held on the grounds of Mid Valley Agriculture, located north of La Feria.

Owners and brothers Josh and Sam Ruiz will be hooking up to the waterline at both their business and their homes. Sam Ruiz said the water from their well was hard, and they had to install a water softener system. Now he is grateful to have a reliable water source from NAWSC.

In addition to providing safe, clean drinking water, NAWSC provides sewage services through six wastewater treatment facilities. The startup of the newest one was recognized at a June 17 ribbon cutting. At a cost of $13 million, the wastewater treatment plant and sewage system is providing first-time wastewater service to eight colonias north of Weslaco at Mile 12½ North Road and FM 1015. The facility can handle 700,000 gallons of sewage a day. The project was partially funded by the Economically Depressed Areas Program of the Texas Water Development Board. As an honored guest at the ribbon cutting held at the new plant, Kathleen Jackson, director for the Texas Water Development Board, lauded the accomplishments of NAWSC under Sanchez’s helm.

She congratulated Sanchez for speaking at an event for young leaders in Texas. “People see what you do here and replicate it in other parts of the state,” she said. She said her mother used to say that people make the most important decisions “not with their heads, but with their hearts.” They consider the future generations, Jackson said. As Jackson mentioned, infrastructure is planned for the next generation. For instance, the land for the wastewater treatment was bought from Tommy Bradford nearly 20 years ago. When funds are issued by the state Clean Water Revolving Fund and the Economically Distressed Areas Program, NAWSC has proven to be a sound investment, she said. The Rio Grande Valley is the place to come, she said, adding, it has clean water, clean air, paths to get products to the market and a workforce.

“You’re doing all the things to be successful,” Jackson said. Jackson ended by presenting Sanchez with a special certificate in recognition of the successful completion and startup of the North Weslaco Wastewater Treatment Plant. David Fuentes, Hidalgo County Commissioner precinct 1, thanked Jackson for supporting drainage and other water projects. These projects make a difference in people’s lives, he said.

“Thanks for having the vision for a project such as this. Please continue to work with us. Consider us a partner,” he said. “For future growth, people will continue to migrate where they feel safe and welcome.” After thanking the funders of the project, Sanchez said NAWSC works with the community by donating water for fire hydrants. It also acts as a conduit to collect fees for city brush collection and city sewage.

Concluding his address, Sanchez encouraged residents to talk to state legislators to put money back into the Economically Distressed Areas Program.

“People get sick from contaminated standing wastewater,” Sanchez said. “Electricity is a big issue. Water is more important.”