Although underground irrigation is still a common way to water crops and fields, some farmers and landowners are moving to use surface irrigation amid one of the worst droughts in state history.
Underground irrigation delivers water through buried tubing or pipes while surface drip irrigation is positioned above the ground and is not permanent.
Aric Barcellos, with A-Bar Ag Enterprises, whose family business owns 8,000 acres along the West Side of Merced County, is one of many farmers who are becoming more serious about using surface drip systems to irrigate.
A-Bar Ag Enterprises farms cotton, tomatoes, asparagus, pomegranates, wheat, melons, onions and pistachios, and receives water from several water districts
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