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2 CapitalPress.com February 5, 2016 Drip irrigation proves to be a water saver By HEATHER SMITH THOMAS For the Capital Press Courtesy photo Kasey Garrett, owner of Aqui-Irrigation in Parma, Idaho, installs drip systems like this one for farms in his area. soils you would not normally be able to use — such as sandy soils or ields with slopes.” Drip irrigation also gives growers the ability to control a crop more intensely. “With onions, for instance, WELL DRILLING PUMPS • Annual Water Levels • State Pump Tests • Hydrogeology Reviews • Water Rights 30 yrs Groundwater Experience John Rehm, RG, CWRE Serving the rehmgeological@gmail.com Willamette Valley (503) 999-9228 • WATER WELLS • PUMPS • IRRIGATION • INDUSTRIAL • TEST PUMPING • SCREENED & FILTER PACKED WELLS • DOWN HOLE VIDEOS • WELLS TO 20” DIAMETER • WELL REHABILITATION “Since 1946” more are now under drip,” he said. Drip systems are portable for onions — a rotational crop moved from ield to ield every year. “The drip tape we put into the ield is a thin-walled dispos- able product the farmer pulls up at the end of the season. It can be rolled up and discarded or sent to be recycled,” he said. “The pump station and ilter stations are all portable units, built on a car trailer. Those can be set at the corner of the ield, and then moved from ield to ield — wherever the onions will be growing the next year.” In hops or tree fruit crops, everything is permanent. “We pour concrete pads for the ilter stations to sit on and bury PVC pipe out to the ield, then disperse the water out to the zones. In a hop ield we use a tube, whereas in onions we use a drip tape. The hop tube can be re-used year after year, often getting 20 years’ service from that product. This tubing can be rolled up out of the way of machinery for cultivation, and then rolled back out.” W16-1/#7 of the driving forces for drip irrigation in our valley,” Gar- rett said. “The main thing we capital- ize on with drip, especially for onions and hops, is the ability to grow those crops in ields and Growers can put fertiliz- er and any other treatments through the drip tapes, which delivers the product at the root zone. “This makes for 20 to 40 percent less inputs with drip versus furrow irrigation. This helps the grower, but also the environment. There is less leaching of chemicals into the ground water because there’s no runoff. There are areas here and in Eastern Oregon that have had issues with nitrate leaching, and drip irrigation virtually eliminates that prob- lem,” Garrett said. Drip irrigation has been around awhile in dry areas, such as California and the Mid- dle East, as a way to conserve water. “Here in the Treasure Valley it’s probably been used in onion crops for only 15 years. There are 20,000 acres of onions grown here, and 60 percent or “Since 1923” WESTERBERG R. STADELI & SONS DRILLING INC. WELL & PUMP INC. 503-829-2526 503-873-5245 36728 S. KROPF RD. 4385 STADELI LN. NE. MOLALLA SILVERTON Crafted for Safety, Longevity, Stability and Affordability! STEVE & DAN STADELI Quality M ade in the Since 1954 Authorized Dealer For: W16-7/#5 tallmanladders.com W16-4/#8 (541) 386-2733 (800) 354-2733 W16-4/#8 New technology in irriga- tion systems delivers the exact amount of water needed by each plant. Kasey Garrett, owner of Aqui-Irrigation in Parma, Ida- ho, installs drip systems on farms in his area, and 2016 will be his sixth season in the drip market. “Our business is focused mainly around onion growers, hop growers and tree farms,” he said. This is the best way to irrigate some types of crops. “In California where there’s a major water shortage and cost of water per acre is much higher than ours, drip irriga- tion is even more beneicial. Our cost for water is relatively low, so saving water is not one farmers can irrigate a 20-acre block all at once, then turn the water off so the whole ield dries out at the same time, so they can go in with machinery for tillage or to spray. Onions and hops both require very in- tense management,” Garrett said. “With lood irrigating or furrows, it’s a major process to get back into that ield and spray for insects. Also, there’s more uniformity of water deliv- ery with drip. You get the exact same production anywhere in the ield. With lood irrigation, maybe the bottom 5 to 10 per- cent of the ield won’t get as much water and has poorer plants, or the top 5 to 10 percent might have less desirable crop. With drip, every onion or hop plant in that ield gets the same amount of water,” he said. At harvest, the onions are uniform instead of six different sizes, he said.
