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Low rainfall has local farmers digging deeper for water

Posted by: Maven on July 17, 2009 at 6:32 am

From the Lodi News-Sentinel:

A year ago, the water on Jon Tecklenburg’s property was 80 feet below the surface. This year, it’s 103 feet deep. That increased Tecklenburg’s electrical bill to irrigate his older winegrapes from $585 last year to $823. “The grapes are still growing,” Tecklenburg said. “Fortunately, they’re old grapes, so the roots are way down there.”

The spring rains that hit the Lodi area in April and May weren’t enough to raise the water level in the groundwater basin or the Mokelumne River. Farmers must go deeper in their wells to pump out irrigation water, and the North San Joaquin Water Conservation District had to rent two extra diesel pumps because its own pumps can’t reach down far enough to suck up water from the Mokelumne River.

Read more from the Lodi News-Sentinel by clicking here.

July 17, 2009 · Filed Under Groundwater

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