Tag: farming
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What’s Eating Iowa?
…and what’s in its water? “The nitrate here is usually between 20 and 25 milligram per liter.” Q: And wouldn’t the University of Iowa College of Public Health say they’d like to see that about five? “So any so for human consumption it must be below 10. We now know that drinking water should probably be…
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Saltwater intrusion will taint 77% of coastal aquifers by century’s end, modeling study finds
Watersheds on the U.S. Eastern Seaboard will be among the areas most affected by underground saltwater intrusion by the year 2100 due to sea level rise and changes in groundwater supplies, according to a NASA-DOD study. NASA’s Terra satellite captured Credit: NASA Seawater will infiltrate underground freshwater supplies in about three of every four coastal areas…
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Conservation & Sustainability: fertilizer nitrates
UC Davis researchers insert a device that continuously collects water samples underground, providing real-time data on nitrate contaminant movement. Isaya Kisekka/UC Davis Heavy rains can cause contamination in just 10 days, UC Davis study finds. Extreme weather spurred by climate change, including droughts and heavy rains, may increase the risk of nitrates from fertilizers ending…
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Drought Mitigation: Should We Be Farming in the Desert?
Irrigated farmland in the desert of the Imperial Valley. (Photo credit: Steve Proehl, Getty Images) Throughout the Colorado River Basin, ongoing drought is pushing agricultural technology to its limits. Just north of the U.S.-Mexico border, California’s Imperial Valley is both a desert and an agricultural wonder. Bordered by sand dunes and barren mountains, the region…
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Growing Food Instead of Grass Lawns in California Front Yards
Photo: Morgan Boone, a volunteer with Crop Swap LA, harvested lettuce at the La Salle microfarm in the View Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. Front yards transformed to tiny crop farms in Los Angeles provide vegetables to dozens of families and use a fraction of the water needed by grass. On a corner lot in…
