Growers and irrigation managers in Fresno, Tulare, Madera and Kings counties are invited to participate in a trial program aimed at improving access to crop water use information that can be used to more accurately schedule irrigation for key annual and permanent crops. 

The University of California Cooperative Extension, in collaboration with the Department of Water Resources CIMIS program, is working to develop real-time regional estimates for crop evapotranspiration (ETc) in alfalfa, almonds, cotton, grapes, tomatoes, tree fruit, and walnuts.

Water managers are encouraged to sign up for weekly crop water use updates based on the University's best available crop water use information. These will be sent via email for the crops listed above. The weekly updates will include estimates, in inches, of ETc from the prior week as well as recommended water application amounts based on user determined field application efficiency levels. During the course of the year, articles related to crop specific water use will be emailed periodically to support the crop water use data provided weekly.

To register for these email/smart phone updates for the Central San Joaquin Valley only, please email scmueller@ucanr.edu and indicate whether you wish to receive updates for 1) permanent crops and/or annual crops and 2) west side and/or east side region (west or east of Kerman). For more information about ETc etc., (559) 241-7515.