Irrigation Leader November/December 2014 by Water Strategies

Volume 5 Issue 10

November/December 2014

Untapped Water and Energy Sources in the Imperial Valley: An Interview With Imperial Irrigation Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Kevin Kelley

The Face of Irrigation By Kris Polly This issue of Irrigation Leader magazine brings together several interesting and accomplished individuals involved in irrigated agriculture. In preparing for the interview with Jay Hill, I had the great opportunity to spend some time with Jay and his father on their farm near Las Cruces, New Mexico. That is beautiful farm country, and the farming down there is neat, precise, and careful. Jay is a young guy who is full of enthusiasm for agriculture. He reminds me a lot of my older brother when he was that age, a good businessman with vision. Jay was selected by the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance to be one of its 2014 Faces of Farming and Ranching. They chose very well, as Jay equally embraces those things that have always made a good farmer and the technologies of the new farmer, such as GPS-guided equipment and precision irrigation. Additionally, he is a fearless marketer who embraces all forms of social media to connect with his customers and promote his products. “I put my cell phone number on every bag of beans we sell,” he told me during our tour of their year-old processing facility. I was impressed by that, as I love to see people take great pride in their work. Part of the mission of this magazine is to educate folks about the great people involved in irrigation and to show the tremendous technology and care used in irrigation. Our highest compliments go to the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance for their efforts to show the Faces of Farming and Ranching to the general public. As active participants in irrigation, we all need to be the “face of irrigation” and do more to educate the public about the importance of agriculture to our country and the high quality of the food we all enjoy.

Jay Hill's Organ pinto beans.

Kris Polly is editor-in-chief of Irrigation Leader magazine and president of Water Strategies LLC, a government relations firm he began in February 2009 for the purpose of representing and guiding water, power, and agricultural entities in their dealings with Congress, the Bureau of Reclamation, and other federal government agencies. He may be contacted at Kris.Polly@waterstrategies.com.

The Water and Power Report www.WaterAndPowerReport.com The Water and Power Report is the one-stop aggregate news site for water and power issues in the 17 western states. Sign up for the free “Daily” service to receive e-mail notice of the top headlines and press releases each business day.

Irrigation Leader

C O N T E N T S

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014

2 The Face of Irrigation

Volume 5

Issue 10

Irrigation Leader is published 10 times a year with combined issues for July/August and November/December by: Water Strategies LLC P.O. Box 100576 Arlington, VA 22210 Staff: Kris Polly, Editor-in-Chief John Crotty, Senior Writer Robin Pursley, Graphic Designer Capital Copyediting LLC, Copyeditor SUBMISSIONS: Irrigation Leader welcomes manuscript, photography, and art submissions. However, the right to edit or deny publishing submissions is reserved. Submissions are returned only upon request. ADVERTISING: Irrigation Leader accepts one-quarter, half-page, and full-page ads. For more information on rates and placement, please contact Kris Polly at (703) 517-3962 or Irrigation.Leader@waterstrategies.com. CIRCULATION: Irrigation Leader is distributed to irrigation district managers and boards of directors in the 17 western states, Bureau of Reclamation officials, members of Congress and committee staff, and advertising sponsors. For address corrections or additions, please contact our office at Irrigation.Leader@waterstrategies.com. Copyright © 2014 Water Strategies LLC. Irrigation Leader relies on the excellent contributions of a variety of natural resources professionals who provide content for the magazine. However, the views and opinions expressed by these contributors are solely those of the original contributor and do not necessarily represent or reflect the policies or positions of Irrigation Leader magazine, its editors, or Water Strategies LLC. The acceptance and use of advertisements in Irrigation Leader do not constitute a representation or warranty by Water Strategies LLC or Irrigation Leader magazine regarding the products, services, claims, or companies advertised.

COVER PHOTO: Kevin Kelley, general manager of Imperial Irrigation District. Irrigation Leader

By Kris Polly

4 Untapped Water and Energy Sources in

the Imperial Valley: An Interview With Imperial Irrigation District's Kevin Kelley

10 Jay Hill: The New Face of Irrigation 14 U.S. Department of Agriculture’s

National Agricultural Statistics Service 2013 Farm and Ranch Irrigation Survey Results

16 NWRA Advances With Myrum at Helm 18 The California Emergency Drought Relief Act – H.R. 5781

By Congressman David Valadao

BOARD MEMBER PROFILE 22 Orman Johnson, President of Johnson Agriprises

MANAGER PROFILE 26 Casey Hashimoto WATER LAW 32 Seeking Sustainability for California Groundwater

By Mark W. Cowin

THE INNOVATORS 34 40 Years of Innovation and Experience: Reinke's Vice President of Engineering John Davis

Untapped Water and Energy Sources in the Imperial Valley: An Interview With Imperial Irrigation District’s Kevin Kelley

mperial Irrigation District (IID) has been delivering Colorado River water to the growers and residents of the arid Imperial Valley in southern California since 1911. IID maintains and operates an extensive distribution system to serve the 479,000 acres within district borders. IID diverts 3.1 million acre-feet of water at Imperial Dam on the Colorado River through 80 miles of the All-American Canal to the East Highline, the Central Main, and the Westside Main Canals, which deliver that water to the myriad of laterals that cross the Imperial Valley. Ten regulating reservoirs store system surpluses of more than 3,300 acre-feet of water. IID also provides electricity to more than 145,000 customers in Imperial County and parts of Riverside and San Diego counties.

At IID’s helm is Kevin Kelley. Born and raised in the Imperial Valley, he joined IID in 2006 to lead its public affairs department. He became general manager in 2011. A graduate of the University of Southern California’s communications program, Kevin is the former editor and publisher of Valley Grower magazine, an agricultural trade publication. He also served as editorial page editor of the Imperial Valley Press. Irrigation Leader’s editor-

in-chief, Kris Polly, spoke with Mr. Kelley about the Quantification Settlement Agreement, the future of the Salton Sea, and conserving limited water resources. Kris Polly: Imperial Irrigation District is a big operation. Tell us about your district’s highlights. Kevin Kelley: IID is the largest irrigation district in North America in terms of diverted water. The district has the largest single entitlement in the Colorado River system—3.1 million acre-feet annually. Our farmers grow more than 200 different crops over 450,000 cultivated acres in the Imperial Valley. We are also the wholesale water purveyor for the entire region, which encompasses seven cities. In 2011, IID celebrated its 100th anniversary; it also observed its 75th year as an electric utility. IID is the third-largest public power provider in the state of California. IID entered the electric utility business during the Great Depression—the era in which the AllAmerican Canal was built with hydro potential. At peak

Irrigation Leader

production, we currently generate 1,000 megawatts and serve 150,000 electric connections in the Imperial and Coachella Valleys. Kris Polly: What is the top issue that IID is facing today?

the board to make the state of California’s restoration obligation a condition of the water transfers. The state is no closer to implementing a restoration plan than it was 12 years ago. What IID is asking is that the board require the state, the QSA parties, and the Salton Sea Authority to participate in a facilitated dialogue to identify a workable funding mechanism for Salton Sea restoration. In 2002, the state board issued an order approving the water transfers that are now part of the QSA. Over the first 15 years of the deal, for every acre-foot IID transfers out of the Imperial Valley, it returns an acre-foot into the Salton Sea. We have been doing that through land fallowing. Between now and 2017, we will be sending 390,000 acre-feet into the Salton Sea as mitigation water. This year, we fallowed 40,000 acres.

Kevin Kelley: The fact that IID is a diversified utility—providing both water and power—is topical because of the Salton Sea. The Salton Sea is going to be in the news for the foreseeable future, because it is at the center of the nation’s largest agricultural to urban water transfer. The Salton Sea will always be a repository for tail waters that come off the farms and fields of the valley. But the sea is getting smaller. The transfer of water out of the Imperial Valley under the Quantification Settlement Agreement Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA) will speed that process up. The The QSA and Related Agreements are a set of interrelated contracts that hydrology of the Colorado River alone can’t settle certain disputes among the United States, the state of California, support a lake the size that it is today. IID, the Metropolitan Water District, the Coachella Valley Water District and For the first 15 years of the 75-year the San Diego County Water Authority that became effective in October 2003. The agreements resolve, for a period of 35 to 75 years, issues QSA, IID is fallowing farmland to not regarding the reasonable and beneficial use of Colorado River water; the only produce water for transfer, but also to ability to conserve, transfer, and acquire conserved Colorado River water; mitigate impacts of the water transfers on the quantification and priority of Priorities 3 and 6 within California for the the Salton Sea. In 2017, the district will use of Colorado River water; and the obligation to implement and fund no longer have to provide that mitigation environmental impact mitigation related to the above. water, and the state of California will As specified in the agreements, IID will transfer to San Diego County Water undertake primary responsibility of the Authority up to 200,000 acre-feet per year and to the Coachella Valley Water restoration of the Salton Sea. That is part District and the Metropolitan Water District combined up to 103,000 acreand parcel of the compromise the QSA feet per year of water conserved from delivery system improvements and represents. on-farm efficiency improvements, all in return for payments totaling billions IID is the largest landowner around of dollars. In addition, IID will transfer up to 67,000 acre-feet per year of the Salton Sea—120,000 acres. That land conserved water from the lining of the All-American Canal to San Diego ownership just happens to correspond County Water Authority and certain San Luis Rey Indian Tribes in exchange to an untapped geothermal energy for the payment of all lining project costs and a grant to IID of certain rights to use the conserved water. reserve—70 percent of which is on IID lands—with the potential to generate Source: Imperial Irrigation District. 2,000 megawatts. As the lake recedes and the lakebed becomes exposed, the geothermal resource can be developed, become part of the With the curta.ilment of that program, IID and its Salton Sea restoration process, and generate renewable water users will be in a much better position to capture energy for the state of California. what was once mitigation water for the Salton Sea and use it to withstand droughts that are projected to persist in Kris Polly: Describe the geothermal resource in more both California and along the Colorado River. detail for our readers. Kris Polly: What actions has IID taken to comply Kevin Kelley: It is a unique resource. In California, you with the QSA? hear a lot about the water–energy nexus. That nexus exists at the Salton Sea. Kevin Kelley: IID has taken some creative measures Our board is not content to wait and see what happens to address the cap on our entitlement. The first thing we when we reach that 2017 date. We just filed a petition did, in 2013, was apportion water to all of our users. With with the State Water Resources Control Board asking our equitable distribution program, for the first time in its Irrigation Leader

history, IID is allocating water to its water users. Because there has been this heavy reliance on fallowing, we have not been as quick to take system-wide or on-farm conservation measures. We are just beginning to move away from fallowing. We will be lining the East Highline Canal and are looking to build a new large reservoir. This new facility would be about 2,500 acre-feet and would give us a place to capture the 12-hour run water that you have seen such a heavy use of these last few years.

IID Conservation Programs On-Farm Efficiency Conservation Program Of the 303,000 acre-feet of conserved water needed under the QSA, IID has targeted conservation savings of at least 130,000 acre-feet per year from on-farm measures.

System Conservation Program IID is making system improvements to conserve water through targeted spill reductions in order to fulfill water transfer obligations under the QSA. Most of the elements of the program are complete, including SCADA and communication system upgrades; use of zanjero laptops; automation of lateral headings; and flow measurement on lateral spills system wide. Under the program, initial conservation targets were set at 4,000 acre-feet per year with the goal of achieving 103,000 acre-feet per year by 2026.

Kris Polly: Have you seen a change in on-farm irrigation practices? Kevin Kelley: We have seen a huge increase in the usage of hard-set sprinklers and a corresponding decrease in the use of flood irrigation. We do have an on-farm conservation program that is ramping up. We are on track to conserve 40,000 acre-feet in 2014. Kris Polly: What would you want our readers to know about IID? Kevin Kelley: While it is true that IID, by virtue of history and good fortune, has a large and secure water right, the last 20 years has shown that the district is willing and able to be a constructive partner with the urban areas that surround it. Our water users have been very responsive when we have asked them to do more with less. In a diversified Southwest, we all need to coexist on a limited supply of water. There has to be a place in this economy for the Imperial Valley to produce food and fiber and to do it better than anybody else. Some Imperial Valley farmers are using new farming methods such as portable sprinkler systems as pictured here in this photo of mixed lettuce beds. The sprinklers are left in the field for the entire irrigation season.

Irrigation Leader

Jay Hill The New Face of Irrigation

ay Hill has always wanted to farm. He grew up helping out on his dad’s hobby farm, eventually taking up the reins. Now with his father, he grows a variety of vegetables on 700 irrigated acres in southern New Mexico’s fertile Mesilla Valley. Last month, the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) announced that Jay would be one of its 2014 Faces of Farming and Ranching. The alliance consists of more than 80 farmer- and rancher-led organizations and agricultural partners representing virtually all aspects of agriculture, working to engage in dialogue with consumers who have questions about how today’s food is grown and raised. The Faces of Farming and Ranching program is designed to do just that, giving voice to five farmers throughout the nation to talk about their experience in food production. Irrigation Leader’s editorin-chief, Kris Polly, spoke with Jay about his operations and representing irrigated agriculture on the national stage. Kris Polly: Please tell us about your irrigated farm operation. Jay Hill: My father founded Hill Farms in 1969. It functioned as a small hobby farm until the mid-1980s. My own operation started at the back of a barn in a sandbox made from a tractor tire. I can remember watching the custom farmers come in and farm all around us. And I knew it was something I wanted to do, too. I really put my head down to make progress as a farmer and have grown our operations to 700 acres. We produce vegetables—onions, lettuce, and corn—and are doing a local farm-to-fork program with a mixed vegetable garden. We try to keep our produce local. Until now, everything that we produced was flood irrigated. Now that we are seeing a lot more stress on our environment due to prolonged drought, we are implementing subsurface drip irrigation for our vegetable production. We go about 4 inches underground. We are using a temporary system so that we can pick up all of our main lines and move them to another farm to ensure a quality rotation on all of our properties. I know that we are saving water, although I don’t know if we are saving as much as studies have shown—40 to 50 percent. One thing we are definitely seeing is the amount of time it takes for us to water is significantly less. We also don’t have to worry about evaporation any more. The fact that we are able to put our nutrients directly into the water and deliver it right to the root system, instead of making another pass with a tractor or aerial spray, saves us a huge amount in fertilizer costs.

Jay Hill with a handful of green chiles grown on Hill Farms. 10

Irrigation Leader

Kris Polly: What other kinds of technology do you employ on the farm? Jay Hill: With our variable rate planning systems and variable rate fertilizer applications, we can micromanage every field to ensure that we are growing a healthy, wholesome product and increasing yield. We use GPS on all of our inputs. Five or 10 years ago, we were making 15 or 20 passes over a field, and now, we only make 5 or 6 passes. Kris Polly: Tell us about your pinto bean operation. Jay Hill: This is our second year running a pinto bean cleaning facility. Right now, we have a good friend of ours in the north of the valley who is growing the beans for us. We bring them down to our packing facility, pack them, and sell them to retail stores, restaurants, and individual buyers. Kris Polly: How have you marketed your beans? Jay Hill: Social media—Twitter and Facebook—has been a huge part of how our operation has grown. We market ourselves as a very transparent operation—at any given time, anyone can call or look us up online and know exactly what we are doing. I put my cell phone number on every bag of pinto beans. That way, if there is a question or concern, or someone simply wants to buy more, they can look at the bottom of the bag and give me a call. I get a lot of phone calls. The typical phone call generally is a request to come and see our packing operations or a positive comment about the quality and flavor of our beans. We’ve had nothing but great reviews about how fast our beans cook. We hear from consumers as well as retail outlets looking to sell our beans. We ship our beans as far as Los Angeles. Kris Polly: Is there anything else we should know about produce in your valley? Jay Hill: People may know our state for its beef and chile, but they are generally not familiar with the amount of tonnage of onions that is produced here in our valley. During the summer months, New Mexico is the largest shipper of fresh onions in the country.

Ranching. The goal of the program is to better the image of farmers all around the country. It is quite an extensive interview process. We submitted an application in June and did a small home video about our operation and what we do in southern New Mexico. In October, we were pleased to find out that we had been selected as a finalist—we made the top 8. Then, the USFRA brought out a professional film crew, did some more interviews, and really figured out the story of our farm and how we got started. We got word on November 11 that we would be headed to Kansas City to be announced as a winner of the application process. I’ll be serving a year-long term, flying all over the country educating people about New Mexico producers and how we produce our food, as well as producers across the nation. I’ll be on the road 30 to 45 days for the position. We’ll be in Boston; Florida; Washington, DC; and up and down the West Coast. I’m the second generation on our small farm. My father and nephew will be filling my shoes while I am on the road. It will be a good opportunity for us. Kris Polly: What will be your message about irrigated agriculture? Jay Hill: The USFRA created what are called Food Dialogues, which bring together panels of farmers and consumers to address hot-button issues regarding food production from farm to fork. I have two major points that I want to communicate. To end consumers who don’t know where their food comes from, I want to encourage them to ask questions about the production process before making a judgment about how something is produced. They need to call or visit. They will see that we are doing the very best we can with the technology we have now and are improving yearly. We are really trying to conserve our natural resources and reduce our footprint on the environment. For more information about Hill Farms, you can reach Jay at (575) 644-5570 or hilljay45@gmail.com.

Kris Polly: Tell us about being a Face of Farming and Ranching and what it means. Jay Hill: In May 2014, I was asked to apply with the USFRA for a position known as the Faces of Farming and GPS-guided tractors at work to help prepare fields for planing onions. Irrigation Leader

The landowners and stakeholders of the Columbia Basin Development League Thank these companies for their support!

THANK YOU JR Simplot Co Conagra Foods/Lamb Weston Lindsay Corporation Big Bend Electric Cooperative Connell 76 LLC Valley Irrigation key Bank McCain Foods USa Inc McGregor Company Wells Fargo Insurance Services USa Inc ag World Support Systems Bank of america Merrill Lynch Inland Power & Light Co nelson Irrigation Corp Ritzville Warehouse Co./ Odessa Trading Company Twin City Foods Inc Washington Trust Bank

Since 1964, the League has supported Washington stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Columbia Basin Project and its future development. The League is the only group representing stakeholders to protect Project water rights and educate the public on the renewable resource and multiple-purpose benefits of the Project.

You can help. Join today: www.cbdl.org/join Columbia Basin Development League PO Box 745, Cashmere, WA 98815 PhOne: 509-782-9442 FAx: 509-782-1203

U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service 2013 Farm and Ranch Irrigation Survey Results

Kansas (23,114) had the largest number ccording to a newly released Top States in Irrigation of wells, followed by Florida (20,783). national survey, 229,237 U.S. (millions of acres) Sixty-five percent of the country’s farms irrigated 55.3 million wells had backflow prevention devices, acres in 2013, applying a total of Nebraska 8.3 and 28 percent had flow devices. The 88.5 million acre-feet of water. This is a California 7.5 average depth of wells was 229 feet. decline since 2008, when 235,715 farms Arkansas 5.0 irrigated 55.5 million acres. Five Texas 4.5 Irrigation Expenses states—Nebraska, California, Arkansas, Idaho 3.5 The energy costs of pumping Texas, and Idaho—together accounted Kansas 2.9 water (from both wells and surface for 52 percent of irrigated acres in Colorado 2.3 water) in 2013 were $2.7 billion, 2013. The top 10 states accounted for Montana 1.9 of which electricity accounted for 71 percent. Mississippi 1.7 $1.8 billion. The combined costs The 17 states that compose Washington 1.6 of irrigation equipment, facilities, the western half of the continental land improvements, and computer United States together accounted for Source: USDA NASS, 2013 Farm and Ranch Irrigation Survey (2012 Census of Agriculture). technology were the second-largest 72 percent of irrigated acres, 74 percent expense category, amounting to of farms that irrigate, and 82 percent $2.6 billion in 2013 (table 2). of water applied. Four western states (California, Idaho, Nebraska, and Washington) are Horticultural Operations among the top 20 in percent of farmland irrigated. Horticultural operations irrigated 524,227 open-field These are among the many findings of the Farm acres (55,406 fewer than in 2008) and 1.4 billion square feet and Ranch Irrigation Survey that the U.S. Department of protected areas. California, Florida, Michigan, and Texas of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service are the top four states in both groups. Oklahoma rounded conducted in 2013. Part of the Census of Agriculture out the top 5 for acres irrigated in the open, and Oregon program, the survey collected data on both irrigation was the fifth state for irrigation of commodities grown in of open fields and irrigation of commodities protected greenhouses and other protected areas. by greenhouses and other structures. Acres in the open accounted for 99 percent of total water applied.

Water Sources

Nationally, groundwater from wells accounted for 55 percent of water applied to acres in the open (48.5 million acres), off-farm sources accounted for 35 percent (30.8 million acres), and on-farm surface water accounted for the remaining 10 percent (9.2 million acres) (table 1). Across the country, producers used 475,796 wells, an average of 4 wells per farm. Wells provided 55 percent of water applied to open fields and pasture and 59 percent of water applied to commodities grown in greenhouses and other structures. Texas (81,511), Nebraska (77,155), California (59,499), Arkansas (48,310), and

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Find Out More

These are just a few of the data items available. The 2013 Farm and Ranch Irrigation Survey results provide detailed information on irrigation activities and water use on U.S. farms, ranches, and horticultural operations at the national and state levels as well as for 20Â water resource regions whose boundaries are defined by the U.S. Geological Survey. The data include number of farms and acres irrigated, water sources, distribution systems, costs, conservation efforts, and detailed information by crops grown and harvested. To learn more about the survey and access the data, go to http://bit.ly/2013Farm RanchSurvey. For additional assistance, contact National Agricultural Statistics Service Customer Service at (202)Â 727-9540 or Steve Sakry at (202)Â 720-0339.

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Nwra Advances With Myrum at Helm The National Water Resources Association (NWRA) presented Tom Myrum with a plaque recognizing his “Outstanding Service to the Association” during his tenure as president over the past two years. “It was my number 1 goal as NWRA president to ensure that the NWRA is recognized as the premier association for western water resources management in the United States,” said Myrum. The NWRA is a nonprofit federation of state associations, individuals, and agencies whose mission is to advocate federal policies that represent the interests of its members. The NWRA has been supporting and advocating for the development of water resources in the western United States since the 1890s, prior to the establishment of the Bureau of Reclamation. Myrum, the executive director of the Washington State Water Resources Association for the past 19 years, became president of the NWRA during a time of turmoil and transition in leadership. During this time, the NWRA faced many challenges, including making the choice to operate under a new management style. The NWRA hired Water Strategies LLC to manage the day-to-day operations of the association. Former Commissioner of Reclamation Robert Johnson became the new executive director of the NWRA, and experienced Capitol Hill staffer Ian Lyle was hired to head its Federal Affairs program. Lyle brings more than 10 years of experience working on Capitol Hill, including valuable work on the House Natural Resources Committee. Johnson brings over 30 years of experience working within the Bureau of Reclamation as well as cooperating with numerous other state and federal agencies, such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. NWRA Federal Affairs Chairman Christine Arbogast brings a wealth of experience, knowledge, and energy to the job of overseeing six task forces while providing daily direction on federal advocacy to the NWRA staff. “For a relatively small association, we bring a very powerful staff to work on our issues every day,” Myrum noted. The NWRA submitted 11 comments on regulatory proposals and wrote letters of support for 16 pieces of legislation in 2014, a drastic increase made necessary due to a busy Congress and active Obama administration. The NWRA staff was a daily presence on Capitol Hill, ensuring that the NWRA message was clear in the halls of Congress. In 2014, the NWRA looked to spread its influence across all of the western United States and, in the process, brought in new members to join in support of western 16

Outgoing NWRA President Tom Myrum (left) receiving an award acknowledging his outstanding service from incoming President Dave Koland (left) at the 2014 NWRA Annual Convention in Coronado, California.

water. The Kansas Water Congress, the Oklahoma Water Resources Association, and the Groundwater Management Districts Association all joined the NWRA. It had been decades since either Kansas or Oklahoma had participated in NWRA activities. Adding new members was a central goal of the NWRA’s strategic planning and was a focal point of Myrum’s leadership. “It’s hard to overstate the value of bringing new members into the association. With their energy, new ideas, and essential political influence, the association benefits in incalculable ways. We eventually hope to have all western states as members of the NWRA,” Myrum stressed. The NWRA reflects tremendous grassroots participation on issues affecting water conservation, management, and development. Through its diverse membership, the NWRA is uniquely positioned to bring together agricultural, municipal, industrial, environmental, and recreational water interests. Myrum said, “I look forward to assisting the NWRA’s new president, Dave Koland, from North Dakota, as he leads the association to the next level of excellence.” Koland’s term as president begins on January 1, 2015. For more information about the National Water Resources Association, please call (202) 698‑0693 or e-mail nwra@nwra.org.

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Farm Alliance is a powerful advocate for family farmers, ranchers, irrigation

districts, and allied industries in seventeen Western states. The Alliance is focused on one mission To ensure the availability of reliable, affordable irrigation water supplies to Western farmers and ranchers. As a 501(c)(6) tax exempt organization, our support comes exclusively from those who believe our mission is important enough to contribute. We believe the cause is important enough to ask for your support - Please join us by completing the web form at http://www.familyfarmalliance.org/ProspectiveContact.cfm.

For more information contact Dan Keppen by phone at (541) 892-6244, or by e-mail at dankeppen@charter.net

The California Emergency Drought Relief Act – H.R. 5781 By Congressman David Valadao

he San Joaquin Valley, also known as the world’s breadbasket, is some of the most productive farmland in the world. In fact, California as a whole produces the majority of the nation’s fruits, vegetables, and nuts. So while some may not understand how the California drought affects them, the reality is, lack of water in California has huge ramifications for our entire country. As a dairy farmer myself and U.S. Representative to one of the most agriculturally rich congressional districts within the state, I have experienced firsthand the devastating toll water shortages have caused throughout the state. This year, 2014, marks the third consecutive drought year for our state. In fact, seven of the last eight years have seen below-average to critically dry precipitation levels. While there has been a shortage of rainfall this year, the drought has been made significantly worse by environmental regulations from Washington. Without immediate action, the San Joaquin Valley is in danger of becoming a dust bowl.

In order to protect a 3-inch fish, the delta smelt, regulations have been imposed on the state’s two largest water projects. These water projects provide water for the municipal needs of 27 million Californians and the irrigation of more than 3 million acres of agricultural land that feeds America. For the first time in history, public water agencies that receive water from the Central Valley Project for irrigation have received a zero allocation. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) has led to the deliberate diversion of over hundreds of billions of gallons of water away from farmers, cost thousands of farm workers their jobs, inflicted massive unemployment in many communities, and fallowed hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile farmland. In an effort to provide relief for California residents, I introduced legislation in January. H.R. 3694, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Emergency Water Delivery Act, passed with bipartisan support in the House of Representatives and would have provided both longterm and short-term solutions to our water crisis. The Senate also passed drought relief legislation, and the two chambers entered into negotiations to find compromise between the bills.

Irrigation Leader

Despite ongoing negotiations, I knew that immediate relief was needed, and therefore, I introduced another water bill, H.R. 5781, the California Emergency Drought Relief Act of 2014. To ensure that the bill reached the finish line before the winter rainy season, House Republicans included many provisions from the Senate’s very own water bill. We also included additional provisions that both sides had agreed upon during our original negotiations. While the bill is not perfect and does not contain provisions regarding the ESA that I would have ideally wanted to include, this bill is true bipartisan compromise. The California Emergency Drought Relief Act of 2014 would provide temporary operational flexibility for the two water projects to reduce the human suffering caused by water supply shortages. Specifically, the bill would do the following: • Maximize Delta Exports for Central and Southern California—Sets Old and Middle River pumping rates at -5,000 cubic feet per second, while allowing federal regulatory agencies the discretion to reduce pumping under certain instances. • Capture Storm Water Runoff Moving Through the Delta—Authorizes federal agencies to increase Old and Middle River pumping rates during the first few storms of the water year. • Promote Federal Water Storage Projects in California—Requires the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to report to Congress within one year of enactment of this act on the status of feasibility reports for various federal water storage projects in California that have been pending for years. Irrigation Leader

•

Protect Sacramento Valley Water Contractors— Includes language on water allocations for Sacramento Valley water contractors. • Hold Federal Regulatory Agencies Accountable—Requires federal regulatory agencies to report to Congress every 90 days following enactment of this act on its implementation. • Protect Federal, State, Northern, Central, and Southern California Water Contractors— Includes provisions to protect state water project contractors and area of origin water rights holders and preserves the existing water rights priority systems in California and federal law. • Provide Immediate Emergency Relief— Provisions in this bill expire on September 30, 2016, or when the gubernatorial drought declaration is rescinded, whichever occurs later. California farmers are running out of options. Wells are running dry and land is being taken out of production. Ensuring that farmers have the water they need to farm is essential to the California economy and the millions of families who depend on the region to feed their families. Congressman David G. Valadao is a lifelong resident of California’s Central Valley and represents the state’s 21st congressional district. He serves on the House Appropriations Committee, specifically, the Agriculture, Interior, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittees.

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The Combined Science and Technology Approach • • • • • • •

BACKGROUND RESEARCH HYDROGEOLOGY GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATIONS HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORKS TEST HOLE DRILLING WELL DESIGN MANAGEMENT PLANS Technology is ever increasing in order to meet the needs of the water resources:

-PROFESSIONAL ASSESSMENT OF THE MOST APPROPRIATE METHODS, TOOLS, AND APPROACHES TO SOLVING SURFACE AND SUBSURFACE WATER RESOURCES ISSUES

We deliver technically excellent, comprehensive solutions to the water resource sector in the areas of:

-HIGHLY

DETAILED SUBSURFACE CHARACTERIZATIONS

USING AN INTEGRATED APPROACH OF GEOPHYSICAL AND HYDROGEOLOGIC DATA AND METHODOLOGIES

•

Brackish groundwater mapping

•

Hydrogeologic frameworks

•

Saline water mapping and delineation

•

Hazards monitoring and exploration

•

Water quality investigations

•

Canal seepage for managed aquifer recharge

•

Canal safety, failure mode, and risk assessment

Exploration Resources International

-DATASETS

ARE COMPATIBLE WITH MOST COMMERCIAL

GROUNDWATER SOFTWARE,

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MODELING

ARC GIS, AND GOOGLE EARTH RAPID

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INTERPRETATION/ANALYSIS/REPORT/PLAN (PRELIMINARY DATA AVAILABLE IN DAYS/WEEKS, FINAL REPORT AND PLAN IN MONTHS)

Co n t a c t u s : i n fo @ x r i g e o. c o m 1 - 8 6 6 -X R I - 6 8 6 7 w w w. x r i g e o. c o m

XRI CASE STUDIES: INDUSTRY SOLUTIONS XRI INDUSTRY SOLUTIONS ARE APPLIED ACROSS A VARIETY OF DISCIPLINES AND INDUSTRIES. BELOW ARE A SAMPLE OF XRI’S RECENT SOLUTIONS FOR MULTIPLE INDUSTRIES AND PROBLEM SETS: GROUNDWATER EXPLORATION FOR PETROLEUM SUPPLY Situation: Client requested determination of water supply well targets for petroleum production. Solution: Use of multiple geophysical techniques, including: • Extensive background hydrogeological assessment • Airborne electromagnetics • Ground-based geophysics • Near-surface seismic data acquisition • Joint interpretation of hydrogeological, airborne, ground-based and seismic data with existing boreholes and test holes

Groundwater Model for Water Supply Determination

Sample 3-D voxel model of airborne electromagnetic data

Products: • Three-dimensional hydrogeologic model of upper and lower boundaries of aquifers • Identification of an unknown deeper aquifer with potential for additional water supply GROUNDWATER AVAILABILITY DETERMINATION Situation: Declining groundwater levels due to drought caused concerns over water availability for farmers and municipalities in Clarkson, Nebraska.

3-D Model of Quaternary Aquifer

Solution: • Extensive background hydrogeological assessment, which included assessment of physical settings, surface hydrology, geologic setting and hydrogeologic setting • Airborne electromagnetics • Ground-based geophysics in the area • Joint interpretation of hydrogeological and airborne data with existing boreholes and test holes Product: • Three-dimensional maps of sub-surface water distribution • Identification of an unknown deeper aquifer with potential for provision of additional water supply XRI identified approximately 106,608 acre feet of available water for municipality and agriculture supply.

Problem. Science. Solution.

Exploration Resources International

B O A R D

M E M B E R

P R O F I L E:

Orman Johnson, President of Johnson Agriprises

rman Johnson is president of Johnson Agriprises, a diversified farming operation in Adams County, Washington. He has been farming in the Columbia Basin for over 30 years. Like his father before him, Orman serves on the board of directors of the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District (ECBID). He is the incoming president of the board of trustees of the Columbia Basin Development League (CBDL). He is also a graduate of Washington State University. Irrigation Leader’s editor-in-chief, Kris Polly, spoke with Orman about his operations, the Odessa, and need for continued development of the Columbia Basin Project. Kris Polly: Let’s start with a little bit of your family history. How long has your family been farming in the Columbia Basin? Orman Johnson: My family is one generation removed from Sweden. They started off in California and took the train north to Washington, moving here in 1906. Washington was more like Sweden—shorter growing season and longer summer hours. My family has always appreciated the amazing potential that development of irrigation in eastern Washington holds. My grandfather wrote his Washington Agricultural College master’s thesis on irrigation development in Washington. He was the first manager of the Lake Chelan Irrigation District. Kris Polly: Describe your groundwater pumping operations.

Orman Johnson, director, East Columbia Basin Irrigation District & Trustee, Columbia Basin Development League. 22

Orman Johnson: Our farm is situated in an area where the developed and undeveloped parts of the Columbia Basin Project come together. We starting receiving canal water and irrigating part of the farm in 1956, and we drilled our first of several deep wells in 1963 for the part of the farm not reached by the canal. The state was issuing a lot of deep-well permits under the assumption that the project would be fully developed. My dad was on the board of the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District at that time, and he, like the other board members, thought we would get additional surface water supplies at that time. That did not turn out to be the case. We have eight wells—one shallow well at 660 feet and the rest at 2,000 feet or more. We are typically lifting water from a static level of 700 to 800 feet in most of the wells. Those are all electric pumps—if it wasn’t for the cheap electricity, it wouldn’t be economical to pump from that depth out here. Presently, our most productive wells produce around 1,200 gallons a minute. When all of our wells are pumping, we are getting 5,000 gallons a minute Irrigation Leader

total. Ten years ago, we would get 10,000 gallons a minute. Last summer, we delayed starting two or three wells. Those wells ran out of water in August. They were able to pump again for a few months this year. They get to the point where there is not enough water to lift it to the surface. Later on in the season, if an electrical storm shuts the pumps down, at least one will not restart. Once it breaks the suction, it won’t restart for the rest of the year. We planned accordingly with our planting, so we were able to scrape by. This year, we are growing short-season potatoes—red, yellow, and purple golf-ball-size potatoes for the fresh market. They use about two-thirds to threequarters the amount of water of regular potatoes. Some of them are early season, so they are done using water by June. The type of crop helps adjust to the late-season water issues associated with our inability to pump. The need for the water behind Grand Coulee is so important right now. We don’t need that water 10 years from now, we need it tomorrow. We average 9 inches of rain a year—and last year, we only received 6 inches. When the district delivers us full water, we will definitely get a full crop mix. Right now, we get 50 to 100 bushels an acre when we plant wheat, and with full water, we expect to get 120 to 150 bushels an acre. If we lose the ability to irrigate altogether, we would have to revert to a dryland summer fallow rotation with yields around 30 bushels an acre, every other year. Kris Polly: So you are totally dependent on irrigation? Orman Johnson: Yes, for all of our crops except wheat. And with dryland wheat, we get lower yields. Kris Polly: What else do you farm? Orman Johnson: Potatoes and wheat are our biggest acreages. Part of our farm is organic, and we grow potatoes, onions, asparagus, spelt, peppermint leaves, and spearmint leaves. We grow seed peas and alfalfa conventionally. Spelt was a new one for us. It is in high demand— while it is not completely gluten free, those with gluten intolerance can consume it. It has a double hull, like barley in some ways. You need a hulling machine to get it to the point where it can produce flour. You get 36 pounds a

Irrigation Leader

bushel with the combine. After using the hulling machine, you can get to 60 pounds a bushel. Partially irrigated, you can get 60 de-hulled bushels an acre and 100 hulled. Kris Polly: What makes the Odessa an ideal location for growing potatoes? Orman Johnson: There is no place in the world that matches the potato yields of the state of Washington. We are far north, so we have lots of hours of sunlight in the summer in addition to a long growing season. The Odessa area has a heavier soil, producing a higher gravity density and leading to a longer storage life for potatoes. Kris Polly: You are the incoming president of the CBDL. Please tell us about the organization. Orman Johnson: The CBDL tries to help move the process of obtaining additional surface water along. We have productive ground that needs additional water. The CBDL is kind of a cheerleader, trying to develop additional acres to help us feed the world. Kris Polly: What is your message to our readers about getting water to the Odessa and completing the work that is ongoing right now? Orman Johnson: The Odessa Ground Water Replacement Program has been a challenging process for the CBDL and the ECBID to work on. Fortunately, we have had the whole-hearted support of the Bureau of Reclamation and the Washington Department of Ecology working cooperatively on this effort. It is a complex process that has required eight years of study and analysis to get us to the point where we are implementing the solution. The Washington legislature has provided a grant of $26 million to the ECBID to begin widening East Low Canal, and the ECBID engineers are working with landowners to develop the pump station and pipeline systems that will carry the water to farms to replace those deep wells. The next step is to renew the soon-to-expire master water service contract between the ECBID and Reclamation so we can obtain the long-term financing that will make this a reality.

Manager Profile

Casey Hashimoto California’s current drought has placed a lot of attention on the water-energy nexus in the state. There is no better example of that symbiosis than Turlock Irrigation District (TID). TID has been delivering water to growers in California’s Central Valley for more than 100 years. TID diverts 357,000 acre-feet of water per year to serve more than 150,000 acres and 5,800 growers who produce a variety of fruits, grains, and nuts, from alfalfa to grapes to walnuts. But TID is also a major purveyor of electricity to communities in the northern San Joaquin Valley. TID provides electricity to approximately 100,00 residential and commercial accounts in a service area that covers more than 660 square miles. The Don Pedro Dam and Reservoir is the locus of TID’s water and power operations. Situated in the Sierra Nevada and diverting water from the Tuolumne River, Don Pedro reservoir has a capacity to store 2,030,000 acre-feet of water. The Don Pedro Hydroelectric Project can generate up to 203 megawatts of power, which is shared with Modesto Irrigation District. Casey Hashimoto oversees TID’s 455 employees and directs the day-to-day water and power operations. Over his 30-year career with the district, he worked his way from electrical technician, mapping out TID’s distribution lines, to assistant general manager of Electrical Engineering and Operations. In March 2011, the TID board of directors appointed him general manager. Although a licensed electrical engineer by trade, Casey is very familiar with irrigated agriculture—he grew up on a farm in the San Joaquin Valley where his dad raised almonds, peaches, and grapes. Irrigation Leader’s senior writer, John Crotty, spoke to Casey about the challenges of managing two major operations amid a long-term drought, working hand-in-hand with nearby municipalities, and taking steps to conserve water supplies for long-term sustainability. John Crotty: Please tell us about the services that TID provides. TID General Manager Casey Hashimoto is pictured here at the district’s construction site for a regulating reservoir project that will help TID conserve and better manage water in its canal system. The regulating reservoir is part of the pilot project for the Rubicon Total Channel Control. 26

Casey Hashimoto: We provide water for irrigation to approximately 150,000 acres within our district. The district has been doing that since the 1900s. TID entered the electricity business in 1923 when it built the original Don Pedro Dam. We currently serve approximately 100,000 electric accounts. We have a diverse portfolio of generating resources—our original large and small hydroelectric, gas-fired generation, geothermal, and wind Irrigation Leader

power from a 137-megawatt project up in the state of Washington. California’s renewable mandates will require us to have 33 percent of our portfolio as certified renewable by 2020. We currently have 25 percent and are on our way to meet that requirement. That said, TID already has one of the greenest power portfolios around, as Don Pedro helps us generate more than 45 percent of our energy needs with clean greenhouse-gas-free sources. TID developed significant renewable small hydro and geothermal power before greenhouse gas and renewable energy were widely discussed terms. John Crotty: Is there a municipal water component to your operations? Casey Hashimoto: We do not provide municipal drinking water to the cities within our district yet. We have been having discussions for the last 20 years and are currently in talks. Hopefully, we can come to some agreement in the next few years. The three cities in our irrigation service area—Turlock, Ceres, and Modesto— are negotiating with us to acquire raw water from the Tuolumne River that they would treat and deliver to their respective cities. The cities are incentivized to seek district water

because they are having trouble meeting their water quality standards. They are on the fast track to acquire surface water to blend with existing groundwater sources. Right now, they are strictly pumping groundwater to serve their residents, and the difficult issue with the drought is that groundwater levels are dropping. The use of surface water would help those levels to recover over time, as we saw when Modesto Irrigation District undertook a similar type of plan with the City of Modesto. John Crotty: What are some of the top challenges that TID is currently facing? Casey Hashimoto: Our biggest challenge is the relicensing of our Don Pedro project, which is the crown jewel of the district. We are in that process right now. Our license is set to expire in April 2016. Based on what the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has done with other projects in the area and our pending studies yet to be completed, we believe that we will receive annual licenses starting in 2016 until FERC completes its environmental review of the project and issues a license with new terms and conditions. We’ve undertaken 35 studies, covering such areas as the Tuolumne River, cultural resources within the project,

A look from downstream of the Don Pedro Project. The Don Pedro Power Plant can generate up to 203 MW of power, which is shared with Modesto Irrigation District. Irrigation Leader

noxious weeds, and recreation, in order to provide FERC a complete record to evaluate all aspects of the project. Our estimated costs [of completing the studies] through 2016 are around $25 million. We started this process in 2009 with the filing of our preliminary application, and then sitting down with FERC and the stakeholders to work out study plans and scoping meetings. We filed our final license application back in April of this year; we will have to amend that because of a couple more studies that are ongoing. Another major challenge is the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), which oversees water rights within the state of California. The SWRCB has embarked upon Phase 1 of its BayDelta Water Quality Control Plan. The SWRCB’s Substitute Environmental Document (SED) calls for 35 percent of unimpaired flow from each tributary of the San Joaquin River, of which the Tuolumne is one, from February through June. That number means that 35 percent of the flow down the Tuolumne River, as if the [Don Pedro] dam wasn’t there, must be set aside for environmental purposes. If that objective were implemented, it would be a big impact to our irrigators and power customers. We are very involved with trying to educate the SWRCB staff. They plan to issue a revised SED in March 2015, which will likely call for 40 percent

of the unimpaired flow. The result would be 35 to 40 percent of flows during some of the months when big snow runoffs typically occur. We rely on impounding that runoff in Don Pedro to serve our irrigation customers. When looking at electric issues, we are facing California’s greenhouse gas initiative as well as other regulatory mandates that have raised our costs and add uncertainty for the future. This will be a continuing challenge. We have a modest historic coal purchase power contract due to expire in 2018, but beyond that, we have an amazingly diverse portfolio of electric and natural gas resources. We will have to acquire more certified renewables before 2020, and we have already put out some requests for proposals. Positioning ourselves well for the future landscape beyond 2020 is a difficult but essential effort we are working on now. John Crotty: What kind of impact will California’s recently passed Groundwater Sustainability Act have on TID operations? Casey Hashimoto: Basically, the law requires that groundwater basins be sustainable. The groundwater basin that TID partly overlies (the Turlock Subbasin) has to develop a governance structure by 2017 and a plan by 2022, after which the subbasin must be sustainable by 2042. The impact of that law is that

A typical TID canal. TID operates 200-plus miles of canals, most of which are concrete lined, in order to deliver irrigation water to about 150,000 acres within its irrigation service area.

Irrigation Leader

TID, like a lot of other state agencies and cities, has to figure out what kind of governance [of groundwater resources] is in the best interest of our customers. We are looking forward to working with others to develop a sustainability plan to ensure that the subbasin remains sustainable. The Turlock Subbasin is a high priority basin for the state. There has been overdraft on the east side of the subbasin, which is technically outside TID boundaries, but still has an impact on our groundwater resources. The year 2017 is not far off, so we are actively talking to cities and others in the subbasin to figure out what is going to be in all of our best interests. John Crotty: Is the district currently involved in any supply development projects? Casey Hashimoto: With the requirements of the Don Pedro relicensing, and environmentalists pushing for more water releases, the pie is only so big. Although we have been kicking around ideas to grow the pie, we are not pursuing anything officially at this time. With climate change, droughts will probably happen more often over time, so we are trying to think outside the box. However, we are in the process of modernizing our 100-year-old system. With all of the pressures on our water supply, it is necessary to make our system as efficient as possible. Through a legislative mandate, SBx7-7, we are

required to measure the water the growers use. With the task of measuring 2,000-plus side gates, we have employed a combination of automatic gates and hand measurements. We have installed several Rubicon slip and flume meters on system turnouts. This winter, we began installation of a pilot project using Rubicon’s Total Channel Control technology to automate our part of our canal system. We have a gravity system that is designed to spill, but if we capture that water by automating drops, it will help conserve water. John Crotty: What is the most important thing you have learned as a manager of a district with significant water and power distribution systems? Casey Hashimoto: My central tenet is to be fair to all of our customers. You do not want to pit one group against another—you have to do the best job you can to serve them both equally. Our electric customers want reliable power, so we have to make sure our upgrades are prudent and improve reliability. The same is true with our irrigators. Like with the Rubicon installation, we have to show our growers the value of system upgrades— more stable water flows, the ability to open and close gates from your smartphone—these things have to serve our customers’ needs. With every decision, we keep the customer in mind.

An aerial view of the Don Pedro Project, the crown jewel of TID’s water and power operations. The project is in the midst of a multi-year federal relicensing process.

Irrigation Leader

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Water Law

Seeking Sustainability for California Groundwater By Mark W. Cowin After decades of debate, California lawmakers this year adopted far-reaching new laws to bring the state’s critically important groundwater basins into a sustainable regime of pumping and recharge. This change in water management—the most important in several generations—promises a profound payoff. Groundwater helps make California the richest agricultural producer in the nation, and it serves as the savings account that cities and farmers tap during inevitable drought. Groundwater on average makes up about a third of California’s water supply, and without it, the state could not fuel its nearly $2 trillion annual economy, including our $43 billion annual agricultural industry. But our economy is based in part on borrowing against our future—we continue to overtap our groundwater. In addition, our reliance on groundwater will continue to increase as our population grows, land use patterns change, and climate change shrinks the Sierra Nevada snowpack. We are at a point where every drop counts. We have formally managed surface water supplies for a century. But unrestrained groundwater use has been the rule except in areas where the courts have intervened. In some parts of California, groundwater has been pumped at destructively high levels for decades. Subsidence—the sinking of land elevations—has damaged roads, canals, and other infrastructure. California endured a third year of drought in 2014, and groundwater levels reached all-time historical lows in most areas of the state: the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, South Coast, Central Coast, and the Coachella and Antelope Valleys. While local leadership has had good success in a number of areas, on the whole, our collective management of groundwater resources is simply not working. Until 2014, progress toward more sustainable groundwater management had moved incrementally, largely with improved groundwater-level data collection and voluntary groundwater planning and management. Last summer, with hundreds of thousands of acres of California farmland fallowed for lack of water and rural residents struggling with dry wells, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. worked with the California legislature to craft the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. The Approximately 2,700 gallons per minute of groundwater discharging from a production well into a nearby agricultural canal.

Irrigation Leader

act establishes a new structure for to acknowledge how groundwater managing California’s groundwater. is connected to all other water The governor’s strongly held belief resources and uses. The act will force that groundwater is best managed at a more realistic dialogue and more the local level underpins the act. serious consideration of the other Developing the act was not investments we need, including without controversy, with some new storage projects that allow us interests concerned about creation of to capture more water in wet years, a new regulatory bureaucracy and a which can be used to replenish our fear that the state would be eager to aquifers. exert control over local groundwater The governor’s five-year Water basins. The act essentially says Action Plan, released in January that our best chance of achieving 2014, describes this broader view of sustainable, dependable groundwater what we need to meet the demands supplies is for each basin to be of the future. It spells out the managed successfully at the local challenges and the decisive actions level. Local leaders (county boards needed now to put California on of supervisors, city councils, and the path to more sustainable water water district boards of directors) resources: make conservation a will decide how best to organize and way of life, ensure that each region take charge. Each basin will form does all it can to put its own water its own groundwater sustainability resources to efficient use, protect agency to manage any basin and restore important ecosystems, identified by the state as “medium” and expand water storage or “high” priority, with special capacity. Sustainable groundwater attention to those basins subject to management is an essential pillar of conditions of critical overdraft. The the plan. act gives authority to local agencies The payoff, especially for our to restrict pumping if necessary to children and grandchildren, could bring chronically overdrafted basins be immense. Getting to sustainable into balance. The law provides other groundwater management will take management tools as well. decades, and we need to start now. The state’s primary role will be This will not be easy, but many to provide guidance and technical local leaders have told me they are support on how to plan for a more ready to step up. If we can manage sustainable future. The state only our groundwater so that it is Approximate point of maximum subsidence will step in on an interim basis available for future generations while in the San Joaquin Valley, California. Land when—but only when—local balancing the more immediate needs surface subsided ~9 m from 1925 to 1977 due agencies fail to exercise their of our economy and environment, to aquifer-system compaction. Signs on the responsibilities as set forth in the telephone pole indicate the former elevations we will be in a much better position of the land surface in 1925 and 1955. (U.S. legislation. to cope with drought, climate Geological Survey.) The two agencies primarily change, and growing demand. charged with implementing the act, the Department of Water Resources and the State Mark W. Cowin was reappointed Water Resources Control Board, recognize that every director for the California Department groundwater basin is different and that solutions must be of Water Resources by Governor tailored to each basin and its users. My department and Edmund G. Brown Jr. on April other state agencies are ready to provide assistance, and the 13, 2012. Mr. Cowin has extensive water bond passed by California voters last month includes experience with California water $100 million for local and regional groundwater planning resources management. He has served and projects. as director of the Department of Water The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act is Resources since 2010 and has worked about much more than groundwater. As we consider what there since 1981. it will take to manage our groundwater sustainably, we need Irrigation Leader

The Innovators

40 Years of Innovation and Experience: Reinke’s Vice President of Engineering John Davis

ohn Davis, PE, has been with Reinke for 41 years, overseeing engineering in the trailer and chassis divisions and the mechanized agricultural irrigation division. John has a bachelor of science in agricultural engineering from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL). He grew up on a farm in York County, Nebraska, on land that was graded and flood irrigated. John is adamant that the thing that sold pivot systems to farmers in York County was high-school graduation. In other words, the sons and daughters left for college. Irrigation Leader’s editorin-chief, Kris Polly, spoke to John Davis about his 41 years in the pivot irrigation business, the Reinke company, and the future of pivot irrigation. Kris Polly: How long have you been with Reinke? John Davis: I started in June 1973 right out of college. This was my first job. I joke with the younger staff here that I started when water was the new technology. I have spent my entire professional career with Reinke. I came here from UNL. Company founder, Richard Reinke, was an entrepreneur in every sense of the word and a pioneer of the center-pivot industry. He knew how to encourage new ideas and get things

A young John Davis with company founder Richard Reinke.

done. At the time, there were about 50 people on board. The company had other products at that time; Reinke produced hauling trailers for on-farm anhydrous ammonia fertilizer. The pivot business developed out Reinke’s other ventures. It was exciting to join his company and be a part of that. That excitement quickly became part of my psychology. It is in my blood. It has been a great place to work. Kris Polly: What was it like to work with Mr. Reinke? John Davis: He was a very interesting gentleman. He had no formal engineering training. With an eighth-grade education, he taught himself the fundamentals of structural engineering. He had a mechanical mind and was a very good engineer—he had the knack for it. He was someone who did a lot of reading, a lot of studying, and a lot of thinking. That is something we are getting away from. Some things you just have to figure out on your own. When I came on the scene, he had accumulated similarly talented people around him and didn’t think too highly of college-educated engineers. I was the first person on board with a bachelor’s degree in engineering.

John at work. Irrigation Leader

Kris Polly: It is my impression that Reinke invests locally and invests in its people. John Davis: That is very true. The Reinke family is very focused on the community and the people who work for them. Our people are active locally, working in their churches and their communities. Kris Polly: What are you most proud of looking back over your career with Reinke? John Davis: I am most proud of the fact that, as part of this organization, we were able to make use of people’s talents here in way that may not have happened in other companies or organizations. We have accomplished all we have—being an industry leader—with practical knowledge, hard work, and good people. I am also very proud of our work developing an all-aluminum version of the center pivot called the Alumigator. That was my first real big project, and I brought in new technology with the use of aluminum structural parts. Another project that was a challenge and had a real impact was the development of an efficient swing-arm corner system. Kris Polly: What advice do you have for young engineers coming out of college today? John Davis: That is a tough question, because they are entering such a different world. Young engineers have greater access to tools and more exposure to the engineering world than when I graduated. And they have so much more capability.

But the basic principles remain the same: They need to respect the knowledge of others and listen to their colleagues. Strong communication skills require listening as much as the ability to express your own ideas. Sometimes that is difficult to learn early in your career. It is also important to think through problems. It is easy to rely on computer programs—and don’t get me wrong, those are great tools—but it is important to think through different scenarios and alternatives. There is a lot of hard work associated with the creation and development of new products. Kris Polly: What is the future for pivot irrigation? John Davis: Increasing efficiencies with new technology: energy efficiency—how much energy is required to get the water on the crop; uniformity—the efficiency of water use; and cost efficiency—ensuring that products are a good investment. The pivot business in Nebraska was built upon the state, like much of the country, being laid out in standard quarter section land parcels. As international markets continue to develop, we are going to have to understand the differences in farming practices and conditions in developing nations and accommodate for those differences in the development of our equipment. That may lead to the development of products that do not look like traditional center-pivot systems. That gets back to the core concept of thinking things through and addressing how products really work in the field.

Reinke's original Electrogator circa 1968. Irrigation Leader

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ADVERTISEMENT ProductS & ServiceS Guide

Volume 1 Issue 2

Fall 2014

Keith Denos: Provo Irrigators Benefit from Canal Enclosure Project Targeting Challenges of Urbanization

ProductS & Services Guide Since our debut issue of Irrigation Leader magazine in October 2010, we have followed a simple rule with regard to advertising: We only advertise those projects and service that are already being used by an irrigation district or water-providing entity. Our readers appreciate this standard, and our advertisers have greatly benefited. We have learned that it is important for irrigation districts and water-providing entities to know that others are using a product or service they are considering purchasing. The Irrigation Leader Products & Services Guide provides an easily accessible, visual listing of those products and services that are used by irrigation districts and water-providing entities today.

Irrigation Leader

3rd ANNUAL

IRRIGATION LEADER OPERATIONS and MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP Sponsored by Irrigation Leader Magazine

Phoenix, Arizona — February 4–5, 2015 IRRIGATION LEADER magazine is sponsoring the 3rd Annual Operations and Management Workshop with a theme of “Reducing Costs/Investing Wisely.” The purpose of the workshop is to provide an opportunity for general managers and directors of irrigation districts to discuss and exchange information on a variety of district operational and management-related issues, build out-of-state working relationships, and learn from their peers. The issues and topics will be selected by general managers and board directors and will pertain directly to the management and improvement of irrigation districts. Discussions will feature case studies with general managers sharing their experiences alongside product or service vendors who were directly involved.

TENTATIVE AGENDA WEDNESDAY, February 4 1:00 p.m. Obamacare Requirements: Options for Irrigation Districts and Water Agencies 2:00 p.m. Wellness Programs to Reduce Medical Expenses 3:00 p.m. Break 3:30 p.m. Boosting Employee Morale With Positive Reinforcement 5:00 p.m. Hosted reception THURSDAY, February 5 8:00 a.m. Reducing Risk/Insurance Costs 9:00 a.m. Canal Safety Progra.m.s 10:00 a.m. Break 10:30 a.m. Buying Pipe — Lessons Learned 12:00 p.m. Lunch provided 1:30 p.m. Financing Major Projects: Bonds, Grants, and Assessments 3:00 p.m. Break 3:30 p.m. Open Forum Topics include: • Enforcing right-of-ways • District drug policies in states with legalized marijuana • Manager succession plans 5:00 p.m. Hosted reception ONLINE REGISTRATION: Registration for the Operations and Management Workshop is located at www.WaterStrategies.com. Please complete and submit the online form as soon as possible, as space will be limited. Should you have a particular topic you would like discussed during the Open Forum at the meeting, please add it to the registration form in the space provided. Should you have other ideas for the workshop, please share those as well. Updates of the agenda will be provided as registrations are received. HOTEL RESERVATIONS: We have reserved a block of rooms at the Radisson Phoenix Airport Hotel located at 427 N. 44th Street, Phoenix, Arizona 85008. This hotel is ranked on www.tripadvisor.com as #14 of 174 hotels in Phoenix. The hotel has availability at $141.00 per night plus tax. This rate includes full buffet breakfast, complimentary airport shuttle service, complimentary Internet service, and free parking. To make your reservations, please call (800) 333-3333 or (602) 220-4400 no later than Friday, January 16. Please tell the agent that you are attending the Irrigation Leader Workshop to obtain this special rate. QUESTIONS: Please contact Kris Polly at (703) 517-3962 or Kris.Polly@WaterStrategies.com.

Thank you for your time. We hope to see you in Phoenix.

2014 CALENDAR December 2–5

Assn. of California Water Agencies, Fall Conference & Exhibition, San Diego, CA

December 3–5

North Dakota Water Convention and Irrigation Workshop, Bismarck, ND

December 3–5

Washington State Water Resources Assn., Annual Conference, Spokane, WA

December 10–12

Colorado River Water Users Assn., Annual Conference, Las Vegas, NV

January 6–8

Groundwater Management District Assn., Annual Meeting, Scottsdale, AZ

January 14–16

Four States Irrigation Council, Annual Meeting, Fort Collins, CO

January 13–14

National Water Resources Assn., Leadership Forum, Las Vegas, NV

January 20–22

Idaho Water Users Assn., Annual Convention, Boise, ID

January 28–30

Colorado Water Congress, Annual Convention, Denver, CO

February 3–5

Texas Water Conservation Assn., Texas Water Day, Washington, DC

February 4–5

Irrigation Leader, Annual Operations Management Workshop, Phoenix, AZ

February 19–20

Multi-State Salinity Coalition, Annual Salinity Summit, Las Vegas, NV

February 19–20

Family Farm Alliance, Annual Meeting & Conference, Las Vegas, NV

February 25–26

Assn. of California Water Agencies, Washington Conference, Washington, DC

For more information on advertising in Irrigation Leader magazine, or if you would like a water event listed here, please phone (703) 517-3962 or e-mail Irrigation.Leader@waterstrategies.com. Submissions are due the first of each month preceding the next issue.

Past issues of Irrigation Leader are archived at