February 2024 - 12

NECESSITY DRIVING
INVENTION
By Heather Smith Thomas
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
F
Water shortage spurs innovative solutions
Some farmers on that land, though,
armers rely on water for their
livelihoods, but it often costs a lot
to get it to the field. In arid regions,
and in the top two potato-producing
states of Idaho and Washington, farmers
are increasingly utilizing cutting-edge
technology to become more efficient and
stretch their available water sources.
CRUCIAL CANAL
Central/eastern Washington is one of
the most fertile areas in the U.S., growing
23% of the nation's potatoes. Part of this
region's irrigation water is supplied by
canal systems from Grand Coulee Dam,
thanks to a massive project that was
begun in the 1940s to attract farmers
into the area and make 1.1 million acres
of that desert land productive.
are still waiting for completion of the
irrigation project to create the necessary
canals. Those farms have been relying
on deep wells - which they were given
permission to drill as a temporary
measure - while they wait.
The aquifer farmers have tapped into is
dropping, however, and since it is also the
source of water for 25 towns and cities in
the area, the urgency to finish the canal
system and save the underground water
for the towns has become a big issue.
Harold Crose with the Columbia
Basin Conservation District is working
closely with those farmers on getting
water delivered to them via the Odessa
Ground Water Replacement Program
(OGWRP), which will exchange, acre for
acre, deep well irrigation with Columbia
Basin Project water from Coulee Dam
for 88,000 acres.
The goal is to preserve the declining
aquifer for public and municipal benefit,
stabilize the regional economy and provide
a response to the environmental impacts
of the declining Odessa Subarea aquifer.
Most of those farmers are progressiveminded
and are doing additional
irrigation efficiency to stretch their
dwindling water source, Crose said.
" They are working toward better
utilization of water and cropping patterns, "
Crose said. " Innovations and new
technologies help them conserve water.
" The new technologies being used onfarm
are probably the highest technical
on-farm application of any project in
the world. The top three would be water
management, nutrient management
and pest management and the ways in
which these have evolved. On the water
management side, the improvements in
irrigation technology are tremendous. "
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This high yield, mid-season variety has
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in both the fresh and processing markets.
Like the Caribou Russet, all Maine Certified and Foundation
Seed is grown from disease-free nuclear stock from one of
the toughest and most successful certified seed programs
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dependable, vigorous and hardier seed to positively impact
your yields and bottom line.
Choose Maine Certified Seed!
Maine Potato Board
744 Main Street, Room 1
Presque Isle, ME 04769
(207) 769-5061 * www.mainepotatoes.com
Spudman 10/23.indd 1
12
Spudman * February 2024
9/19/23 10:09 AM
http://www.mainepotatoes.com
February 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2024
