Where's The Water: Watershed Magazine

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Where’s The Water?


North County Farmer

What do you enjoy about agriculture? I enjoy the physical nature of farming. I enjoy to work outdoors. I also like to see how fruit grow.I enjoy produce production. How does farming affect you? Farming limits my ability to travel. It demands 12 months a yearand 7 days a week monitoring it. Farming brings extra income to my family. Farming has taught me to be more patient. It is physically demanding. To work with a food source gives me a sense of independence.The ability to produce something that we all need to survive is special. How does water come in to play with farming for you? Water is the biggest factor that dictates my farming.I have had to let Trees die because water prices have skyrocketed and the last 3 years have been very difficult for some trees. I am slowly changing the produce I farm. I no longer grow apricots. and will soon stop growing peaches. Last year was a very dry season. Fruit trees depend on a "wet" winter to expand theirroots and stay healthy. Avocado trees are easier. If you soak their roots around the base of the tree and give them plenty of mixed organic nutrition the fare pretty well with dry winters. What would you want the public to know about water use or about your area of expertise? I like the public to know that our water system that supplies water to local growers in California is old and outdated. Water is a public utility and as a citizen you do have some say to any new rule or regulation and how it is managed, I want the public to know that water is a precious resource. Water dictates how we live and what we do. In Southern California we grow Citrus and Avocados because the sandy nature of the soil and the dry condition allows for theses trees to grow and be happy. The climate here is perfect for those trees. I also grow Pears. bartlett pears. Pear trees are very hard to establish in our climate. But once the tree is established. It produces a lot of fruit and is pretty easy to manage. I want to encourage everyone that have a small area of land to study the fruit tree they plan plant. It is very fulfilling.

When and why did you start farming? I started farming in 2006 when I bought land that had a producing fruit grove. It was challenging a first. I knew very little about what trees need. Do you think you're an expert farmer? No, I am not an expert farmer. I am a novice farmer that has learned to farm by trial and error. How much time do you put into Farming a week? I put in about 40 hrs per week The dormant season for the stone producing fruits is long and it does not require much more than monitoring. Citrus trees grows and producing year around. They are easy trees but they are many pests that can infest them and destroy much of the crop. Why do you continue to farm, what keeps you going? I continue farming because there is so much to learn. I know it teaches my children good values. It is a hobby in a sense that allows me to do what I love to do. I love to work outdoors with horses and my garden. I have another full time job. I am a an Registered nurse. I work with people that are in facing the sunset of their lives, I bring them fruit from my farm. Fruit that is growing and smells so good.To be able to those things keeps me going despite the challenges. How does water come in to play with farming for you? Water is the biggest factor that dictates my farming.I have had to let Trees die because water prices have skyrocketed and the last 3 years have been very difficult for some trees. I am slowly changing the produce I farm. I no longer grow apricots. and will soon stop growing peaches. Last year was a very dry season. Fruit trees depend on a "wet" winter to expand their roots and stay healthy. Avocado trees are easier. If you soak their roots around o the base of the tree and give them plenty of mixed organic nutrition the fare pretty well with dry winters. What would you want the public to know about water use or about your area of expertise? I like the public to know that our water system that supplies water to local growers in California is old and outdated. Water is a public utility and as a citizen you do have some say to any new rule or regulation and how it is managed, I want the public to know that water is a precious resource. Water dictates how we live and what we do. In Southern California we grow Citrus and Avocados because the sandy nature of the soil and the dry condition allows for theses trees to grow and be happy. The climatehere is perfect for those trees. I also grow Pears. bartlett pears. Pear trees are very hard to establish in our climate. But once the tree is established. It produces a lot of fruit and is pretty easy to manage. I want to encourage everyone that have a small area of land to study the fruit tree they plan plant. It is very fulfilling.


How to sAVE WATER




Water usage

Water in California is shared across three main sectors. Throughout California, the average water use is approximately 40% agricultural, 50% environmental, and 10% urban. But the percentage of water use by sector varies extremely across regions depending on whether or not it is a wet or dry year. A portion of the water used by each of the three sectors returns to groundwater basins rivers, so they can be used again later. Environmental water provides multiple benefits. There are four categories of environmental water use: water in rivers, water that is used for upkeeping habitat within streams, water that supports wildlife preserves, and water needed for water quality for agricultural and urban use. Most water that is specific to the environment doesn’t affect the use of other types of water. More than half of California’s environmental water use is rivers along the northern coast. This water is held separate from the agricultural and urban areas and because it can’t be used for any other purpose. Where the water is shared in three sectors by the rest of California, environmental is not the main use of water. Even Though The Population Is Growing, Urban Water Use Isn’t The Bay area and the South Coast are responsible for most the urban water use in California. These regions rely almost entirely on water brought to them from other parts of the state. Even though the population is growing, the total use of urban water has remained pretty constant for the past twenty years. It is found that the coastal regions of California use significantly less water than the inland regions, almost entirely because there is less need for landscape watering. The Drought Is Presenting A Large Amount Of Water Use Problems In the Central Valley, the most water is used and the failure to correctly manage the groundwater limits its availability as a water reserve for droughts. The increase in agriculture and crops, which need to be watered constantly every year, has made the conservation of water even more difficult. In urban areas, the biggest way to conserve water is to lessen or stop landscape irrigation. State and federal officials have to make difficult decisions about how to use the water and what to use it on to start helping the environment during a drought. They need to balance the short term economic effects on water users against long term harm of the environment.


Water Use Interview by Xayna Melendez

Kalea Miyoshi

What is your name and age? Kalea Miyoshi, 15. What do you know about the drought and how aware of it are you? my opinion about the drought is that it’s pretty awful and it’s been going on for years and I know some things about it. Like we are running out of water and we were selfish, unreliable, and unpredictable with our water. We didn’t really think about the future which is why we’re in such a drought. Also, because we live in California and it never rains here because we don’t have a lot of differnt types of weather here. How much water do you think that you use in a day? How much water do you think the average American uses per day? I don’t know, I’ve never really thought about it. I think that whatever number I say, you’ll probably tell me it’s a lot more but I can’t really think of a number that seems suitable. I might think I use somewhere around 50 gallons but it could be a lot higher. (The average American uses 80-100 gallons of water per day.) Oh, wow. I guess it’s crazy how much water you use without realising it. I thought it would be around 40 or 50 and now that I think about it, it could definitely be more. There’s so many things that use water that you don’t even realise are using water. It’s become so normalised I think. What do you think uses the most water that is a common household item or action? I think probably showers and baths? Just because some people aren’t paying attention to their water use and so they don’t pay attention to how much water is in their bath or how long they are running their showers. Also probably watering your lawn and washing your car even though you don’t do those everyday. I think that dishwashers, washing machines, and toilets also use a lot of water because those are things you use on an almost daily basis so I imagine those add up pretty quickly. Basically everything in your house I guess. Do you think that there’s any time you use excess water? I don’t think it’s something I do necessarily but there are some toilets that flush automatically and for some reason they’ll flush, like, three times and it’s really wasteful. I think a way that I waste water is that I leave the water running while I’m washing dishes. Even if I’m not doing anything, I just leave the water going the entire time. How do you think we could take steps toward fixing the drought? Prop 1. Actually, just kidding, that seems like a terrible idea I actually don’t support Prop 1 at all. But I think that conservation only goes so far and I think that eventually we’re going to have to find something that’s a long term solution as well as a short term solution because we need water now but we’re obviously still going to need water in the future so we kinda need something that is, in the best way, like a double edged sword. We need to have water now but we also want to have water in the future and I think a de-sal plant is the best solution right now. But I think that while that’s in progress we can have something else working to change our future.


Created By: Erik Lennox,Melina Aguinga Xayna Melendez


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