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<h2>Farmer-funded water research criticized</h2>
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<br>
OAKLAND
<br>
December 4, 2011 9:01pm
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<p>• It used old theories of water-use efficiency, says new study
</p>
<p>• ‘It is time to move away from a focus on practices that only
produce ‘new’ water or new supplies’
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A paper released in November by Fresno State University’s Center for
Irrigation Technology and paid for at least in part by Central
Valley farmers and the Bureau of Reclamation, is being criticized by
scientists on the other side of the water allocation question.
<p style="padding-bottom:6px;"> </p>
<p style="padding-bottom:6px;"> The earlier report concluded that
farmers have nearly exhausted conservation methods of agricultural
use of irrigation water in the Central Valley and only new
supplies of water will stave off economic disaster. </p>
<p style="padding-bottom:6px;"> </p>
<p style="padding-bottom:6px;"> <i>(Please see the link at the end
of this story for the earlier CVBT article, which includes an
audio recording of the study’s authors’ press conference.)</i></p>
<p style="padding-bottom:6px;"> </p>
<p style="padding-bottom:6px;"> But the Fresno State paper “uses old
theories of water-use efficiency to argue that the potential to
improve efficiency of water use in California agriculture is
tiny,” says Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute in
Oakland, which describes itself as “a nonpartisan research
institute that works to advance environmental protection, economic
development, and social equity.”</p>
<p style="padding-bottom:6px;"> </p>
<p style="padding-bottom:6px;"> In a peer-reviewed paper published
by the journal Water International, which also published the
earlier study, Mr. Gleick, and two colleagues at the institute,
Juliet Christian-Smith, senior research associate and Heather
Cooley, program co-director, write that “common water conservation
practices – including urban indoor and outdoor efficiency
programs, precision irrigation systems, improvements in soil
moisture monitoring and management, deficit irrigation, and other
approaches – have enormous potential to conserve water.”</p>
<p style="padding-bottom:6px;"> </p>
<p style="padding-bottom:6px;"> They criticize the Fresno State
paper as pushing a “one-size-fits-all” solution to water
management and offering “simplistic, ‘universal’ answers.”</p>
<p style="padding-bottom:6px;"> </p>
<p style="padding-bottom:6px;"> The Pacific Institute authors say
that water conservation and efficiency practices should be
considered along with increased water storage, water recycling,
desalination, and other choices to reduce pressures on scarce
water supplies. </p>
<p style="padding-bottom:6px;"> </p>
<p style="padding-bottom:6px;"> “It is time to move away from a
focus on practices that only produce ‘new’ water or new supplies,
on theories that ignore or underestimate co-benefits, and on
narrow definitions of conservation and efficiency that
misrepresent the potential for improvements in other measures of
productivity and environmental sustainability,” they write.</p>
<p style="padding-bottom:6px;"> </p>
<p style="padding-bottom:6px;"> In a separate column published in
the San Francisco Chronicle Sunday, Mr. Gleick says “there is
great untapped potential to increase the productivity of
California agriculture while reducing water and energy use,
reducing serious water-quality contamination in the Central
Valley, and increasing the reliability of water supplies during
droughts and other water shortages.” </p>
<p>
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