Demystifying Water Conservation from California Agriculture

Thursday, May 13, 2010 - 2:00 p.m. to Friday, May 14, 2010 - 2:55 p.m.
Engineering Hall 2430 Colloquia Room
Environmental Engineering Seminar Series

Featuring Dan Howes, P.E.

Senior Engineer

Irrigation Training and Research Center

Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo



Abstract:

In this presentation, Howes will discuss issues related to on-farm irrigation; providing background on more conventional irrigation methods such as furrow and border strip, the conversion to drip and microspray, and some of the related constraints faced by farmers.  There are a number of myths associated with these technologies.  One of these myths is related to the actual statewide benefits from increasing on-farm irrigation efficiency in the Central Valley.  Some believe that improving on-farm efficiency in the Central Valley will increase the amount of water that can be used for other purposes, such as environmental and urban uses.  Howes will examine the interaction between surface and groundwater in the Central Valley related to agriculture to discredit this belief. While on-farm efficiency improvement can unquestionably have a positive effect on water quality, these improvements will have no impact on the State’s water shortage.  With this understanding, Californians can have technically correct discussions on fixing the State’s water quantity problem.



About the Speaker:

Dan Howes grew up on a small farm south of Fresno, Calif. He obtained a B.S. degree in agricultural systems and environment from U.C. Davis in 1997, studying the application and impacts of conventional, sustainable, and organic farming.  He obtained an M.S. degree in water engineering in 2001 from Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo. Howes has worked for the Irrigation Training and Research Center at Cal Poly SLO as a senior engineer for the last 10 years, primarily on projects in the western U.S., with some international work. Projects have ranged from individual agricultural field level to statewide investigation, examining issues such as evaporation from irrigated agriculture, statewide agricultural water energy use, and irrigation district modernization. Over more than 12 years in the irrigation sector, Howes has personally visited over 30 irrigation districts throughout California and over a dozen in other states, with the focus on improving water delivery operations through infrastructure modernization.



Howes is a graduate student in the research group of Brett Sanders, Ph.D., professor of civil and environmental engineering, focusing on improving flow measurement accuracy of acoustic Doppler velocity meters in open channels.