Today we are an oil-based civilization, one that is totally dependent on a resource whose production will soon be falling. Since 1981, the quantity of oil extracted has exceeded new discoveries by an ever-widening margin. In 2008, the world pumped 31 billion barrels of oil but discovered fewer than 9 billion barrels of new oil. World reserves of conventional oil are in a free fall, dropping every year.

As I note in my latest book, Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, discoveries of conventional oil total roughly 2 trillion barrels, of which 1 trillion have been extracted so far, with another trillion barrels to go. By themselves, however, these numbers miss a central point. As security analyst Michael Klare notes, the first trillion barrels was easy oil, “oil that’s found on shore or near to shore; oil close to the surface and concentrated in large reservoirs; oil produced in friendly, safe, and welcoming places.” The other half, Klare notes, is tough oil, “oil that’s buried far offshore or deep underground; oil scattered in small, hard-to-find reservoirs; oil that must be obtained from unfriendly, politically dangerous, or hazardous places.”

This prospect of peaking oil production has direct consequences for world food security, as modern agriculture depends heavily on the use of fossil fuels. Most tractors use gasoline or diesel fuel. Irrigation pumps use diesel fuel, natural gas, or coal-fired electricity. Fertilizer production is also energy-intensive. Natural gas is used to synthesize the basic ammonia building block in nitrogen fertilizers. The mining, manufacture, and international transport of phosphates and potash all depend on oil.

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With the economy on the downturn, more and more people are starting gardens to help ease grocery bills. Growing one’s own food is a step towards living sustainably, so this is great news. However, more gardens mean more water use,  and 40% of water used during the summer is used outdoors. So, as you plan your garden this spring, be sure to keep water in mind and take measures to reduce water usage.

Reducing water usage in an organic garden not only conserves our most precious resource, it also lowers costs and in many cases, benefits the plants as well. By paying attention to how your garden is watered, you can be sure to give plants just the amount of water they need to thrive without overdoing it. Many of the water saving methods mentioned below also benefit the soil and enrich your garden in other ways. Water should be a key part of your garden planning from day one. Read on for ways to garden sustainably and save water.

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Peru is sponsoring a project to divert river water from one region to another by constructing a 12.5 mile long tunnel through a 6000 foot high mountain. Is this a crazy abuse of human power, or a wonderful use of our capabilities?

The tunnel is part of the Olmos-Tinajones Hydroelectric-Irrigation Project and will divert water from the Huancabamba River of Peru’s Cajamarca region to the neighboring region of Lambayeque. It will be completed by year’s end, and will irrigate approximately 150,000 hectares of land (~ 375,000 acres) and generate up to 600 MW of electricity.

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Note: This article is part of EcoWorldly’s series on food and agriculture around the world. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, this week EcoWorldly writers are exploring environmental issues related to bringing food from the farm to your dinner plate.

Sellers of organic products all say the same thing: their products are better for our health and for the environment. So if you’re planning on chowing on organic cranberries, yams and free-range turkeys this Thanksgiving, rest assured that your meal is good for you and Mother Earth on a different level. Organic farming also uses less water than commercial farming methods.

Large quantities of water are used for farming around the world, and some environmentalists argue this has contributed to the global water crisis. According to PeopleandPlanet.net, over two-thirds of the freshwater used by humans annually around the world is used for crop irrigation. In Africa, for example, the Nile River loses 90 percent of its water for irrigation purposes before it reaches the Mediterranean Sea. In Asia, which contains two-thirds of the world’s irrigated land, 85 percent of available water is used for irrigation. And in California, 80 percent of the water withdrawn for state water projects is used for agriculture. The remaining 20 percent is used for residential, commercial, institutional and industrial use, according to a report released by the environmental research and advocacy group Pacific Institute.

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Four new solar powered irrigation systems were developed by a team consisting of Chile’s National Energy Commission along with Chile’s Agriculture Ministry and a regional government. Each system has a generator that can produce up to 500 Watts of energy.  When there is not a need for irrigation, the energy produced by the solar power systems goes back into the general electricity grid.

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Black water is toilet waste and other water that requires more substantial treatment.  Grey water is non-sewer waste water from washing clothes and showers and the like.  Although in most homes, both black water and grey water go into the sewer system and are handled in water treatment plants with the same processing, grey water really requires much less treatment. It is possible to find other uses for grey water, including using the water for toilet flushing or for irrigation.

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With water shortages emerging as a constraint on food production growth, the world needs an effort to raise water productivity similar to the one that nearly tripled land productivity during the last half of the twentieth century. Worldwide, average irrigation water productivity is now roughly 1 kilogram of grain per ton of water used. Since it takes 1,000 tons of water to produce 1 ton of grain, it is not surprising that 70 percent of world water use is devoted to irrigation. Thus, raising irrigation efficiency is central to raising water productivity overall.

In surface water projects—that is, dams that deliver water to farmers through a network of canals—crop usage of irrigation water never reaches 100 percent simply because some irrigation water evaporates, some percolates downward, and some runs off. Water policy analysts Sandra Postel and Amy Vickers found that “surface water irrigation efficiency ranges between 25 and 40 percent in India, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Thailand; between 40 and 45 percent in Malaysia and Morocco; and between 50 and 60 percent in Israel, Japan, and Taiwan.” Irrigation water efficiency is affected not only by the type and condition of irrigation systems but also by soil type, temperature, and humidity. In hot arid regions, the evaporation of irrigation water is far higher than in cooler humid regions.

In 2004, China’s Minister of Water Resources Wang Shucheng outlined for me plans to raise China’s irrigation efficiency from 43 percent in 2000 to 51 percent in 2010 and then to 55 percent in 2030. The steps he described included raising the price of water, providing incentives for adopting more irrigation-efficient technologies, and developing the local institutions to manage this process. Reaching these goals, he felt, would assure China’s future food security.

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High Yield Per Acre

Soybeans generate a measly 60 gallons of biodiesel annually from an acre of land and has an energy balance of 2.5. Corn generates about 300-400 gallons of ethanol per acre and has an energy balance of 1.3. Sugar cane can generate 600-800 gallons of ethanol per acre annually and has an energy balance of 8. Sugar cane unfortunately is very labor intensive to cultivate and could contribute to deforestation.

Agave however can yield an impressive 2,000 gallons of distilled ethanol per acre each year annually. Cellulosic ethanol from agave has 6 to 9 times the yield per acre. This would significantly reduce the quantity of land needed to produce the same quantity of transportations fuels.

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Our taps, plumbing fixtures, and irrigation systems all draw from the same sources of clean, potable water. After being used, most of the water ends up in the sewer system — all of it, at that point, contaminated. Then it is treated and returned to a body of water. This creates a cycle in which unnecessarily large volumes of water circulate through the built environment and municipal treatment facilities. However, in the last decade or so, major strides have been made in reducing the amount of water that must go through such a cycle.

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A garden timer can be programed to water every day, every other day, every third day, etc. for whatever length of time you chose at whatever time you wish it to begin. Watering at night will cut down on evaporation rates, and in fact day time watering is restricted in many communities. According to Littleton, Massachusetts’ water department’s general manager, "Daytime watering is costly and largely ineffective." Without a garden timer, I would be unable to water my garden at 2:00am. Some people do not recommend watering lawns at night, as it may promote fungus growth; however, I have never had this problem.

A garden timer is an investment at about $40 for a battery operated model, but a good model will be efficient and last a long time. I have timers that are ten years old, and I usually get two seasons out of one set of batteries. In addition, garden timers can be used for manual watering by programming the timer to shut off after the desired length of time, and they can be turned off easily when precipitation is expected. Garden timers save time, maintain regular watering schedules, are efficient, and make water conservation easy.

Got a tip for Amy and Jennifer? Share it with them!

I've been wanting to put in a couple of rain barrels at my house this year. We put in some garden plants this weekend, and they are going to need to be watered. Rain barrels are great because they help conserve water and cut down the amount of potable water that needs to be used. Rain barrels are commercially available for around $100 (or more). These are more "decorative" (if you find a piece of plastic molded with a wood barrel pattern decorative), but with a drill, some silicone sealant, and a couple of basic parts, you can build a rain barrel of your own.

It is important to remember that this is not drinking water that you are collecting. Without further treatment, there are too many possible problems, from dust and dirt to chemicals (from roof materials) to microorganisms that may colonize an available water supply. There are rainwater catchment systems that are designed for potable water use. These are more involved, and need to have other elements in the system beyond what is being discussed here.

It is also important to make sure to prevent the standing water from becoming a mosquito breeding facility, either by closing the barrel with a screen (like a window screen) or by using mosquito dunks (a time release tablet that contains a bacterial agent that kills mosquito larvae, but do not affect people, fish, animals or plants).

Rain barrels can collect a surprisingly large amount of water. "For every 1000 square feet of roof space being used to capture rain you can expect to catch around 600 gallons from one inch of rain fall (at a theoretical 100% catch rate). Some larger roofs can easily be 2000+ square feet." (The Sietch) Conversely, if you have a 100 square foot garden, you can figure that you will want to supply 60 gallons of water for every inch of rainfall you are trying to make up. So if you collect and use five 55-gallon barrels of rainwater, that's approximately 5" of additional effective rainfall that you've supplied to your garden. With a typical 55-gallon barrel size, you are only likely to capture a fraction of the total water that falls on your roof. But this could be increased by putting barrels at several corners, to capture the rainfall at multiple downspouts.

Photo Credit: Elizabeth RedmondBuilding the barrel is mostly a matter of cutting plastic. Using a wide bore drill bit or a hole saw is the best way to cut the plastic. A good silicone sealant for submerged use can seal the spigot installation if it leaks excessively.

You need to install a hole in the lid as an inlet for the water coming from the downspout, a hole in the side with a valve, near the bottom, so that you can drain the water out when you are ready to water your plants, and a hole near the top, for an overflow, to control the water if the barrel gets completely full.

The following instructions are taken from the Center for Watershed Protection directions:

STEP 1. Cut Holes in Barrel

• Cut lower drain hole

Measure about 1 inch above the bottom of the barrel where the barrel side begins to rise toward the top. Using a 3/4" bit (or hole saw), drill a hole through the barrel.

• Cut upper drain hole

Mark the upper drain hole according to where you want the overflow to be located in relationship to the lower drain. Use a 1-5/8" hole saw to cut out the overflow hole.

• Cut top hole for atrium grate (filter)

Using the atrium grate as a template for size, mark a circle at the center of the top of the drum (locating the rainwater inlet in the center of the barrel lets you pivot the barrel without moving the downspout). Drill a 1/2" hole inside of the marked circle. Use a router, jigsaw or coping saw to cut until the hole is large enough to accommodate the atrium grate, which filters out large debris. Don’t make the hole too big – you want the flange of the atrium grate to fit securely on the top of the barrel without falling in.

• Cut notch to hold hose

Using a 1/2" bit or hole saw, cut out a notch at the top of the barrel rim (aligned so that it is above the lower drain hole). The notch should be large enough so that the end of the hose with the adapter will firmly snap into place.

STEP 2. Set Up Barrel and Modify Downspout

• Set up barrel

Since water will only flow from the garden hose when the hose is below the barrel, place the barrel on high ground or up on cinder blocks or a sturdy wooden crate underneath your downspout.

• Modify your downspout

Cut your existing downspout using a saw so that the end can be placed over the top of your rain barrel. Use a 3” vinyl downspout elbow to connect the two downspout pieces (or use a downspout adapter and a piece of corrugated plastic pipe). Trim the end of the downspout if necessary.

STEP 3. Assemble Parts

• Attach garden hose to lower drain hole

Screw in the 1/2" PVC male adapter to the lower drain hole. The hard PVC threads cut matching grooves into the soft plastic of the barrel. Unscrew the 1/2" PVC male adapter from the hole. Wrap threads tightly with teflon tape (optional). Coat the threads of the coupler with waterproof sealant (optional). Screw the coated adapter back into the hole and let it sit and dry for 24 hours (optional). Attach 5’ foot garden hose to the PVC male adapter. Attach the 3/4" x 1/2" PVC male adapter to the other end of the hose (this can be readily adapted to fit a standard garden hose).

• Attach drain hose to upper drain hole

Put the 1-1/4" male threaded coupling inside the barrel with the threads through the hole. From the outside, screw the 1-1/4" female barbed fitting onto the threaded coupling. Use silicone on the threads (optional). Attach 5’ section of drain hose to upper fitting.

• Place atrium grate and screen in top hole

Using PVC glue, secure a piece of fine mesh window screen inside or outside of the atrium grate to filter out debris and control mosquitoes (optional). Place the atrium grate into the hole (basket down).

• Position the downspout

Position the end of your downspout so it drains onto the atrium grate on the rain barrel.

Photo Credit: Elizabeth RedmondIt is possible to increase your storage capacity by connecting two (or even more) barrels together at the bottom, so that they fill up equally during a rainfall. Unless you are in an area subject to strong downpours, this is probably not a concern for most uses, and the water will evaporate faster if there is more surface area, as having the water in two half-full barrels instead of a single, full barrel.

Getting the barrels can take a little digging, but there are many sources for finding them. Rain barrels have been getting a lot of local attention recently, and I'm still waiting to get a barrel from my source. Some possible sources for free or inexpensive barrels include soda bottlers (syrup), car washes (soap), and food preparation facilities (bulk foods). The local water treatment plant here gets bulk loads of chemicals which they use for treating the water. The leftover 55-gallon plastic drums are then available to local residents for use as rain barrels. Bio-diesel enthusiasts are also looking to get the same barrels to store their stock, so the competition for these barrels is heating up. Our bio-diesel maven, Ryan Thibodaux, was very helpful in pointing out some of these suggested sources for finding barrels. And Elizabeth Redmond provided the photos of her own rain barrel setup.

Further information:
Center for Watershed Protection
The Sietch
DIY Network
Leavesdance