This week hundreds of irrigation workers and
academics will gather in Phoenix, AZ, for the 2014 Irrigation Show and Education Conference.
Déjà vu?
However, before we look forward, let's take a look back. Last
month, a group of us irriGators traveled to the WaterSmart Innovations Conference
to learn about the latest research in eight different tracks of water-use
topics!
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| WaterSmart social media workshop with two of the best: Alan Harris & Richard Restuccia |
Some of the highlights for me included the weather-based irrigation controller research, several talks on water budget rate structuring, and
the prevalence of smart, cloud-based irrigation controllers for residential use at the product expo.
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| On the mic: soil moisture sensor expert Bernard Cardenas |
Our own Bernard Cardenas presented on using soil moisture
sensors successfully with reclaimed water irrigation, and we did our best to commandeer the
tweet screens documenting all the interesting goings-on during the conference.
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| #WSI2014: tweet, or it didn't happen |
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| Oh you read that right...a robotic sprinkler |
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| Every drop counts: Flo from EPA WaterSense & Athens-Clarke County's Lily Anne Phibian |
#IrrigShow14
In addition to technical sessions presenting research, this
week’s Irrigation Show features a massive product expo.
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| Did I say it was massive? |
For the second
consecutive year, ARCSA will have its own pavilion on the show floor, reminding everyone
that lots of perfectly useful water falls from the sky. Cloud-based smart irrigation
technology will also be well represented (including a promising, new remotely accessible, wireless soil moisture sensor). And the new product contest area always helps ensure no effective water management innovation goes overlooked.
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| Teacher mode: Dr. Stacia Davis instructs Extension personnel |
I’m excited about reconnecting with former irriGator, and
current LSU faculty, Dr. Stacia Davis. Dr. Davis will present previous research work from the on-going Orange County Smart Irrigation Study. Further, following last year’s
successful "Value of Certification" video project, I’ll be wearing my Miami-Dade Urban Conservation Unit hat in Phoenix and rolling cameras on a new work.
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| Meeting of the minds: IA's Brent Mecham and Dr. Michael Dukes at WaterSmart |
I
would be remiss if I did not mention that the Irrigation Show is where our own Dr. Michael Dukes will formally accept this year’s Irrigation Foundation Excellence in Education Award.
Stay tuned for live tweets and additional blog coverage of
all the exciting Irrigation Show events.
About the author:
Michael Gutierrez is a water resources
technician with UF/IFAS in the Ag & Bio
Engineering Dept. He tweets, blogs and
also shoots still and video media in South
Florida, Gainesville and anywhere else a
camera is handy. (image: Gainesville Sun)
technician with UF/IFAS in the Ag & Bio
Engineering Dept. He tweets, blogs and
also shoots still and video media in South
Florida, Gainesville and anywhere else a
camera is handy. (image: Gainesville Sun)
