Photo by © Deyana Robova | Dreamstime.com
Vineyard Drip Irrigation
Several years ago, in 2012, stakeholders in the Okanagan region voiced their opinions about the priorities towards mitigating climate change at workshops hosted by the Climate Action Initiative (CAI). The priorities they chose make up the foundation of the BC Agriculture Climate Change Adaptation Risk and Opportunity Assessment at bcagclimateaction.ca.
Water use came up as a key concern and subsequently, CAI partnered with Sustainable Wine Growing BC (SWBC is a program of the BC Wine Grape Council) to undergo the Vineyard Water Use Efficiency Project that would provide tools and resources useful for grape growers, but also transferable to other forms of agriculture.
Water isn’t always seen as a major concern in BC, but Katie Pease, the program manager with SWBC, came from California and has seen what the situation can be like when pressures for the resource increase yet availability decreases. With no standard for water use in the region and no current controls, what is currently seen as a minor issue could grow exponentially without proper management.
Pease notes that climate scientists have said the Okanagan Valley is expected to experience increasing variability in production conditions and precipitation as a result of climate change. Over the last 15 years the region has experienced extremes with droughts, floods and extremely hot days, which lead to vine stress. These trends are expected to increase, and this puts pressure on water when the supply is at its lowest. Add to that, the population growth in the region and it’s obvious the urban, agricultural and environmental uses will grow.
Growers need to know water will be available when they need it, but because agriculture uses the greatest amount of water, they also need to be seen as responsible stewards. Grapes may not be the highest water user, but there are still efficiencies possible. There are benefits to grapes from watering efficiently: maximize quality, optimize yields, minimize costs and reduce pests and disease.
To this end, an Excel spreadsheet-based Water Use Tracking Tool was created by SWBC along with fact sheets and other information including a Stake of Knowledge and Technology Report. Growers can navigate tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet to access fields to input their own data. This leads to answers about water use, water costs and more.
“It is quite simple in this first version and we’ll work to increase its function over time,” Pease says of the tool. “It allows a grower to input various aspects of their practices and shows their water use against their yields and their costs. A lot of growers, as I understand it, don’t have that metric.”
Funding in part from the BC Wine Grape Council, Growing Forward 2 (through CAI) and Investment Agriculture Foundation (IAF) led to the development of the tool which was added to the SWBC website at sustainablewinegrowingbc.ca. Now, along with sustainable practices guidebooks, a self-assessment tutorial video, a winery process wastewater management handbook and yearly reports, the heading “Vineyard Water-Use Efficiency” can be found with a variety of fact sheets and tools suitable for use in vineyards.
“When we did this project, it was important for the tools that we created to be transferable across agricultural commodities,” Pease says. “We completed a successful process to develop the resources and tools which could be completed for other commodities.”
Growers may think their water use is being tracked and providers can help them with management, but this may not be the truth. Contacting the water provider will reveal whether this information exists or not.
“Tracking water is important for understanding your grape quality,” Pease explains. “The better we understand what we need… the better, the easier it is for all of us… to understand how we can share the resource.”
Pease is excited to share the resources with growers in hopes of making water efficiency an easy transition and everyday practice