While drought conditions have been occurring in many areas of the world over the last several years, it is only in 2015 that the drought happening in places such as California has really started to garner attention and make people concerned about water supplies available in that region. As people do their best to try to conserve water and use as little as they possibly can during this time, there are steps and plans being talked about and put into place to make changes needed. There has been a greater interest placed on just what new technology will be able to do to help solve the drought problems that exist, particularly when it comes to the realm of agriculture in California.
Agriculture and the Water Supply
The agriculture industry in California is a vast one, with many different farms, vineyards and the like growing large supplies of fruits and vegetables that are used all around the world. It is estimated that agriculture uses almost 80% of California’s ground water and a large portion of that can end up getting wasted because of faulty or leaky irrigation systems, overwatering, evaporation, the type of crops grown and other mitigating factors. This can add up to a significant amount of water that is going to waste even under the best of circumstances, but when there is a drought situation it can become even direr. Place on top of that the growing populations in the area, the climate change factors that have occurred and other environmental factors and there is an even bigger problem, especially when you consider how much of the global food supply the area contributes.
How Technology Can Help
There have been advances made in technology in recent years that are able to help with this situation and perhaps allow for adjustments and changes that are more manageable than having to build a large desalination plant. Technology is much underutilized when it comes to the agriculture industry because many farmers fear that the investment in technology will not help them reap the profits they need to succeed. However, with a situation this dire steps need to be taken and the use of real-time data and information to help determine accurate water sources, where disrupts may be in water supply lines, the use of drones to scan fields to find problems in irrigation systems and other technology can go a long way in helping to solve some of the waste that is occurring.
Using technology to solve some of the drought issues is very important at this time as the situation shows little sign of changing anytime soon. The state of California can take advantage of the fact that it is a center of technology and can use places like Silicon Valley to help come up with proper and accurate solutions that can help to spot issues with water supplies and usage and come up with more efficient ways to conserve and use water so that supply does not become scarce.