Ag does its share to save water

EID offers an Irrigation Management Service (IMS) program to its commercial agricultural-metered irrigation customers, at no charge. The program monitors soil conditions and provides irrigation recommendations to growers with five or more acres in production.

The District currently monitors the soil moisture conditions at approximately 300 field sites that are read weekly during the irrigation season. Each grower receives an individualized computer printout the following day. The printout indicates soil moisture status, predicts the next scheduling, and recommends the amount of water to apply to each field.

The program also provides weather data from the California Irrigation Management Information Service (CIMIS) station located in the District near the community of Camino.

The water savings realized by growers who particpate in the IMS program equal more than 2000 acre-feet every year. Irrigation efficiency has risen from less than 50% to nearly 80% on farms in the program.