Water has always been a precious commodity in Imperial County. With rainfall averaging less than 3 inches per year, this arid desert region depends on irrigation water from the Colorado River to continue its production of over 100 different commodities on its deep, rich soil. While water flowed has freely since the early 1900's, water transfers and growing metropolitan cities have put increased pressures on Imperial County to conserve and meet the demands of the future. Imperial County is the top producer of Alfalfa in California, and it is one of the top commodities in Imperial County, with over 150,000 acres of alfalfa harvested annually and shipped across the world. Alfalfa has also been Imperial Valley's biggest user of water as well as IV's most valuable field crop, with a gross value of $218 million in 2018 according to the Imperial County Crop Report.

Dr. Aliasghar Montazar joined UCCE on June 1, 2017, as an Irrigation and Water Management Advisor. His research has included irrigation management of Alfalfa; a crop typically irrigated through flood irrigation. Because of Ali Montazar's work on utilizing subsurface drip irrigation and improved irrigation water management in alfalfa at UC DREC, growers reduced water and fertilizer uses by 25% and 10%, respectively, and increased alfalfa hay yields by 28%.

The scientific findings from UCDREC and UCCE will continue to play a critical role in forming successful solutions to Imperial Valleys emerging water issues related to agriculture and alfalfa.

For more information on DREC and its educational program, please contact our Center Director, Jairo Diaz at jdiazr@ucanr.edu or our Farm Smart Program Manager, Stacey Amparano, at scwills@ucanr.edu. You can also reach us at (760)356-3060

 

Further reading/viewing:

The Early History of Water in Imperial Valley: Video

Early History of Water in Imperial Valley- Presentation and Study Guide