Farms: El Nino Package

A projected record-breaking system is predicted to bring much needed rain to Tucson this winter. El Nino is expected to help Arizona’s drought, and the entire west coast. The U.S. drought monitor states that Tucson is abnormally dry and in a moderate drought. This drought impacts Tucson’s water supply and how the city adapts to the shortage. However, the city is hopeful that El Nino will help alleviate these shortage conditions. Arizona’s drought dates back as far as 10 years. Mitch Basefsky, the communications representative at the Central Arizona Project says Tucson is the largest municipal customer for the project. “They get more than 144 thousand acre-feet of Colorado river water from CAP. That’s roughly 47 billion gallons of water a year,” Basefsky said. The Central Arizona Project brings water from the Colorado River to Tucson. Right now, the water in the canals is about three feet lower than average. “That’s a big concern to us because it they drop any enough, then we can be cut back in how much we import off the river,” Basefsky said. This winter, El Nino is classified as an extreme case. The water pattern occurs when the Pacific Ocean is warmer than usual. Local meteorologists say Tucson could see around 18 inches of rain from December to March. Dan Bronis, a meteorologist at KOLD, says that this El Nino has already brought wetter fall months than usual. “This El Nino with the wetter pattern hopefully setting up, which we have already seen in October here, will actually alleviate the drought and hopefully get rid of some of the drought. We’re not saying its going to go away completely, that is not likely,” Bronis said. This increase in rainfall is good news for local agriculture and farms. The Central Arizona Project says Tucson’s number one water consumer is agriculture. Farmers at Tucson Village Farm say that everything they do needs water. Not only will El Nino help the produce, it will also save a lot of water and money. Alex Atkin, Tucson Village farm manager, is excited for this rainfall. “Oh my gosh, anytime we can turn off the water, we get really excited. So we are all really happy its going to be a big El Nino year,” Atkin said. The farm hopes that El Nino will bring an abundance of ripe and colorful produce for next season.