Soledad farm explores new irrigation methods after month of little rain
SOLEDAD, Calif. (KION) Lately, help from Mother Nature simply wasn't an option for farmers like Mark Mason. Mason runs Nature's Reward Farm in Soledad and has dealt with a recent lack of rain on the Central Coast.
"We would like to not use our wells if we don't have to. Free water from Mother Nature is by far better," said Mason.
Weeks of no rain meant Mason had to take a different approach to irrigation. "The biggest thing right now is that we would have to pre-irrigate before we plant our crops," said Mason.
Pre-irrigation is most commonly seen in the form of giant sprinklers. Nature's Reward is already taking advantage of theirs to prepare fields for winter crops like broccoli and cauliflower, but the supply of water is not unlimited.
"The Nacimiento and San Antontio dams recharge at the Salinas River, which recharges our wells. When we don't have rain that recharge is especially important," said Grower Shipper Association Vice President, Abby Taylor-Silva.
Three years ago the Grower Shipper Association helped form the Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency. Their job is to manage drought situations and keep an eye on water supply.
"It's going to be really important that we keep track of rain levels and understand what will go on into the future," said Taylor-Silva.
Nature's Reward has already worked to be sustainable in their own use of water. Soledad hasn't even had 3/4 of an inch of rain since the new year, but Mason said they are making due.
"We've done some cultural practices where if we've had rain on the beds we will not break those beds. We try to conserve that moisture. That way, when we're ready to plant, we have moisture in the beds that is leftover from the rain that we had in the fall," said Mason.
