Deborah Hamlin retiring from Irrigation Association
Deborah Hamlin, CEO of the Irrigation Association (IA) for the past
Hamlin spoke with NAI editor Janet Kanters on her past years and accomplishments with the IA.
Q: Prior to the IA, you were involved in the plastics industry, the nursing industry, and other management/business type roles. How has your 15 years with the IA changed the way you think about irrigation and, in turn, the agriculture industry?
Q: Are there any common threads that you’ve seen across those industries? Plastics are a key part of irrigation, so have there been some commonalities?
A: Certainly, a lot of irrigation systems have plastic components. Understanding the manufacturing and distribution process and the channel to market was helpful for this job. And understanding the characteristics of different plastics was also helpful. The more you know about someone’s business, the better you can help them solve problems. Another thing in common with all of the industries is the deep desire for continuing education and recognition through certification programs.
Q: Your years with the IA were busy ones – you established a new brand and mission, consolidated industry training, and developed a profitable online learning centre. Other milestones included bolstering the certification program to third-party accreditation, creating a standards and codes arm, and expanding into the publishing arena with two industry magazines. You obviously had a plan. Are you happy with the way it has gone?
A: The association was in a growth mode when I arrived, and I was able to ride that wave for a long time. It gave us resources to try new things. I also had smart, forwarding-thinking boards that embraced new ideas and were willing to take some calculated risks. Looking back, I am very happy with our accomplishments. Sometimes when you are in the midst of the job, you just think of all of the things that you didn’t accomplish! But when you stop to reflect, you realize it’s been a good run.
Q: Among all those initiatives, what are you most proud of during your tenure?
A: I think changing the mission in 2007 was a game changer for the association. “To promote efficient irrigation,” with the unifying statement, “to ensure water is available for irrigation for future generations.” It seems small, but it has been our driving force in everything we do. And it caught the attention of outside stakeholders that once might have thought us to be a little self-serving. Even our members know the mission. Along with that, overall, I believe the association has matured along with the industry. And the end result is more professionalism in everything we do.
Q: You led the IA through the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the lack of in-person events and meetings, the IA continues to thrive. How did you and the IA manoeuvre your way through the past 20 months?
A: I can’t say that it was easy, but the IA board and staff were incredibly responsive in anticipating NOT being able to hold our show in 2020 and making the decision to cancel early. That forced us to get creative and offer exhibitors alternate opportunities to meet their marketing needs digitally, whether that be sponsorships of digital events, magazine advertising or email blasts. Exhibitor support, a capital campaign and some quality virtual conferences saved us and allowed us to continue providing value to our member companies throughout this difficult time. We had surprising success, and many of those efforts will be repeated in post-COVID times.
Q: What do you hope to see for the IA going forward, after your departure?
Q: And finally, we shouldn’t ask, but we will! What advice would you give to the new incoming CEO? ●
Deborah Hamlin, CAE, FASAE
NASA launches tool that measures water loss in
On Oct. 21, NASA launched an online platform with information on how much water evaporates into the atmosphere from plants, soils and other surfaces in the U.S. west, data it says could help water managers, farmers and state officials better manage resources in the parched region.
The platform, OpenET, uses satellite imagery from the Landsat program, a decades-long project of NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey that records human and natural impacts on Earth's surface. Specifically, it provides data for 17 western states — down to the quarter-acre — on how much evapotranspiration has taken place.
The U.S. west has been mired in drought for more than two decades. Water levels at key reservoirs on the Colorado River have fallen to historic lows alongside growing demand, prompting the federal government to declare water cuts for some states next year. A blazing summer and years of record-breaking wildfires have also zapped moisture from
Detailed information on soil moisture could help farmers and water managers better plan during dry conditions and reduce how much water is used for irrigation.
"Farmers and water managers have not had consistent, timely data on one of the most important pieces of information for managing water, which is the amount of water that's consumed by crops and other plants as they grow," said Robyn Grimm, a water specialist with the Environmental Defense Fund, which helped NASA develop the tool alongside other environmental groups and Google. "To date, that data has been expensive and fragmented."
Many large farms in dry areas, such as California's Central Valley, already have years of experience using advanced data systems to measure evapotranspiration and other water metrics that influence their growing and harvesting seasons and watering schedules.
NASA said the platform includes historical data dating back to 1984. In coming months, it will be updated to include information about precipitation rates with the same level of detail. Eventually, the tool will extend to other parts of the U.S., including areas around the Mississippi River and Appalachian region, scientists said. ●
Forrest Melton, NASA project scientist for OpenET, adjusts a scientific instrument in a California vineyard.
Scientists study new vegetable irrigation methods
As water scarcity increases, scientists around the world are looking at growers’ options for irrigation methods. Here are three studies with some interesting results.
How negative pressure irrigation in field production reduces inputs.Study: Negative pressure irrigation increases vegetable water productivity and nitrogen use efficiency by improving soil water and NO3–-N distributions. Authors: Shengping Li, Deshui Tan, Xueping Wu, Aurore Degré, Huaiyu Long, Shuxiang Zhang, Jinjing Lu, Lili Gao, Fengjun Zheng, Xiaotong Liu, and Guopeng Liang.
How salty is too salty? Study: Saline irrigation water indices affect morphophysiological characteristics of collard. Authors: Jonathan dos S Viana, Luiz Fabiano Palaretti, Vinicius M. de Sousa, José de A. Barbosa, Antonio Michael P. Bertino, Rogério T. de Faria, and Alexandre B. Dalri.
Mycorrhizae allows for lower inputs
Study: On-farm reduced irrigation and fertilizer doses, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal inoculation improve water productivity in tomato production. Authors: Carmen Biel, Amélia Camprubí, Paulo E. Lovato, and Cinta Calvet●
Scientists find new way to remove ions from water
Converting seawater into fresh water is important in water-scarce countries. For that process, certain charged particles – known as ions – have to be removed from the water. However, some ions are difficult to remove from water due to their chemical properties.
Recent research by scientists from Israel and the Netherlands is helping to improve this ion-removal process. The researchers were able to predict the behaviour of boron ions during water processing and thus simplify their removal.
Many harmful or valuable ions in seawater, brackish water or freshwater are amphoteric: their properties vary with the pH.
“It is difficult to remove these particles from the water with standard membrane technologies,” said Jouke Dykstra, assistant professor at the department of environmental technology at Wageningen University & Research. “You then have to add certain chemicals to control the pH. But we want to avoid that as much as possible: there is a strong trend to use fewer chemicals.”
As an example of this ion removal process, Dykstra refers to the desalination of seawater. This is happening worldwide at locations with a shortage of fresh water. For example, many countries around the Mediterranean use desalinated seawater for irrigation.
“But seawater also contains boron, which is toxic in high concentrations, and it inhibits plant growth. Obviously, this is a problem for irrigation, and that is why we are looking for new ways to remove boron and other ions from sea water,” noted Dykstra.
Wageningen researchers are working on this challenge together with colleagues from Technion – the Israel Institute of Technology, and from Wetsus – the European Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology in Leeuwarden. Together they have developed a new theoretical model of the behaviour of boron during a process known as capacitive deionisation. This is an emerging, membraneless technique for water treatment and desalination using microporous, flow-through electrodes When an electric current is applied, ions are adsorbed to the electrodes and hence removed from the water.
The Israeli and Dutch researchers discovered that such systems require a completely new design. For example, they demonstrated both theoretically and experimentally that the water has to flow from the positive to the negative electrode, and not the other way around, as is now customary.
“Our research has shown that a good theoretical model is essential to effectively control such complex chemical processes,” said Dykstra. “This approach offers many interesting possibilities. You could also use this model for other challenges in wastewater treatment, including removing arsenic or small organic molecules, such as drug residues or herbicides.” ●
Certain charged particles – known as ions – have to be removed from the water.
Photo: WUR
UC Davis to lead groundwater and irrigated agriculture sustainability study
Researchers from the University of California, Davis, have been awarded a USD$10 million grant by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to find ways to sustain irrigated agriculture while improving groundwater quantity and quality in the southwest under a changing climate.
Isaya Kisekka, associate professor of agrohydrology and irrigation at UC Davis, is leading a team of more than two dozen climate, plant and soil scientists, hydrologists, engineers, economists, educators and extension specialists from UC Davis and other institutions in California, Arizona and New Mexico. They will develop climate change adaptation management strategies that ensure sustainability of groundwater and irrigated agriculture.
Kisekka says the project team in California will work with groundwater sustainability agencies to develop tools and data to enhance water management at both the farm and groundwater basin scales to improve crop production and achieve sustainability goals under the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which provides a statewide framework to help protect groundwater resources over the long-term. The research team will also work with grower coalitions to achieve the groundwater quality goals of the Central Valley Salt and Nitrate Management Plan.
According to Kisekka, for farmers, the biggest challenge threatening their business is water. “Our project is going to develop climate-smart adaptation management practices to help growers achieve their production goals while addressing the co-benefits for the environment and human health,” said Kisekka. “We are going to develop cutting edge tools to manage groundwater quantity and quality as well as study how policies impact behaviours such as water use in agriculture.”
The practices, models and tools developed will be used by growers or their advisers, policymakers, irrigation districts, coalitions and groundwater sustainability agencies to address climate change extremes such as drought or floods.
Kisekka said they will also come up with management practices to improve soil health, develop alternative water supplies and reduce water demand so the region can continue to produce various agriculture commodities, such as vegetables, grapes and almonds.
Researchers from University of California, Berkeley, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, Stanford University, CSU Fresno, University of Arizona, New Mexico State University, USDA Agricultural Research Service (Sustainable Agricultural Water Systems Research: Davis, CA and Water Management and Conservation Research: Maricopa, AZ) and USDA Climate Hub are also participating in the project. ●
Professor Isaya Kisekka
Photo: UC Davis
