New PBS Program Examines Farm Water Technology

Agricultural water use efficiency and the efforts farmers are making to conserve water are highlighted in a new Public Broadcast System program airing this month around the state.

Produced by popular public television personality Huell Howser, "Stretching Our Water Supplies" features three segments focusing on on-farm water conservation, wetlands restorations and water recycling currently taking place in California.

In the first of the program's three segments, distinguished biologist Dr. Stuart Siegel, founder of Wetlands and Water Resources, Inc., San Rafael, explains how public water agencies serving California's farms and cities are working together to restore wetlands and habitat in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the crossroads of the state's water system.

In the second segment, Panoche Drainage District General Manager Dennis Falaschi demonstrates the innovations that have enabled him to recycle the saline drainage water from more than 100,000 acres of farmlands. As a result, contaminants that used to be discharged into the San Joaquin River have been reduced by 85%.

In the last segment, Huell Howser visits a family farm that is carrying water conservation to extraordinary levels of efficiency, using cutting edge technology that enables the farmer to look into the root zone below ground and measure the "heartbeat" of his crops.

California Farm Water Coalition and the Family Farm Alliance sponsored the program.

"This is really a celebration of the creativity and leadership that everyone from family farmers in the Central Valley to the public water agencies that serve our largest cities have implemented in addressing one of California's biggest challenges for the future," said Mike Wade, Executive Director of the California Farm Water Coalition.   

The initial broadcast schedule is:

KCET, LOS ANGELES 

Tues. November 1 at 7:30 PM (repeats 12:30 AM)

Fri. November 18 at 7:30 PM (repeats 12:30 AM)

KVIE, SACRAMENTO 

Thurs. November 3 at 9:00 PM

Tues. November 8 at 7:00 PM

KIXE, REDDING 

Wed. November 2 at 7:30 PM 

KVPT, FRESNO 

Thurs. November 3 at 9:00 PM

KVCR, SAN BERNARDINO 

Thurs. November 3 at 9:00 PM

Sun. November 6 at 9:00 PM

KPBS, SAN DIEGO 

Sat. November 12 at 5:30 PM