Apr 7, 2007

Irrigation Outlook Mixed

The irrigation outlook for 2005 is better than it has been in years, at least in Colorado.

The last few years, water levels have been low due to drought, but local growers are hoping the climate is entering a new cycle, one that includes more water.

“The last few years have been pretty tough,” said Kevin Kropp, who runs First Fruits Organic Farms in Paonia, Colo., with his brother, Kris. “We’ve had three or four years of moderate drought.”

Kropp’s farm grows sweet cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, pears and apples on 300 acres. To keep the fruit supplied with enough moisture, Kropp and his brother use more than one irrigation method, including flood, drip and microjet sprinkler systems.

Paonia receives an average of 10 to 15 inches of rain per year, which needs to be supplemented with irrigation. Most of the irrigation water comes from the state’s snow pack, which drains into nearby rivers. The snow pack looks good this year, which bodes well for the irrigation outlook, Kropp said.

Much depends on summer temperatures. If it’s a hot summer, water might disappear more quickly than anticipated. The farm has run short of water in the past, Kropp said.

Like Kropp, Bruce Talbott, co-owner of Talbott Farms in Palisade, Colo., gets most of his water from the state’s snow pack. His farm grows peaches, apples, winegrapes and pears on 300 acres.

“We survive on snowmelt,” he said. “The winter storm system determines our water availability.”

Snowmelt drains into the Colorado River, from which Talbott Farms draws most of its water. For the first time in six or seven years, available water should reach normal or slightly above normal levels, Talbott said.

“We have not had a spring runoff in two years, but this year we’ll get one,” he said. “The last few years, if we didn’t get late summer rains, we couldn’t finish the season. It’s kind of nice to relax a little.”

No matter how good the year, Talbott’s farm will always need irrigation. It gets about 8.5 inches of precipitation per year, and 10 percent to 20 percent humidity in the summer. Those conditions are great for pest control, but lousy for water, Talbott said.

“We put down four to five feet of water per year,” he said. “Everything is irrigated here. We don’t even grow good weeds if we don’t have irrigation water.”

The moisture outlook isn’t quite as good in The Dalles, Oregon, where Ken Bailey and his family run Orchard View Farms. Sweet cherries are the main crop of the 1,400-acre farm. All of the orchards are irrigated, Bailey said.

“Right now, soil moisture is below normal,” he said. “Mountain snow packs are significantly under average.”

Most of the area’s rain falls in winter. Irrigation season starts in April or May and runs through October. Bailey adds 20 to 30 inches of water to his crops every year. He uses micro sprinkler irrigation, applied every 10 to 14 days under normal conditions.

He anticipates his farm might need a little more irrigation water than normal this year.

“Most growers in the area are in the same position,” he said.

Despite the potential shortage, the farm’s water resources should be adequate to meet its needs. Most of its water comes from the Columbia River, but some comes out of deep wells, Bailey said.

“Other crops using surface streams will be in risk of not having enough water this year,” he said. “Wells don’t fluctuate as much. We’re pretty satisfied we’ll have enough supplies to meet our needs.”

Growers on the other side of the country haven’t faced drought conditions the last couple of years. If anything, there’s been too much water.

Extreme flooding last year wiped out all the crops at Lyda Farms in Hendersonville, N.C., said co-owner Deb Lyda.

The farm grows tomatoes, cabbage, sweet corn, peppers, beans, squash and cucumbers on about 80 acres. It combines plasticulture farming with drip irrigation, which seems to be the best method, Lyda said.

Irrigation conditions should be normal this year, she said.

Jeffrey Crist, co-owner of Crist Brothers Orchards in Walden, N.Y., said it would have been better if he hadn’t irrigated at all last year. His apple farm was irrigated last June, but heavy rains the rest of the season led to an overabundance of water, which saturated the ground.

He refused to speculate on the irrigation outlook for this year.

“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be growing,” he said. “I haven’t studied long-term forecasts for this growing season. I haven’t found them valuable.”