Energy Continued from Page 1
incentives provided by a federal tax cred- it. And, under California power-gener- ation policies, solar customers who produce their own energy can receive financial credits for unused power their systems provide to the electrical grid. “With the creation of Net Energy Metering Aggregation, where customers can accumulate multiple accounts and offset them against a single renewable generating facility, farmers and ranchers have been able to create sustainable op- erations and choose optimum locations for the facility that doesn’t impair their productive acres,” said Karen Norene Mills, California FarmBureau director of legal services. The Ca l i f orn i a Pub l i c Ut i l i t i es Commission has been considering roll- ing back long-termfinancial benefits that purchasers of solar power have counted on under the net-metering program. An issue in PUCproceedings is wheth- er the programwill retain, cut back or kill a benefit to solar power customers that allows them to sell unused power to util- ities for 20 years. Mills said the California FarmBureau is fully engaged in themat- ter and is arguing for the current policies to remain intact. Barcel los said he is worr ied that “the return on investment window is get- ting tighter and tighter.” Specific to water, Aghajanzadeh said irrigation remains very energy inten- sive for farmers, and the transition from
flood to more pressurized irrigation has increased power demands—especially for those who rely more on groundwater due to cuts in surface-water supplies. But new energy solutions are in the works. One effort, called “Project Nexus,” involves placing solar panels over San Joaquin Valley canals to produce renew- able energy, conserve farmland and re- duce water evaporation. The project is a partnership among Turlock Irrigation District; University of California,Merced; and others. “Project Nexus, with 5 megawatts of solar power, will help TID move closer to meeting clean energy goals and allow the district to study the scalability of the project across our 250 miles of canals, which could remove the need for ex- pensive land purchases for large-scale solar projects,” said TID External Affairs Manager Josh Weimer. “As we’re in the midst of a third consecutive dry year, any and all water savings are beneficial toTID and the state.” Another step, Aghajanzadeh said, is to incentivize farmers to shift irrigation loads frommidday hours, when there is excess solar, and make it easier for the grid in the evening. He said “flexible irrigation” would be more cost effective than storing electricity in batteries. Groundwater storage can also be another form of a battery when water is moved to bolster aquifers so less energy is required to
pump it out of the ground, he said. Barcellos said flexible irrigation and shifting loads is not yet practical for farm- ers. At times irrigation is running 24/7, and irrigation systems would have to be redesigned to make this approach more effective, he said. Solar is another option. Farmers and food processors such as Mann Packing Co., a grower-packer-shipper in the Salinas Valley, are taking advantage of wind energy. Steve Sherr of FoundationWindpower, which constructed a 1.79megawatt wind turbine for Mann Packing in Gonzales, said, “Wind also happens to be a particu- larly valuable resource here inCalifornia, as it fills a need for energy generation during times of day when solar is no lon- ger available,” adding that wind requires a limited amount of land. Related to the state’s energy future, Barcellos said, “Agriculture has a role to play.” He said energy demands may lead to more specialized crops and cost-effi- cient water systems. “Cal i fornia farming r ight now is changing so fast and right in front of our eyes,” he said. “I’m not sure what five years or 10 years fromnowwill look like, but you have to be engaged in just about every space.” (Chr i s t ine Souza i s an ass i s tant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com.)
energy use is definitely a big deal. It’s one of those line items in the budget that we always check on.” With the ongoing drought and a reg- ulation that requires local agencies to balance groundwater supplies under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA, more farmers see renew- able energy as a source of income, espe- cially with farmland expected to go out of production. “Right now, agriculture has a huge role to play, especiallywith SGMA,” Barcellos said. “We knowwe’re going to be retiring lands that don’t have enough water, and there’s lots of interest in solar for those.” Arian Aghajanzadeh, an agriculture technology expert who founded Klimate Consulting inSanFrancisco, said farmers have a unique role to play in California’s energy future. “Agriculture and land use is the only sector of the economy that can transi- tion from becoming a major source of carbon emissions to becoming a major carbon sink” in reducing emissions, Aghajanzadeh said. “No other sector can achieve this.” The state’s electricity mix is already more than 60% carbon free. About 36% of that comes from renewable sources, predominantly solar and wind. Solar arrays dominate the on-farm growth of energy systems due in part to
CIMIS REPORT | www.cimis.water.ca.gov
CALIFORNIA IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM
For the week March 3 - March 9, 2022 ETO (INCHES/WEEK)
YEAR
3.0
THIS YEAR
2.5
LAST YEAR AVERAGE YEAR
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
MACDOEL II (236)
BIGGS (244)
DAVIS (06)
MANTECA (70)
FRESNO (80)
SALINAS-SOUTH (214)
FIVE POINTS (2)
SHAFTER (5)
TEMECULA (62)
IMPERIAL (87)
THIS YEAR LAST YEAR AVG. YEAR % FROM AVG.
.56 .82 .60 -7
.64 .79 .65 -5
.86 .92 .80 5
.83 .92 .75 11
.81 .77 .68 22
.90 .79 .68 30
.74 .81 .72 2
.82 .86 .73 9
.83 .60 .80 4
1.29 1.24 1.13 14
W eekly reference evapotranspiration (ETo) is the rate of water use (evapotranspiration—the sum of soil evaporation and crop transpiration) for healthy pasture grass. Multiplying ETo by the appropriate “crop coefficient” gives estimates of the ET for other crops. For example, assume ETo on June 15 is 0.267 inches and the crop coefficient for corn on that day is 1.1. Multiplying ETo by the coefficient (0.26 inches x 1.1) results in a corn ET of 0.29 inches. This
information is useful in determining the amount and timing of irriga- tion water. Contact Richard Snyder, UC Davis, for information on coefficients, 530-752-4628. The 10 graphs provide weekly ETo rates for selected areas for average year, last year and this year. The ETo information is provided by the California Irrigation Management Information System (CIMIS) of the California Department of Water Resources.
For information contact the DWR district office or DWR state headquarters:
SACRAMENTO HEADQUARTERS: 916-651-9679 • 916-651-7218
NORTHERN REGION: Red Bluff 530-529-7301
NORTH CENTRAL REGION: West Sacramento 916-376-9630
SOUTH CENTRAL REGION:
SOUTHERN REGION:
Fresno 559-230-3334
Glendale 818-500-1645 x247 or x243
16 Ag Alert March 16, 2022
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