Drip irrigation in New Jersey

I found this article about cities wanting to use trickle (drip) irrigation.

It's worked for area farmers and now town officials hope trickle irrigation will do the trick in solving the town's continuing wastewater disposal woes

Who says farmers don't know what they're doing. When you have to make a living at conserving water, you become quite the expert.

Was this the begining of modern irrigation?

Found a neat item at the Historical Marker Database

Modern Irrigation Marker

“Encamped near the bank of a beautiful creek of pure, cold water. •• In
about two hours after our arrival we began to plow, and the same
afternoon built a dam to irrigate the soil.”

Little bit of history

Florida Tree Farms Turn To Drip Irrigation

As the east coast continues to suffer through their 50 year drought, more stories like this one pop up For Florida nurseries, profits are drying up

...owner of the 25-acre Insight Tree Farms in Charlotte Harbor, is switching to a drip irrigation system to conserve water. During the drought, his electric bills have doubled and his sales have dropped...

The average person would not equate Florida with drought, one would believe they had plenty of rainfall and water to meet all of their needs. Yet, missing leadership in water use efficiency, shorter than expected rainfall, legal battles between municipalities and a hot hot housing market leading to borderline over development are all factors that lead to greenhouse, nursery and agriculture industries being hurt.

Florida estimates that the drought is costing them around $100 million per month. If that were re-invested into drip irrigation monthly, their 10 billion per year industry could cut that loss considerably.

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Lots of folks see it, but why down towards the bottom

Nice tips on building "green" here..

Neighborhoods Partnership Network » Low Cost Green Building Strategies

but all the way at number 11

11. DESIGN WATER-EFFICIENT LANDSCAPES

Description: Low-water landscape designs (such as xeriscape) reduce water use by emphasizing native and/or drought tolerant plants, eliminating turf areas, and minimizing maintenance. Efficient irrigation systems, such as drip and micro irrigation, place the correct amount of water directly at the base of each plant, thus reducing water use and waste from over watering.

Benefits:Water efficient landscape and irrigation systems help plant growth and overall health by eliminating overwatering or excessive drying.They also lower water bills and reduce impacts on water supply infrastructure.

Call me biased, I think we should start moving water conservation tips more towards the top of our priorities. :) In any case, I appreciate them adding water conservation and drip irrigation in their write up.

Where water is scarce, subsurface drip irrigation comes to the rescue

New Mexico is one of the dryest states in the US, with an average of just over 13 inches of rainfall per yer, we have become accustomed to water conservation in many forms. From time to time, parts of New Mexico will just plain run out of water, or get very close to it.

This article from Clovis NM talks about how NMSU is studying drip irrigation in high plains.
According to the article, there is a lot of money at stake.

Agriculture in the two counties is worth nearly $700 million.

With this type of impact on such a small economy, it becomes self evident that the investment into subsurface drip irrigation is well worth it.

Subsurface drip irrigation reduces water use and is more efficient at
getting water to plants than the low energy precision application
techniques currently used with many center pivot systems to irrigate
crops in the area, said Mark Marsalis, Extension Service agronomist for
NMSU's Agricultural Science Center at Clovis.

Mr. Marsalis is exactly correct, of course, more effort should be put into education of the agriculture industry as to the benefits of investing in drip irrigation.

Subsurface systems are efficient because water goes directly on the
roots, Marsalis said. The technique also minimizes evaporation and
runoff losses at the surface, which is particularly important in arid
regions.

Again, he is right on, as technology advances you can calculate and automate within very exact tolerances, just the right amount of water and fertilizer required for optimum growth potention in just about every crop you would want to plant. To us, it seems a bit silly not to be using a sophisticated drip system.

The [3 year] study also will document the differences in water, fertilizers and pesticides and yields and economic returns.

We applaud their efforts and will watch closely their progress.

Something we have Known.. Slow watering is perfect for plants

As more and more people search for the best methods to conserve water and continue to bolster plant/crop growth, drip irrigation comes to mind first and foremost.

the AP has a story Slow watering is perfect for plants.



For over 20 years we have been practicing the drip watering methods to increase plant and crop production while conserving water.

Good watering is all-important to a good garden and long, slow watering has many benefits.

We agree, the accuracy of the delivery system of course is paramount to your results.

Soaker hoses are easy to use, but their actual ooze rate is variable.
It can differ significantly from the stated rate and it can drop
dramatically after the hose has been buried in the ground even one
season.

Soaker hoses are a little outdated. As mentioned, their results are very unpredictable and they still only do the same ol "soak it till you think it's wet enough" method of caring for your garden or crop.

A good alternative to soaker hoses is drip irrigation, which delivers
water to your garden with tubes that have drip holes -- or emitters --
spaced along their length. The system can sit on the ground or be
buried below.

Drip irrigation tubes ..... have advantages over sprinklers for watering the garden.

We could not agree more, GoDrip.com supplies all of your irrigation needs in this aspect.

In this case, the emitters where water exits are engineering marvels
that maintain relatively consistent water output in spite of changes in
water pressure or elevation.

Selecing your drippers is very important, to prevent clogging, deliver accurate supply and free yourself from too much work.

... [Drip] systems are easily automated with an inexpensive timer. Automation
is a good idea because this type of watering works best when the water
goes on and off frequently through the days and weeks. After all,
plants absorb water throughout most days...

Automation of your drip system is key, technology today can help quite a bit without breaking the bank.



We appreciate the AP for helping get the word out that drip irrigation, drip systems and water conservation are possible for everyone from the average gardener to the large farmer.