Drought conditions spur tour of rain-starved valley

Tim Reed and Heath Potter are used to visiting farmland covered with lively rows of flourishing crops.

Reed, the Alabama Cooperative Extension coordinator for Franklin County, and Potter, regional Extension agent for northwest Alabama, can usually make a short drive to one of the local farms to get a close view of crops that are reaping the benefits of plenty of water and care.

But because of severe drought conditions in north Alabama, they recently had to travel to central California to see just that.

The two took part in a water-use efficiency tour of the San Joaquin Valley near Fresno, Calif. The tour provided them with an opportunity to see how farmers survive in an area that receives as little as two to four inches of rain a year.

"Every drop of water that their crops get is supplied," Potter said. "We are in a serious drought right now, but at least we get a few inches of rain each month. Out there, they don't receive any."

The federal government constructed a series of dams and canals in the 1960s to provide water to the valley. The Westlands Water District provides water to Fresno and King county farmers who produce crops that put more than $3.5 billion into the local economy.

More than 90 percent of the water delivered from the water district is used for irrigation purposes.

In north Alabama, most farmers rely on rain, with few having irrigation systems in place to help with crop growth.

Reed said California farmers pay from $50 to $200 per acre-foot for water. An acre-foot is enough water to cover one acre of land with one foot of water or about 300,000 gallons of water.

Although the farmers pay for the water, they know that they will be able to produce crops.

"Farmers sell it and farmers buy it, but they know they have access to the water," Potter said. "Water is a precious, precious resource."

Only a small percentage of farmers in Franklin, Lawrence, Colbert and Lauderdale counties use irrigation techniques, he said.

One farmer who does is Neal Isbell, of Muscle Shoals.

Isbell operates a farm in Cherokee and uses several types of irrigation.

"With the drought we are in right now, it's vitally important," Isbell said.

The advent of precision agriculture allows farmers to tell which parts of a field need water and which do not.

"That's an unarguable success," Potter said. "I think in the next five years, it will mean the difference in who is successful and who isn't."

Most years, irrigation systems in the Tennessee Valley could be used as supplemental systems. Conditions this summer, however, are different.

"Right now, it's 100 percent irrigation," Isbell said.

One particular farm in the San Joaquin Valley that they visited has 120,000 acres. In contrast, Reed said there are only about 100,000 acres of irrigated farmland in the state of Alabama.

"You will see more and more people who have access to water sources begin to use irrigation methods," Reed said. "In a year like this, you would still be able to produce some yield."

Isbell said the perfect solution to helping area farmers is already here -- the Tennessee River.

"The Tennessee Valley has a golden opportunity to provide water if we just had the infrastructure," he said. "We have the Tennessee River and we just are not using that water to feed the nation."

Isbell said state and federal officials have talked about putting some type of infrastructure in place to help provide water from the river to farmers, at least as a supplemental source, but there is nothing close to happening at the time.

There are more than 1,000 miles of underground pipes used to provide water to the San Joaquin Valley. A large portion of that water flows from mountains a great distance from the Central Valley project.

"We have the Tennessee River flowing right through here," Potter said.

Potter and Reed will share some of the things they learned from the tour with local farmers to help educate them on irrigation practices.

It may be too little, too late this year, however.

"It would take 14 to 30 inches of rain to get us out of this drought," Potter said.

TimesDaily Staff Writer Jonathan Willis can be reached at 332-0140 or jonathan.willis@timesdaily.com.