California's water conservation has seen ups and downs in recent years. Here's what the data shows. For the first time in eight years, California is drought-free. According to the United States Drought Monitor, which uses data from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, parts of the most northern and southern counties are still "abnormally dry," but the state [...]
A month ago, the Colorado drought map, especially the Lower Colorado River Basin, looked apocalyptic. While the exceptional drought dropped to .1% in the state, 21.7% of the state was still in extreme drought, and 17.9% of the state was in severe drought. Fast forward to today. 0% of the state in exceptional drought. .6% [...]
Back-to-back storms hammering California this winter have nearly washed drought off the California map. After the recent atmospheric river, only a lingering sliver of "moderate drought" conditions remains near the Oregon border. The federal Drought Monitor Map, one way to measure drought that's mainly used in agriculture, shows two percent of the state with "moderate drought" conditions and [...]
SWIIM wins Produce Tech Innovation Pitch Four Ag Tech companies were selected to pitch their product at the Colorado Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association conference, wrapping up today at the Renaissance Hotel Denver. SWIIM System was selected as one of the four companies. We are excited to announce that we won! SWIIM's Kevin [...]
Western Growers Dave Puglia talks about the future of water. "There is significant pressure in California to reform the water right allocation system that will not benefit agriculture" SWIIM System is at the 2019 Colorado Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association Conference, sponsored in part by Western Growers. Dave Puglia, Executive Vice President of [...]
WHITEWATER, CO - FEBRUARY 13: Rancher Howard VanWinkle drives his tractor through a field to feed young cows on Wednesday, February 13, 2019. The VanWinkles faced drought in 2018, which caused them to sell off some 75 head of cattle. The field in Whitewater, which they lease from a gravel company, was the first [...]
Atmospheric river hits California. Photo: Jesse Allen, NASA Earth Observatory/ VIIRS satellite. A team of researchers led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego has created a scale to characterize the strength and impacts of “atmospheric rivers,” long narrow bands of atmospheric water vapor pushed along by strong [...]
Lake Mead, near the Hoover Dam and Las Vegas, in an undated photo. The white ring represents water lost from the reservoir over the years as the worst drought in the Colorado River Basin's recorded history continues. Amid the worst drought in the recorded history of the Colorado River Basin, the federal government [...]
Last week Arizona and California missed a deadline to submit final plans for how they will manage water shortages in the Colorado River Basin over the coming decades to prevent Lake Mead levels from dropping so low that water cannot be released from the dam. The other five states that share the river’s waters have [...]
SWIIM is in Monte Vista Colorado at the 2019 Southern Rocky Mountain Agriculture Conference and Trade Show. Our Colorado Regional Sales Manager, Brice Jones, is talking with growers and stakeholders from all over the San Luis Valley about our water accounting solutions. The conference is February 5-7th at Ski Hi Park in Monte Vista. The [...]
