The other plans include increasing fines for watering lawns during restricted times, tapping into and cleaning more groundwater, and encouraging businesses and residents to use more efficient sprinklers and plumbing fixtures.
Barsky, at Sun City, said his courses should be weaned to about 7 acre-feet of water by midsummer, because of an investment of $400,000 in more efficient sprinklers, water-scheduling software and other improvements.
These results suggest that farmer education and the introduction of water user charges that will increase the cost efficiency of sprinklers relative to the traditional methods may enhance water conservation through wider adoption and more efficient use of sprinklers.
The Environmental Quality Incentives Program, first authorized in the 1996 farm bill, was supposed to help farmers buy more efficient irrigation equipment — sprinklers and pipelines — to save water.
The Allens gradually moved to more efficient irrigation – from furrow, to sprinkler, to drip – and weathered the 2007 to 2009 drought, when the state reduced water supplies.
Applying water slowly and over long periods of time, drip irrigation more closely approximates actual plant water use, so it is more efficient and promotes better growth than sprinkler or hand watering.
Applying water slowly and over long periods, drip irrigation more closely approximates actual plant water use, so it is more efficient and promotes better growth than sprinkler or hand watering.
But in response to strained water supplies, some farmers have made the shift to much more efficient underground irrigation or precision micro-sprinkler and drip irrigation systems that deposit tiny amounts of water directly above the roots of crops.
Mr. Stryker said that creating an effective and efficient sprinkler layout involves far more than just figuring out how to get water to a number of sprinkler heads installed at various points around the property.
"In our own canal company, the Orchard Mesa Canal Company, we've been able to release more water than in the past, a lot of that has to do with sprinkler and drip systems that are more efficient with the use of water as well as the lining of canals".
