California farmers flood fields to boost groundwater basin

California farmers flood fields to boost groundwater basin

a year ago
Anonymous $5YzO3NGzaX

https://apnews.com/article/california-farms-groundwater-recharge-drought-pumping-234e0303f9211ed8675132f3f5466ef5

A field that has long grown tomatoes, peppers and onions now looks like a wind-whipped ocean as farmer Don Cameron seeks to capture the runoff from a freakishly wet year in California to replenish the groundwater basin that is his only source to water his crops.

Taking some tomatoes out of production for a year is an easy choice if it means boosting future water supplies for his farm about 35 miles (56 kilometers) southwest of Fresno. He’s pumping 300 acre-feet a day — enough to supply hundreds of households for a year — from the gushing North Fork of the Kings River onto former vegetable fields and others dotted with pistachio trees, which can withstand heavy flooding.