Leprino wastewater will irrigate more crops
More recycled water will be put to good use on land locally where groundwater quality is poor. The Lemoore & Leprino Recycled Water Project would expand use of reclaimed water by increasing the discharge of combined effluent from 5.0 to 7.0 million gallons per day for irrigation of crops at River Ranch, and expand existing land application area from 1,900 to approx. 2,400 acres.
The combined effluent consists of disinfected secondary-23 recycled water from the City of Lemoore WWTF and cheese production water from Leprino Foods Company. It will be sent to the River Ranch property via an existing recycled water pipeline.
The Regional Water Quality Control Board found that the quality of shallow ground water at the ranch was known to be poor since the early 1980s.In 1982 the Kings River Conservation District conducted a study in the Stone Ranch area to document the extent of shallow ground water with salinity and boron levels too high to be used as irrigation water supply.
The proposed projects consist of irrigating 2416 acres of farmland that will be planted with forage, green cotton, corn, alfalfa and tomatoes. The proposed combined effluent flow of 7MGD is an increase of 40% over the current permitted flow. The River Ranch is located near NAS Lemoore.
Leprino Foods Company owns and operates two cheese production facilities in the City of Lemoore that process approximately fourteen million pounds of milk, producing an average of 1.5 million pounds of mozzarella cheese per day. Together the two cheese production facilities generate approximately 2.75 million gallons per day of process water that is conveyed to Leprino’s wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), located adjacent to the City of Lemoore’s WWTP. The source of water used at the Leprino facilities is supplied by the City of Lemoore.
The proposed project would increase the average monthly discharge from five to seven MGD and expand the land application area to include an adjoining 520-acre parcel, formally known as the Nederend property. Stone Ranch (owned by Leprino) and the adjacent Nederend property are collectively referred to as the River Ranch.
Dewatering of the Friant Kern Canal began November 1st with the canal back in service on February 1st. Contractors hope to have the Middle Reach replacement canal ready for water as well in February.
Corn prices: Midwest farmers are harvesting the largest U.S. corn crop ever at 15.2 billion bushels sayd USDA pushing the bushel price down- good news for the Western US livestock industry. The corn price today sits at $4.76 a bushel, the lowest this year. In January, corn was priced near $7.00 a bushel – putting the squeeze on feed prices.
LA to pull turf to save water
A state grant will help Metropolitan Water District increase its turf replacement rebate for businesses and institutions from $2 to $3 a square foot in 2024. The funds will help offset costs to convert up to 30 million square feet of non-functional turf into water-efficient landscaping, building on Metropolitan’s highly successful turf rebate program. In total, the program has directly resulted in the removal of about 218 million square feet of grass, saving enough water to serve about 68,000 households annually.
Last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1572, legislation co-sponsored by Metropolitan to phase out the use of potable water to irrigate grass that is not used for recreation or other purposes on commercial, industrial, municipal and institutional properties, beginning in 2027.