Almonds have received a lot of criticism this year over the gallon of water that goes into producing each nut. Last week, the Almond Board of California made an announcement that could help change the image of the one million acres of almonds covering the state to one that’s less affiliated with California’s water problem, and more affiliated with its solution.
This winter the Almond Board is planning to research how almond farmers can recharge the state’s groundwater supply. The project hinges on this year’s predicted El Niño rains and would mainly just require the farmer to irrigate more than usual, says Daniel Mountjoy with the nonprofit Sustainable Conservation, which is partnering with the Almond Board on the project.
“It’s just putting on more water than the crop needs when water is available,” Mountjoy said.
Mountjoy said before Californians started farming, heavy rains would cause rivers to overflow. The water would spill out across the land and seep down into the state’s aquifers. Today, he said the state’s vast system of levees and canals keeps excess water in check, limiting groundwater recharge.
“We’ve lost all of that surface area that once captured run off and helped recharge the groundwater,” he said. “So this project, or this approach, is actually helping re-engineer the system to help put that water back on the land to replenish the groundwater so in dry years we can pump it and in wet years we can replenish it.”
Volunteer farmers in the San Joaquin Valley will test out the idea. Researchers with the project will identify which almond acreage in the state is the most suitable for groundwater recharge, based on soil type, presence or absence of clay layers, and whether or not the water table beneath the trees has room to rise. Researchers will also look into how the extra water applications affect the almond trees, and if there’s a possibility residual fertilizers could be washed into the aquifers.
Similar studies will also be taking place on other types of farmland, including testing the possibility of groundwater recharge on lands in production with pistachios and grapes, as well as on fallowed agricultural lands.
