With the recent Executive Order from California Governor Newsom and record rainfall and snowpack brought on by recent storms, California farmers have a short window of opportunity through the spring and early summer to take their water future into their own hands through groundwater recharge. California farms and rural communities have been devastated by the effects of a relentless drought, and now is the time to make a difference. But how? There are several methods of on-farm groundwater recharge available to landowners. To find out where to start, the Madera/Chowchilla Resource Conservation District is holding a groundwater recharge workshop in partnership with Sustainable Conservation, NRCS, Madera Irrigation District, the Almond Board of California, and California Ag Network.
This Grower Experience with Recharge Workshop will be held on April 12th from 9AM-12PM. Topics covered in this workshop include how to prepare for on-farm recharge and recharge basins, obstacles and challenges faced as well as the successes reached by growers who are implementing recharge. Wendy Rash from the Natural Resources Conservation District, Amy Siliznoff from the Chowchilla Resource Conservation District and Dina Nolan from the Merced Irrigation District will be present to address and assist growers. Six growers with direct experience with groundwater recharge will also be featured in a Q&A session to discuss these topics, including: Nick Davis, Cavin Markarian, Steve Pistoresi, Mark Hutson, Karun Samran & Case Vlot. Between the six local growers, they farm a host of fruit and nut crops as well as forage and annual crops from Fresno to Merced Counties. See the flyer for additional information regarding this event. Registration for this workshop can be found by visiting www.maderachowchillarcd.org
