Water
Reliable, high quality water is critical to fruit and vegetable production.
The CFVGA Water Committee is therefore dually charged with:
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Providing water resource information that can assist CFVGA members to continue and advance their farming operations
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Connecting members, water policy makers and regulatory agencies to promote understanding of the potential impacts both positive and negative, of water related policies on our members.
Resources
(click on a category from the left)
Colorado Ag Water Alliance – Watch for tours and water workshops related to agriculture
CO Dept of Health & Environment
Rulemaking for standards for the use of municipal reclaimed water for irrigation of edible crops
Regulation 85 review of nutrient standards
Colorado River Drought Contingency Planning
Natural Resources Conservation Service Irrigation Guide
CoAgMet for local crop water use reports
United Water & Sanitation District’s South Platte Call Map
NCWCD’s Colorado and S. Platte streamflow forecast page (contains data between February and May)
NRCS Basin Data Reports (precipitation, snowpack, reservoir, forecast)
NRCS Snowpack Graphs (year-to-date compared to average) by Colorado divisions
Videos
- Optimal irrigation efficiency yields best crop performance
- WISE is a web tool to help growers make irrigation scheduling decisions (when to irrigate? how many inches?)
- FC = field capacity, the maximum amount of water a soil can hold before gravity drains water down through the soil
- AWC = available water capacity, amount of water plant roots can get from the soil, less than FC
- PWP = permanent wilting point, the plant is dead!
- MAD = management allowable depletion, the amount of water that can be lost from the soil before plant yield is reduced, varies by crop and soil texture, DO NOT EXCEED MAD
