Category: Solutions
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Iowa farms using low-tech systems to filter fertilizer-borne nitrates from water
Photo: A worker shovels wood chips in a bioreactor trench in a farm field, on March 28, 2023, near Roland, Iowa. Low-tech systems called bioreactors and streamside buffers help filter nitrates from rainwater before it can reach streams and rivers. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) Nick Helland’s central Iowa farm looks much like every other nearby farm on…
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Farmers Recharged Groundwater by Catching Atmospheric Rivers
Photo: Standing water in a blooming almond orchard cause by excessive rain near Manteca, California. After years of drought and dozens of recent atmospheric rivers, Central California farmers have revamped an old practice: intentionally flooding fields for deep irrigation and restoration of underground aquifers. After the first of California’s winter storms, Michael Naito went out…
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Hedgerows: Can They Help Save the Planet?
Photo: Hedgerows are straightforward strips of shrubs or trees roughly 15 feet wide, and they highlight nature’s complex work. (Sierra Orchards) More than 20 years ago, Craig McNamara started planting woody vegetation on his family’s farm , west of Sacramento, California. McNamara was an early organic pioneer in the region, and he prioritized weaving nature…
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Water warriors
Photo: “We can’t solve anything without the public understanding the gravity of the challenges facing the state’s water future,” says UCI Water director David Feldman. Steve Zylius / UCI UCI experts work to inform public policy and educate about California’s water future Despite the recent series of atmospheric river storms that inundated California and more…
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How beavers could help the Colorado River survive future droughts
Photo: In this undated file photo, a beaver appears near the shoreline of the Bear Creek which feeds into the South Platte River just outside Denver, Colorado. STOCK IMAGE/Getty Images Humans can take a lesson from beavers’ engineering on how to conserve water. The humble beaver could become one of America’s hardest working allies in…
