Those of us living in the desert should know better than anyone that water is life.  Water is certainly the lifeblood of our existence in the desert.  Despite this obvious fact, it is often difficult to comprehend the full extent of the importance of water in our daily lives.
 
A good place to start is with the recognition that 60-70% of our body weight is made up of water.  We need plenty of water just to function properly and each person needs to directly consume approximately one gallon of water per day, as a basic metabolic minimum (Mayo Clinic, 2022).  
 
Each person’s water needs will vary depending on their diet, environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity, and a person's activity level among other factors.  For example, someone hiking in the desert on a warm spring day will need to consume at least one quart of water per hour to maintain proper hydration.
 
It is commonly estimated that the average American needs about 102 gallons of water daily for personal use, which includes water to drink, bathing, cooking, toiletries, etc. (Kobir, 2024; and Philadelphia City Government, 2024).  The United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that the average American needs 80-100 gallons per day for basic use and consumption, commonly referred to as indoor use (USGS, 2019).  The Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) estimates that Arizonans consume an average of 146 gallons of water per day (ADWR, 2024).
 
Fruits and vegetables contain large quantities of water in proportion to their weight.  When these foods are eaten, the water can be absorbed by the body.  Accordingly, diet is an important part of a person’s direct daily water consumption (Table 1).  Nutritionists and dieticians have often been the ones alerting people to how much water our food contains.
 

Fruits				Vegetables
Item	FoodWeight(g)	WaterWeight	PercentWater	Item	FoodWeight(g)	Water Weight	Percent Water
Apple	138	116	84	Broccoli	44	40	91
Apricot	106	92	86	Cabbage(green)	35	32	93
Banana	114	85	74	Cabbage (red)	35	32	92
Blueberries	145	123	85	Carrots	72	63	87
Cantaloupe	160	144	90	Cauliflower	50	46	92
Cherries	68	55	81	Celery	40	38	95
Cranberries	95	82	87	Cucumber	52	50	96
Grapes	92	75	81	Eggplant	41	38	92
Grapefruit	123	112	91	Lettuce(iceberg)	20	19	96
Orange	140	122	87	Peas(green)	72	57	79
Peach	87	76	88	Peppers(sweet)	50	46	92
Pear	166	139	84	Potato (white)	112	88	79
Pineapple	155	135	87	Radish	45	43	95
Plum	66	56	85	Spinach	28	26	92
Raspberries	123	106	87	Zucchini	65	62	95
Strawberries	149	136	92	Tomato (red)	123	115	94
Watermelon	160	146	92	Tomato(green)	123	114	93

 
Table 1.  Water content of common fruits and vegetables.  
 
Prepared by Sandra Bastin, Foods, and Nutrition Specialist and Kirn Henken, Extension Associate for ENRI. Information taken from Bowes & Church's Food Values.  In: Water Content of Fruits and Vegetables.  University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension.  1994.
 
Considering daily indoor use and diet, a person can develop estimates on their own personal daily water consumption and water footprint.  There are numerous calculators available on-line (i.e., Water Footprint Calculator) where we can develop personalized estimates on our water footprint.
 
Each of us consumes a lot more water daily than our daily indoor or direct consumption.  It takes water to produce all our food including fruits, vegetables, meat, bread, etc.  This is true for food products that are fresh or processed.  Most of the time we are oblivious to this aspect of water consumption through our food, often referred to as “virtual water”, but it represents a huge part of our personal water footprint.
 
It is commonly estimated that the daily diet of most people in the U.S. requires 800-1,500 gallons of water to produce (Anyabwile and Walker, 2019; Wheeler, 2022; Food Print, 2024; Michel, 2023; Smith, 2012).  If this estimate is expanded to clothing, appliances, vehicles, and other items in our common daily use the average water footprint for Americans easily equals or exceeds 2,000 gallons of water per day (ASPE, 2022).
 
We can consider the annual Arizona population’s dietary consumptive use of water using a range of averages of 800; 1,000; and 1,500 gallons per day to support the food we eat (Table 2).
 
If we use an average of 1,000 gallons per day to produce the food that we eat and consider the 7.4 M Arizonans living in our state today, we can gain a good general estimate of the annual water consumption level necessary to support the population for the State of Arizona as approximately 8.3 million acre-feet (MAF). 
 

Gallons/Day	800	1,000	1,500
Arizona Annual Water Consumption by Food (MAF)	6.6	8.3	12.4

Table 2.  Arizona annual water consumption from food considering four average daily water consumption rates per person.  MAF = million acre-ft.; 325,851 gallons/acre-ft.
 
Arizona’s statewide total direct wet water use is estimated to be about 7.1 MAF (ADWR, 2019).  Considering an average of 8.3 MAF as the water requirement to produce the food to support Arizona’s population, the State is in a deficit of 3.3 MAF beyond the amount of water used by the Arizona agricultural industry, which is approximately 5 MAF (approximately 70% of the total Arizona water use).  
 
If we consider that 2,000 gallons of water are required to support every Arizonan daily, which includes non-edible items (clothing, appliances, vehicles, etc.), Arizonans are responsible for the consumption of approximately 16.6 MAF per year.
 
Then of course we must also remember that the average person is directly responsible for the use of approximately 146 gallons of water per day for direct indoor use.  That comes to a total of approximately 1.2 MAF per year for the Arizona population.  That is much less than the reality of the total water required to produce the food we eat and support us in many facets of our life.
 
The main point from this discussion is that all of us in Arizona and across the nation use a lot more water than is commonly realized.  Many of the food products we consume come from out of state, which is interesting in relation to the concerns being voiced regarding the use of Arizona water to produce agricultural products that are being transported to other states or nations.
 
We are all clearly the net beneficiaries of not only the agricultural production in this state but also from many places and other water sources beyond the boundaries of Arizona.
 
References:
 
Anyabwile, A. and S. Walker.  2019.  5 Ways to put food on a water diet.  World Resources Institute.  https://www.wri.org/insights/5-ways-put-food-water-diet
 
Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR).  2019.  Water Your Facts.  Arizona Water Facts.  https://www.arizonawaterfacts.com/water-your-facts
 
Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR).  2024.  Conservation.  https://www.azwater.gov/conservation/public-resources
 
ASPE.  2022.  New research shows most Americans are unaware of their daily water consumption.  ASPE Pipeline.  https://aspe.org/pipeline/new-research-shows-most-americans-are-unaware-of-their-daily-water-consumption/#:~:text=Most%20believe%20they%20use%20less%20than%20100%20gallons,indirectly%20%28e.g.%2C%20the%20water%20required%20to%20produce%20food%29.
 
Bastin, S. and K. Henken.  1994.  Water Content of Fruits and Vegetables.  University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension.  1994.
 
Food Print.  2024.  The Water Footprint of Food.  https://foodprint.org/issues/the-water-footprint-of-food/
 
Kobir.  2024.  How many gallons of fresh water do we use per day.  https://medium.com/rocklinca/how-many-gallons-of-freshwater-do-we-use-per-day-7987edf6b1bb
 
Mayo Clinic.  2022.  Water: How much should you drink every day?  https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/water/art-20044256
 
Michel, D.  2023.  Water and Food: How, When, and Why Water Imperils Global Food Security.  Center for Strategic and International Studies.  https://www.csis.org/analysis/water-and-food-how-when-and-why-water-imperils-global-food-security
 
Philadelphia City Government.  2024.  Gallons Used Per Person Per Day.  https://water.phila.gov/pool/files/home-water-use-ig5.pdf
 
Smith, T.  2012.  World Water Day: How much water do you use in a day?  Climate Home News.  https://www.climatechangenews.com/2012/03/22/world-water-day-how-much-water-do-you-use-in-a-day/
 
United States Geological Survey (USGS).  2019.  How much water do I use at home each day? https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/water-qa-how-much-water-do-i-use-home-each-day
 
Wade, M.  2024.  Where does our water wind up?  Ag Alert, California Farm Bureau.  7 February 2024.
 
Water Footprint Food Guide and Calculator. 2024.  https://watercalculator.org/water-footprint-of-food-guide/
 
Wheeler, M.  2022.  Did You Know’ Series: How Much Water Are We Actually Using?  Virginia Water Resources Research Center, Virginia Tech University.  https://www.vwrrc.vt.edu/2022/03/31/did-you-know-series-how-much-water-are-we-actually-using/

This study was conducted at the Yuma Valley Agricultural Center. The soil was a silty clay loam (7-56-37 sand-silt-clay, pH 7.2, O.M. 0.7%). Spinach ‘Meerkat’ was seeded, then sprinkler-irrigated to germinate seed Jan 13, 2025 on beds with 84 in. between bed centers and containing 30 lines of seed per bed.  All irrigation water was supplied by sprinkler irrigation.  Treatments were replicated four times in a randomized complete block design.  Replicate plots consisted of 15 ft lengths of bed separated by 3 ft lengths of nontreated bed.  Treatments were applied with a CO₂ backpack sprayer that delivered 50 gal/acre at 40 psi to flat-fan nozzles.

Downy mildew (caused by Peronospora farinosa f. sp. spinaciae)was first observed in plots on Mar 5 and final reading was taken on March 6 and March 7, 2025. Spray date for each treatments are listed in excel file with the results.

Disease severity was recorded by determining the percentage of infected leaves present within three 1-ft²areas within each of the four replicate plots per treatment.  The number of spinach leaves in a 1-ft²area of bed was approximately 144. The percentage were then changed to 1-10scale, with 1 being 10% infection and 10 being 100% infection.

The data (found in the accompanying Excel file) illustrate the degree of disease reduction obtained by applications of the various tested fungicides. Products that provided most effective control against the disease include Orondis ultra, Zampro, Stargus, Cevya, Eject .Please see table for other treatments with significant disease suppression/control.  No phytotoxicity was observed in any of the treatments in this trial.

Our newly constructed self-propelled steam applicator is designed to inject steam into the soil and raise soil temperatures to levels sufficient to kill weed seed and soilborne pathogens (140°F for > 20 minutes). After the soil cools (< ½ day), the crop is planted into the disinfested soil. We have done some preliminary testing and are very encouraged. Results show that the machine is able to reach target temperatures at reasonable travel speeds, provide uniform temperature distribution across the bed and form nicely shaped beds suitable for subsequent planting. We still have some bugs to work out and identified improvements to make before shipping the unit to Salinas, CA where we will conduct field trials with crops this summer. If you are interested in seeing the machine operate or more information about soil steaming for soilborne pest control, please feel free to contact me.
Check out a video of the machine operating by clicking here or on the image below.

Fig. 1. Initial testing of self-propelled steam applicator video.

Acknowledgements
This project is sponsored and funded in part by the Propane Education and Research Council (PERC), Arizona Specialty Crop Block Grant Program and USDA-NIFA. We greatly appreciate their support.

The Yuma IPM Team has received requests for herbicide efficacy data generated locally for Onion and Broccoli. 
We are currently doing some evaluations for direct seeded broccoli. Some of the treatments suggested by PCAs and growers are Devrinol DF XT at the rate of 1.0 and 2.0 lb, also Devrinol 2-XT at the rate of 1.0 and 2.0 qt. Additional preemergence herbicides included in the trials are Prefar 6 qt, Trifluralin 1.5 pt. Other treatments included are Goal Tender and Prowl with a directed application at 3-5 leaves. In a separate broccoli test we are looking at different incorporation timings of Devrinol due to some stunting issues reported. Our trial includes 12, 24, 36 hour sprinkler irrigation incorporation times for the liquid and dry formulations. Phytotoxicity will be evaluated and reported to you in this newsletter and University of Arizona Workshops.
 
For onions we established trials including treatments suggested such as Ethotron SC at 32 fl oz to a fine soil. Also included Prefar, Dual Magnum and Treflan preemergence. We will compare with Outlook plus Prowl and Goal Tender at 3 leaf stage.
Additionally, Corteva Agriscience is also focused in providing some options for weed control in both broccoli and onions. Some of their products been evaluated at the Agricultural Center are Rinskor (Hulk) and Enversa at post and preemergence. 
We thank you for your treatment suggestions, which are incredibly helpful for designing the experiments we are conducting. We are looking forward to sharing the results with you.

Results of pheromone and sticky trap catches can be viewed here.

Corn earworm: CEW moth counts down in all traps over the last month; about average for December.

Beet armyworm: Moth trap counts decreased in all areas in the last 2 weeks but appear to remain active in some areas, and average for this time of the year.

Cabbage looper: Moths increased in the past 2 weeks, and average for this time of the season.

Diamondback moth: Adults increased in several locations last, particularly in the Yuma Valley most traps.  Below average for December.

Whitefly: Adult movement remains low in all areas, consistent with previous years 

Thrips: Thrips adult movement continues to decline, overall activity below average for December.

Aphids: Winged aphids still actively moving but declined movement in the last 2 weeks. About average for December.

Leafminers: Adult activity down in most locations, below average for this time of season.