California Ag Network

Tag: Irrigation

  • 36th Annual Fall Desert Crops Workshop, Dec. 3

    Join UCANR on December 3rd for the 36th Annual Fall Desert Crops Workshop. Get up to date on the key issues affecting desert crops in our Valley through expert-led discussions. This FREE workshop offers a valuable opportunity to stay informed, connect with others and better understand the challenges facing our agricultural community.

    Topics to be discussed:

    • Irrigation
    • Soil Salinity Mapping
    • Pest & Disease Management
    • Pesticide Use Regulations
    • Other Agricultural Issues

    To pre-register use this link or join us onsite starting at 7:30am.

    Continuing Education Units will be offered with the following agencies: (Pending Approval)

    • California Department of Pesticide and Regulation
    • Arizona Department of Agriculture
    • Certified Crop Advisor (CCA)

    If you have any questions or need additional information on workshop, contact the office at (442) 265-7700.

    Document

    See the full agenda at: 36th Annual Fall Desert Crops Workshop_Agenda

  • World Ag Expo® Opens Applications for 2026 Top-10 Products and Seminar Series

    World Ag Expo offers a look into the latest in innovation and education through the return of the Top-10 New Products competition and seminar sessions. Exhibitors and industry experts can now apply to put their mark on the 2026 show.

    The Top-10 New Products Competition at World Ag Expo provides a glimpse into cutting-edge technology and innovation. Open to exhibitors, the innovation contest showcases the latest in a competitive field of new products ranging from groundbreaking technology to simple solutions. Previous award winners have pointed to the Top-10 New Products Contest as a catalyst for success.

    “Since winning the Top Ten New Product Award in 2025, we’ve leveraged that recognition to successfully promote our latest innovation—the Synergy Blower,” shared Seth Richmond, Director of Product at Flory Industries. “Our marketing team has capitalized on the momentum, driving strong industry interest and rapid adoption, both domestically and internationally. The Synergy Blower is now officially launched and in full production, with many new units already at work in this year’s almond harvest.”

    The Top-10 New Products Competition information and application can be found at bit.ly/WAE26TOP-10. Applicants must be exhibitors at the 2026 World Ag Expo and products released anywhere in the world between February 9, 2025 and February 10, 2026 are eligible. The application deadline is October 31, 2025 and winners will be announced in December.

    World Ag Expo also provides a platform for learning through educational seminars. Attendees can enjoy seminars, which are included with general show admission, featuring some of the most knowledgeable professionals in their respective sectors. Each year, tracks include Dairy & Livestock, Technology, Irrigation & Water, Demonstrations, and more.

    Educational seminars are held in the Seminar Center on the southeast side of the grounds throughout all three days of the show. Experts, including exhibitors, universities, government agencies, and more, provide valuable insights, aiming to expand producer knowledge and practices.

    More seminar information and the application is available at bit.ly/WAE26Seminar. The final seminar schedule and speaker information will be available online and in the official show app. The application deadline is October 31, 2025 and speakers will be notified in December.

    World Ag Expo is the largest annual outdoor ag tradeshow in the world. In 2025, the show saw over 100,000 attendees from 49 states and 80 countries. More than 1,200 exhibitors on 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space make World Ag Expo a premium platform for networking, education, and business in one of the most productive ag counties in the United States.

    Limited exhibit spaces are still available. To learn more about World Ag Expo® and request space, please visit https://www.worldagexpo.com/exhibitors/.

    International attendee ticket packages are on sale now. General admission and ag tour tickets go on sale October 1st. Attendees can purchase tickets and plan their visit at www.WorldAgExpo.com.

    For more information, visit www.WorldAgExpo.com.

    The International Agri-Center® is home to World Ag Expo®, February 10-12, 2026 in Tulare, California. An estimated annual average of 100,000 individuals from 60 countries attend World Ag Expo® each year. The largest annual agricultural show of its kind, World Ag Expo® hosts more than 1,200 exhibitors displaying cutting-edge agricultural technology and equipment on 2.6 million square feet of show space. Learn more at www.worldagexpo.com.

  • Water-Smart Dairy: Farmers conserve and protect water using precision technologies

    More than 20 dairy farmers across California have been pioneering the use of subsurface drip irrigation to grow feed crops, including corn, wheat, and alfalfa. By working with innovative companies and non-governmental organizations, dairy farmers have helped take sustainable farming to the next level. They are reducing water use by 47 to 67% and improving groundwater protection. Their collective efforts have helped develop new tools for California dairy farmers to continue advancing nutrient and water management.

    California dairy farmers had already made great strides to increase their overall water-use-efficiency and on-farm water recycling, but in 2014 and 2015, two ground-breaking efforts began. One is led by Sustainable Conservation, and the other is known as The Alfalfa Project (TAP). Both projects are aimed at advancing further into the new frontier of subsurface drip irrigation. Today, with fast-approaching groundwater management regulations and the threat of significant decreases in both surface and groundwater availability, water conservation has never been more important, and these innovators are paving a sustainable path to follow.

    “As farmers, we know we have to rethink how we approach our practices given the realities of sustainability and the mandates that will come with new groundwater regulations,” said Stephen Maddox Sr. of Maddox Dairy. “What is critical is that we don’t inadvertently hurt our farms, our dairy and cattle industries, and our state’s critically important agricultural economy. We feed not just California, but our country and the entire world.”

    Farmers, environmental organizations, and innovative companies have been working side-by-side to proactively address the challenges that come with subsurface drip irrigation, including line clogs and rodent damage. As an added feat, Sustainable Conservation and irrigation technology company Netafim have developed a model for applying a mixture of water and dairy manure-water via subsurface drip irrigation. Four years later, the technology and management strategy have been refined and pilot-tested several times.

    Demonstration systems are now operating on three Central Valley dairy farms. The projects are funded by a $1.7 million United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resource Conservation Service (NCRS) research grant. For silage corn, results have shown increased water-use efficiency (up to 67.7%), increased nitrogen-use efficiency (up to 161.9%), and increased crop yields (up to 21.1%). Results from the most-recent winter wheat crop have shown even greater success, but these numbers can vary greatly depending on annual rainfall.

    “We’re demonstrating that subsurface drip irrigation can be used across the Central Valley to save water, better protect groundwater, and boost crop yields,” said John Cardoza, project manager for Sustainable Conservation. “Dairy farmers continue to be very interested in implementing this type of farming practice.”

    The Alfalfa Project (TAP) started with seven farmers in 2015 and now has more than 20 farmers participating. By this fall, nearly 4,000 acres of alfalfa will be grown with subsurface drip irrigation. Achieving up to 47% water savings, TAP has saved more than 3.1 billion gallons of water over the last three years—enough to supply the annual water needs of 100,000 Californians. It is anticipated that an additional 1 billion gallons of water will be saved by the end of the 2018 growing season. While TAP does not currently include manure application, the program has also been testing a filter that would allow manure-water to be added to the drip lines.

    TAP continues to work toward an ambitious goal, converting 350,000 acres of alfalfa grown in the San Joaquin Valley from traditional flood or sprinkler irrigation to subsurface drip irrigation, paired with precision farming practices. Full project implementation would reduce water usage by more than 400 billion gallons of water annually. That’s enough water to supply the annual needs of more than 12 million Californians.

    “With our farmers facing multiple pressures to reduce their water usage significantly, The Alfalfa Project offers a unique path forward to help them not just manage their water use, but actually improve their yields and strengthen the health of their business,” said Tyler Bennett, founder of TAP.

    As demonstrated by Sustainable Conservation and TAP, subsurface drip irrigation shows great potential to reduce water use, improve yields, and boost economic and environmental sustainability. A key to this success is the element of precision. Subsurface drip irrigation delivers water directly to the plant’s roots. The use of additional precision technology helps ensure best results. This includes continual monitoring and reporting of soil moisture and crop growth, as well as strategic irrigation scheduling. Drones are used to monitor irrigation uniformity and crop growth, helping farmers achieve optimum water savings and crop yields.

    Both Sustainable Conservation and TAP are working to make these technologies practical for dairy farmers, despite current economic challenges and rising energy costs. Sustainable Conservation aims to continue working with NCRS to ultimately establish incentive funding to allow more dairies to implement manure-drip projects. TAP provides capital financing options for implementing drip irrigation and precision management technologies.

    There is a tremendous opportunity for public and private partners to help California dairy farmers invest in these significantly beneficial technologies. Through expanded adoption of subsurface drip irrigation, dairy families can advance water conservation and protection, while improving their economic sustainability and cost-effectively meeting regulatory requirements—further improving the environment we share and safe-guarding the long-term viability of family farms.

    California’s dairy farmers are leading the way for water-smart farming. Learn more about these efforts at the inaugural California Dairy Sustainability Summit , this November 47- 28, 2018 in Sacramento.

  • Microbes Associated with Plant Roots Could be a Key to Helping Plants Survive Drought

    Berkeley, Calif., (May 2, 2018) – As sorghum plants cope with drought conditions, the plants’ roots and adjoining microbial communities are communicating in a chemical language that appears to improve the plants’ chances under water stress.

    “It’s amazing,” said Peggy Lemaux, UC Cooperative Extension specialist. “We know there are lots of microbes in the soil and, for the most part, ones in the surrounding soil stayed the same under drought conditions. We only saw changes in those microbes closely associated with the roots.”

    The role of drought in restructuring the root microbiome was the first published discovery to come out of a sweeping drought research project underway since 2015 in the fields at UC Kearney Research and Extension Center in Parlier. The five-year study, funded with a $12.3 million grant from the Department of Energy, aims to tease out the genetics of drought tolerance in sorghum and its associated microbes. Using sorghum as a model, scientists hope the research will help them understand and improve drought tolerance in other crops as well.

    The new research results from the lab of USDA’s Devin Coleman-Derr at UC Berkeley, published April 16, 2018, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, document the fate of microbes associated with sorghum roots under three distinct irrigation regimens. Because the San Joaquin Valley generally sees no rain during the growing season, it is the ideal place to mimic drought conditions by withholding irrigation water.

    All plots received a pre-plant irrigation to initiate growth. In the control plots, sorghum was irrigated normally, with weekly watering through the season. In the plot simulating pre-flowering drought stress, the plants received no additional water until flowering, about halfway through the season. The third treatment was watered normally until it flowered, and then water was cut off for the rest of the season.

    Beginning when the plants emerged, the scientists collected samples from each plot on the same day and time each week for 17 weeks. In a mini, in-field laboratory, roots, rhizosphere (zone surrounding the root), leaves and soil samples from 10 plants in each plot were immediately frozen and transported to Berkeley, where they were disseminated to collaborators, who investigated the plant and microbial responses at the molecular level.

    “When a sorghum plant is subjected to drought, it starts sloughing off metabolites, nutrients and amino acids from the roots. The compounds appear to communicate to the neighboring microbial community that the plant is under stress,” Lemaux said. “That selects out a certain population of microbes. Certain types of microbes increase, others go away. When you add water back, the microbial community returns to its pre-drought population in just a few days.”

    The researchers cultured two specific microbes that were enriched in the rootzone under drought conditions. They coated sorghum seeds with the microbes and planted them under drought conditions in a growth chamber. This treatment encouraged the plant to grow more roots.

    “The microbes appear to improve plant growth during drought,” Lemaux said. “Those microbes appear to be helping plants survive drought. We didn’t know that was happening before we got these results.”

    Lemaux said the research might lead to future field use of the research breakthrough.

    “A lot of companies are interested in the microbiome,” she said. “Some are already selling microbes to coat seeds.”

  • Ag Day highlights importance of Climate Smart Ag programs to California’s future

    Sacramento, Calif., (March 21, 2018) – Our annual Ag Day is today (March 20) at the State Capitol, and our theme this year, “Climate Smart – California Grown,” is far more than a slogan. It’s actually a key part of the road map for the future of farming and ranching in our state. CDFA and the Brown Administration share a essential priority with agriculture – keep it sustainable and flourishing into the 21st century and beyond.

    There is a strong likelihood that California will be asked to produce more food in the coming years while dealing with access to fewer natural resources, so we are embracing that challenge with several programs that are assisting rural communities while helping farmers and ranchers increase water efficiency and energy efficiency, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

    Hmong farmers in Fresno County are among those receiving SWEEP grants to improve water efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
    • State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP) – This program provides financial incentives for agricultural operations to invest in water irrigation and/or distribution systems that save water and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To date SWEEP has received $67.5 million from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and also includes $38.7 million in matching funds. The estimated GHG savings are 74,139 metric tons CO2 equivalent per year –  equivalent to removing nearly 15,900 cars off the road annually. The estimated water savings are 96,009 acre feet per year – equivalent to water in about 48-thousand Olympic-sized swimming pools. SWEEP would receive an additional $20 million in SB 5, the California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection and Outdoor Access For All Act of 2018.
    • Healthy Soils Program – This program provides financial assistance for incentivizing and demonstrating the implementation of conservation agricultural management practices (such as cover crops, compost application, no-till and hedgerows) that sequester carbon, reduce atmospheric GHGs and improve soil health. A total of $7.5 million has been invested in this program, so far, with an additional $5 million proposed in the Governor’s proposed 2018-2019 budget and another $10 million proposed in SB 5.
    Farmland in Contra Costa County protected by a SALC conservation easement. Photo courtesy of the Cecchini family.
    • Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program (SALC) – This program, administered by the Strategic Growth Council, provides funds for agricultural conservation easements and local agricultural protection strategies to protect lands from conversion to urban and rural residential development. Climate investments of $79 million have been made, so far.
    • Dairy Digester Research and Development Program – CDFA’s Dairy Digester Research and Development Program supports projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from California dairy operations by capturing them and harnessing them as a renewable energy source. More than $47 million has funded 24 digester projects, so far, and the Governor’s proposed budget for ’18-’19 has a combined $99 million for this program as well as the next one below.
    • Alternative Manure Management Program – CDFA’s Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP) supports non-digester based manure management practices on California dairy and livestock operations, such as conversion to dry scrape or solid separation, followed by drying or composting, and pasture-based management. A total investment of $9.8 million has occurred, so far.
    • FARMER Program for Ag Replacement Measures for Emission Reductions– This program, administered by the California Air Resources Board, is intended to reduce agricultural sector emissions by providing grants, rebates, and other financial incentives for agricultural harvesting equipment, heavy-duty trucks, agricultural pump engines, tractors, and other equipment used in agricultural operations. An allocation of $85 million was made for 2017-2018, and an additional $102 million is proposed in the Governor’s ’18-’19 budget.
    • Food Production Investment Program – This is administered by the California Energy Commission to provide grants, loans or any financial incentives to implement projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions for food processors and also to support renewable energy projects in the agricultural sector. A total of $66 million has been allocated for 2017-2018.

    The California Climate Investment programs for agriculture demonstrate the extreme importance of working and natural landscapes in our overall climate strategy. We must align with all of our state’s citizens and show them that we’re all in this together; that sustainable agriculture means wholesome, healthy California-grown food for many years to come. Ag Day is another way to make that point.

  • MID Approves 2018 Irrigation Season

    Merced, Calif., (February 28, 2018) – Following a six-week public process, the Merced Irrigation District (MID) Board of Directors approved both the start of irrigation season and the water rate for the coming year.

    “So far, the winter weather has not been favorable to local agriculture,” said MID General Manager John Sweigard after the meeting. “We want to ensure that we are being as responsive to our growers as possible. We want them to have the water they need as quickly as possible.”

    Water orders can be placed immediately. The first deliveries are expected to occur around March 1. There will be no restrictions on allocations this year and water will be made available to neighboring Sphere of Influence (SOI) lands. Those are lands just outside the District boundaries but still within the eastern Merced groundwater basin.
    The in-District water rate for the coming season was set at $40 per acre foot for all MID growers. Neighboring SOI growers will have access to surface water at $100 per acre foot.

    Today’s decisions were made following nearly two hours of open discussion between the MID Board of Directors, the MID Advisory Committee and other interested members of the public.

    Options for ordering water include:

    • Orders may be placed anytime online at mercedid.org.
    • Orders may be placed anytime using MID’s automated water ordering system at (866) 825-2475. During weekday business hours, orders may also be placed by calling MID Customer Service at (209) 722-2720 or toll-free at (800) 750-2720.
    • Orders may be placed in person during weekday business hours at MID’s office, located at 744 W. 20th Street in Merced.

    WATER SUPPLY – Following five years of drought, Lake McClure experienced one of the wettest years on record last winter. The reservoir easily filled to its maximum capacity and remains at its maximum-allowed operating level at
    this time of year. That’s about 67 percent capacity or 667,000 acre feet. In discussing the water outlook for the year, MID opted to make all water available to growers for the coming season without restriction.

    GROUNDWATER BENEFITS – Providing surface water from Lake McClure to area growers provides a crucial benefit to area groundwater. MID and SOI growers will not have to depend on groundwater pumping for irrigation. Additionally, MID’s operations result each year in up to 140,000 acre feet of groundwater replenishment as water flows through unlined waterways and MID-operated groundwater recharge basins. Groundwater management has become a top priority in the region since the state approved the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. MID is one of multiple urban and rural partners working jointly to address groundwater challenges in eastern Merced County.

  • UC Launches Drought Video Series Feb. 2

    Oakland, Calif., (February 8, 2018) – Because periodic droughts will always be a part of life in California, the UC California Institute for Water Resources (CIWR) produced a series of videos to maintain drought awareness and planning, even in years when water is more abundant.

    The first of the three videos premieres Feb. 2 on the UCTV Sustainable California channel. Subsequent videos will be launched March 2 and April 6. View the trailer here.

    The videos are inspired by a collection of 19 drought tips produced by CIWR in collaboration with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources researchers during the drought of 2010-16. The tips cover a broad spectrum of California crops, from alfalfa to walnuts. Topics also include salt management, use of graywater in urban landscapes, and the use of shallow groundwater for crop production. Three topics – alfalfa, almonds and citrus – are featured in the three-episode CIWR video series.

    The drought tips collection and the drought tip videos were sponsored by the California Department of Water Resources. Following is the schedule for the video releases:

    Friday, Feb. 2: Drought strategies for alfalfa

    UC Cooperative Extension alfalfa specialist Dan Putnam wrote the drought tip ‘Drought Strategies for Alfalfa,’ on which the first video in the series is based. The video is on the UCTV Sustainable California channel, http://www.uctv.tv/sustainable-cal/.

    The CIWR drought tip series opens with Cannon Michael of Bowles Farming in Los Banos. The alfalfa grower works with UCCE specialist Dan Putnam. “There’s a lot of misunderstanding about alfalfa as a crop,” Michael said. “It does take water to grow it, as with anything, but you get multiple harvests of it every year.”

    Friday, March 2: Drought management for California almonds

    The second episode features almond producer Raj of Meena farms. He works with David Doll, UCCE advisor in Merced County. “One positive of this drought,” Meena said, “is that it has forced us all to be more efficient in how we use our water.”

    Friday, April 6: Irrigating citrus with limited water

    The series finale features Lisa Brenneis of Churchill-Brenneis Orchard in the Ojai Valley of Ventura County. She worked with UCCE advisor Ben Faber to install a new water-efficient irrigation system. “Irrigation is the only job we really have to do,” Brenneis said, “and we have to get it as right as we can.”

    For a complete list of drought tips, see http://ucanr.edu/drought-tips.

  • Benefits of Subsurface Drip Irrigation in the Orchard

    Subsurface drip irrigation is growing more and more common in field crops, but what about in the orchard? The UC Cooperative Extension has been experimenting on this for a few years now in a stone fruit orchard at the Kearney Ag Center, and the results are very positive. Watch California Ag Network’s interview with Becky Phene as she explores the benefits of converting to subsurface drip, and read more about it in California Fresh Fruit Magazine.

    Sponsored By:

    Calagnet & YARA

  • Irrigation Delivery Notification – Announcement

    Selma, Calif., (September 7, 2017) – Consolidated Irrigation District has temporarily stopped water deliveries. The decision to stop at this time was based on several factors. There is a need to make repairs to a portion of the Consolidated Canal. These repairs are relatively significant and cannot be deferred indefinitely. Despite running water since January 8th, the District has a large volume of water remaining in storage in Pine Flat Dam and it is anticipated that a fall water run will be needed to reduce that volume prior to this winter’s anticipated storms. Total storage behind Pine Flat is very high for this time of year, which could lead to early releases of additional floodwater, which the District could divert.

    Given these factors, and the fact that overall water demand in the District is currently at its lowest , it was decided that the best way to ensure maximum benefit of available water supplies with the least impact, is to shut off deliveries now and make needed repairs. This will also allow time for some needed maintenance ahead of what could be an early start to the next water year.

    As mentioned, it is very likely that there will be a fall water run which will start around October 1st and continue trough the end of the month. If the season runs wet, deliveries may continue beyond October. Lone Tree (Church Water) deliveries have not stopped and will continue throughout the period.

    If you have any questions you can contact your ditchtender or call the District Office at 559-896-1661.

  • Future Water Leaders Soak Up Irrigation Information

    Sacramento, Calif., (June 26, 2017) – University of California students are taking a long journey through California to trace the state’s complicated and critical water supply. The recent graduates and upper-division co-eds from UC Merced, UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley and UC Davis are part of the UC Water Academy, a course that combines online training with a two-week field trip for first-hand knowledge about California water.

    Recently emerged sorghum that is part of a trial aiming to tease out the genes that express drought tolerance.

    The tour began June 18 at Lake Shasta, the state’s largest reservoir, and followed the water’s course to the Sacramento Valley, through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and south along the Delta-Mendota Canal. Since a key water destination is agriculture, the UC Water Academy toured the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension June 23, where research is underway to determine how the state’s water supply can be most efficiently transformed into a food supply for Americans.

    “You’re visiting a place ideal for growing high-quality fruits and vegetables, because of the Mediterranean climate and low insect and disease pressure,” said Jeff Dahlberg, director of the UC KREC.

    UC Cooperative Extension water management specialist Khaled Bali joined the students next to his alfalfa research plot, where different irrigation regimens are compared to determine the maximum yield that can be harvested with the minimum amount of water.

    “It used to be that the No. 1 objective was to maximize yield,” Bali said. “But with the limited supplies and the cost of water, now the No. 1 objective is to get the maximum economic return. Growers might be better off selling some of their water to other jurisdictions.”

    Students gather in the post harvest laboratory at Kearney.

    A water tour wouldn’t be complete without an introduction to drought research. A recently planted sorghum trial provided the backdrop.

    “California is a great place to study drought tolerance,” Dahlberg said, “because you can induce a drought by withholding irrigation.”

    The sizable field contains 1,800 plots with 600 sorghum cultivars under three irrigation schemes: one irrigated as usual, one in which water is cut off before the plants flower, and the final one where water is cut off after the plants flower.

    “Every week, a drone flies over to collect data on the leaf area, plant height and biomass,” Dalberg said. “Hopefully we will get associations with gene expression and this phenotype data. “

    Dahlberg and his collaborating researchers believe identifying the genes responsible for drought tolerance in sorghum will help scientists find drought-tolerant genes in other cereal crops – such as wheat, corn, rice and millet. “This will go a long way to feeding the people of the world,” he said.

    There is still much to learn about sorghum drought tolerance – is it conferred by the plant’s waxy leaves, the way stomata are controlled, accumulation of sugar in the leaves, or a mechanism in the roots?

    “These are all questions you will have to answer to feed the world,” Dahlberg said. “That’s why I would encourage you to continue studying water. There’s a lot for you to get into.”

    A third-year earth science student at UC Santa Cruz and a member of the academy, Denise Payan, said the sense of responsibility for the future is not daunting, but encouraging.

    “It makes me feel like I can make a difference,” she said. The tour through California is shaping her plans for the future, which may include a career at the intersection of geology and biology.

    “This has opened my eyes to a lot of issues,” she said.

    The next stop for the UC Water Academy is the vast Tulare Lake basin to learn about groundwater recharge before heading east to the Owens Valley and the shores of Mono Lake. From there the academy turns to the Sierra Nevada to visit San Francisco’s water supply, which is collected by Hetch Hetchy Dam. The field trip ends with a two-day rafting trip on the American River.

    The UC Water Academy is offered through UC Water and led by UC Merced professor Joshua Viers and UC Cooperative Extension water management specialist Ted Grantham. In addition to the two-week tour, students participated in weekly online meetings and complete a project on communicating California water issues to public stakeholders. Students receive 1 unit of academic credit.