1. Water and Our Food Supply:
Crisis and Opportunity
Juliet Christian-Smith
Pacific Institute
Oakland, California
SOCAP 2010

2. CRISIS

5. Global Warming’s
Impact on Water Availability

6. Source: Lamont-Doherty Tree Ring Laboratory

8. Challenge: Irrigated agriculture
and food supply

9. Source: California Farm Bureau
Source: California Farm Bureau
Source: Imperial Valley Press

10. Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2004

11. OPPORTUNITY

13. Technology: Doing more with less
Source: photos courtesy of USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

14. Management:
Improved Irrigation Scheduling

15. Management:
Regulated Deficit Irrigation

16. Successes: Agricultural Water Use

17. More Opportunities
• Measurement
• Required by new state legislation
• Mostly minimal at present
• Where will it happen: lateral, farm gate?
• How will it happen: depends on type of system,
pressurized/gravity or open channel?
• Remote sensing offers many attractive options
• Cheaper (in many cases)
• Error checks local water delivery or ET-based data
• May be able to detect changes in groundwater

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Contact Information:
Juliet Christian-Smith
Juliet@pacinst.org
510-251-1600