Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/561374
ith California in a fourth year of drought, technologies to address water issues are becoming increasingly advanced to meet growers' precise water needs. Technologies used in vineyards today combine data collected from sophis- ticated sensors with analytics, predictive modeling and satellite imagery. Armed with this information, vineyard managers can see how much water they are applying as well as the water the plants are using. Then, they can titrate irrigation to produce the desired grape quality and yield. "Wine grapes are a relatively low water- use crop and have adapted to cyclical drought patterns over the past 250 years in California," noted Allison Jordan, execu- tive director of the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance (CSWA). "California BY LINDA DAILEY PAULSON + Drought and climate change are escalating the research and commercialization of advanced irrigation management tools. + Commercially available and emerging technologies combine automated data gath- ering with analytical modeling and forecasting. + Most growers are already concerned about water conservation and effective irri- gation, but technology provides another decision-making tool. + Technology can't control Mother Nature, but it can help growers get the best qual- ity from their vineyards. AT A GLANCE Allison Jordan, head of the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance, points out that California growers and vintners were water-conscious long before the current drought. Growers take a high-tech approach to an age-old problem 3 6 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | S e p t - O c t 2 015 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m