AG NEWS
Senate Approves Farm Aid Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A U.S. Senate approved Farm Aid Bill, passed 58 to 40, Feb. 13, includes a variety of benefits for agricultural irrigators, such as increased subsidies for upgrading irrigation systems and assistance for resource conservation like the use of efficient irrigation practices.

The Senate substantially increased funding for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) program, bumping funding from $200 million annually to $1.2 billion in the fifth year of the bill. "As much as half could be for items such as irrigation, so that is a good thing and something that we have been actively promoting," said Jim Goldwater, the IA's federal lobbyist. Under the EQIP program, a farm could qualify for as much as $150,000 over five years (a maximum of $50,000 in one year) for irrigation upgrades and installation.

"The Senate bill does include a number of specific references promoting assistance and incentives for facilitating service and ground water conservation, protecting water quality and improving methods of irrigation," Goldwater said. The bill makes federal dollars available for new irrigation equipment purchase, but also for the upgrade and improvement of existing systems, which is a significant win for the industry, Goldwater said. He added, "In a nutshell, there is a greater visibility for irrigation, there is strong conservation language, which includes efficient irrigation in there, and I think that, coupled with the increased funding for EQIP, we are quite pleased with the Senate bill." The Senate bill includes a controversial water rights amendment that stipulates that ranchers and farmers may lease or sell water rights to the federal government if they take part in a water conservation program. This provision is a test program in seven states (California, Maine, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregonand Washington); which have the discretion on how to resolve water conservation problems.

The House Farm Bill, passed last October, and the Senate bill differ significantly, a condition that could put a delay on a final bill being presented to President George Bush for signing into law.

Over the next few weeks, the House and the Senate will get together in a conference committee, composed of members of the House Agriculture Committee and the Senate Agriculture Committee to create one bill. "Page by page they resolve differences," Goldwater said. "My guess is this is not going to be a very short process. It is going to last, at a minimum, for weeks.

The Bush Administration indicated it would get involved in the negotiation process. Once the joint committee designs a single bill, both the House and Senate must pass it, without changes. The Senate version of the bill can be viewed in entirety at www.senate.gov. The bill is numbered S1713.

More Water For San Joaquin Farmers?

FRESNO, Calif. - U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger ruled that the U.S. Department of the Interior has been legally withholding water supplies from farmers on the west side of California's San Joaquin Valley.

In a Feb. 8 decision, Wanger said the method by which the Interior Department calculated how water must be set aside for environmental restoration was without basis.

"This is an enormous victory for water users in the San Joaquin Valley," said Dan Nelson, executive director, San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, Los Banos, Calif.

In 1992, Congress adopted the Central Valley Project Improvement Act, and it allocated 800,000 acre feet of water per year for environmental purposes, mainly fish and wildlife restoration. However, the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority filed suit against the Interior Department in 1997, claiming the department had been taking as much as 1 million acre feet of water per year for environmental uses, by way of an internal calculation formula. "We've said for a long time that these calculations were wrong and now a federal judge has agreed with us," Nelson said.

The decision could mean as much as 30 percent more water for farmers in the region. "The farmers in the Klamath Basin have suffered because governmental policies have favored fish over farmers," said Thomas Birmingham, general manager, Westlands Water District, Fresno, Calif. "The farmers and, the communities in the San Joaquin Valley have suffered from the same unbalanced policies. This important court decision will help restore some balance to federal water policies."

Not everyone shared Birmingham's assessment, however. The National Resources Defense Council, an environmental activist group, will appeal the decision and is urging the Interior Department to do the same, U.S. Water News reported. It is unclear whether or not the Bush Administration would join in challenging the ruling.

Georgia Pays Farmers For Cutting Irrigation

A TLANTA - For the second year in a row, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) has declared a severe drought for the states'Flint River Basin and will pay farmers not to irrigate. "The declaration is based on data relating to winter precipitation, three-month precipitation outlooks, stream flow and ground water levels," said Harold Reheis, the director of EPD.

The declaration clears the way for implementation of the Flint River Drought Protection Act, which compensates farmers in the area who voluntarily stop irrigating crops with surface water. Farmers who qualify can participate in an auction in which they submit a sealed bid of as much as $150 per acre for irrigated land. Bids will be accepted, beginning with the lowest, until an adequate amount of the land has been taken out of irrigation, the EPD announced. Last year's auction resulted in more than 33,000 acres not being irrigated, with an estimated water savings of 130 million gallons of water per day.

Stream flows in the Flint River Basin were at or below 10-year drought levels and ground water levels were equal to or less than levels of a year ago. The Flint River flows south from west-central Georgia to Florida and eventually into the Gulf of Mexico.

TURF NEWS
Optimism For 2002 Turf/ Landscape Market

WASHINGTON, D.C. -The economic downturn of 2001 combined with the events of Sept. 11 put many landscape irrigation contractors and manufacturers on defense last year, and much talk of "belt-tightening" was heard at the Irrigation Association's annual tradeshow and convention. What'smore, a sense of uncertainty about the year ahead prevailed.

And while the irrigation industry still has good reason to be cautious, many economists believe the U.S. economy is beginning to pull out of the recessionary slump. Indeed the nation's top economist, Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, told Congress, Feb. 28, "In the past several months, increasing signs have emerged that some of the forces that have been restraining the economy over the past year are starting to diminish and that activity is beginning to firm."

Of particular importance. to the turf irrigation market is the strength of construction and housing. "In recent months, low mortgage rates and favorable weather have provided considerable support to home building," Greenspan said.

Indeed, building permits (an indicator of future construction) were up 3 percent in January and housing starts increased by 6 percent in the month. Furthermore, the value of private construction put in place during January was 1 percent above December and 2 percent over January 2001. The value of public construction put in place in January increased by 4 percent above December figures, according to the U.S. Census.

New home sales slipped by 15 percent in January, but Gary Garczynski, president, National Association of Home Builders said, "In all, the nation's housing market has started off on the right foot in the new year."

The implication, of course, is that as new homes, office and public buildings are constructed, irrigation contractors will be called on to install new irrigation systems.

Another indication of increased work for contractors recently came from the American Rental Association (ARA), a nationwide group representing equipment rental outlets. The ARA announced Feb. 26 that 42 percent of stores specializing in contractor rentals saw an upturn in business in the later portion of 2001.

"The contractor segment of the rental industry showed modest growth in many areas of the country despite the overall economic downturn," said Chris Wehrman, ARA's executive vice president and CEO.

INFOGRAPHIC: Drought Conditions in the U.S.

Click here to view map.

N.H. Town Takes Hard Line On Water

SEABROOK, N.H. - Seabrook, N.H.,asmall town 36 miles north of Boston, announced a total ban on outdoor water use, according to a report from the Portsmouth Herald. The city's water department plans on using soil moisture sensors this summer to register the moisture content of a homeowner's lawn. If the content is significantly higher than a neighboring yard, water department officials will investigate the cause and perhaps levy fines. "We will notice if somebody's lawn is greener than their neighbor's," Water Superintendent Warner Knowles told the Portsmouth Herald.

Seabrook's plight mirrors that of much of the East Coast, which is dealing with one of the region's worst droughts in history. Extreme to moderate drought conditions exist all along the East Coast from Maine to the Georgia-Florida border. For example, rainfall for the U.S. Mid-Atlanticwas off by as much as 6 inches, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Monthly stream flows have been well below normal in the region, with ground water evels nearly 2 feet below normal across New Hampshire and Vermont, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Severe drought also persists in Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. According to the National Weather Service's (NWS) Climate Prediction Center, warm and dry weather will tend to continue, allowing drought to persist. As an example, precipitation in Arizona, Nevada and southern California has been 50 percent below normal the past three rnonths, indicating that drought will likely expand in that region.

CALENDAR

April 24-27: ExpoRiego/Expolrrigation 2002, Espacio Riesco, Santiago, Chile. Contact: 562/333-8511.

May 13-15: American Water Resources Association Spring Specialty Conference, New Orleans, La. Contact: 540/687-8390.

May 16: Washington Association of Landscape Professionals State Board Meeting, Tacoma, Wash. Contact: 800/ 833-2186.

May 20-22: Urban Agriculture: Emerging Opportunities in Science, Education and Policy Symposium, Dallas, Texas. Contact: urbanag@tamu.edu.

May 21-23: Irrigation Australia 2002, Sydney, Australia. Contact: Irrigation Association of Australia, (61) 2 9746 0531.

June 16-20: American Water Works Association Conference and Exhibition, New Orleans, La. Contact: 800/926-7337.

June 19-22: Southeast GreenhouseConference and Trade Show, LaGrange, Ga Contact: 800/453-3070.

Editor's Note: if you'd like your irrigation-related event to be listed in lBT magazine, please send the event name, date, location and contact information to Steve Smith, E-mail: ssmith@gie.net, fax: 216/961-0364.

MANUFACTURER Notes...

Toro Offers Financing

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - Golf courses, municipalities, academic institutions.and sports organizations can now finance the purchase of Toro Irrigation systems and maintenance equipment, the company announced in late February. In partnership with GE Capital, Toro will offer financial solutions, leases and conditional sales.

Hancor And Amanco Form Alliance

FINDLAY, Ohio - Hancor and Amanco, two manufacturers of corrugated High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pipe systems, have joined to market low-pressure water conveyance, irrigation, sanitary sewage and storm drainage products in Mexico.

Flowtronex Launches Management System

DALLAS - Flowtronex, a Dallas-based manufacturer of irrigation pumping systems, launched Configurator, an Internet-based development tool for specifying and configuring pumping systems. The Configurator will be available to the company's FloBoy division, which offers skid-mounted, prefabricated pump and control packages for residential, commercial and turf applications.

King Safety Products Gets ISO, UL Status

ST. LOUIS - King Safety Products, a producer of electrical connectors, announced it received International Standards Organization 9002 registration and Underwriters Laboratories Inc. status.

Rain Bird And Lesco Announce Alliance

AZUSA, Calif. - Rain Bird Golf and LESCO, Inc. have announced a limited distribution agreement. Rain Bird's ESR 70 / 90 and Eagle 700 / 900 rotors and replacement parts will be available to golf courses through LESCO.

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