Agriculture increasingly relies on managed water systems to irrigate crops. This is particularly so for crops in the relatively arid western U.S., where battles over limited water supplies have been long, bitter and notorious. These conflicts only seem likely to increase as demand for water (from industry and urbanization as well as from agriculture) increases and supplies are potentially disrupted as a result of climate change. This looming threat is spurring research to help make agriculture more water efficient as well as to expand the usability of low quality water. This story in the Oregonian describes one of these projects taking place at OSU. The research is investigating whether onion growers can safely use water that is contaminated with potentially harmful bacteria.
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