(Wines&Vines) - Growers in Sonoma and Napa counties can sign up for an evaluation of their drip irrigation systems to ensure they’re watering as efficiently as possible.

The Sonoma and Napa County Resource Conservation Districts are offering irrigation system evaluations through their mobile irrigation labs. After scheduling an evaluation, a district staff member will take about six to eight hours evaluating an irrigation system.

Keith Abeles manages the program in Sonoma County. He said the evaluations typically involve an interview with the property owner to get a sense of the system before conducting a thorough audit of the system using a protocol developed at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and Department of Water Resources.

Abeles conducts a number of tests of the irrigation system to evaluate if emitters are working as designed and if the entire system is operating with the right pressure to ensure there is not too much or too little water being used. Testing includes a full system flush to look for plugged emitters and to evaluate what may be in the system like sand, clay, insects or algae. This also provides insights into the pump and filter system. The tests are also combined with a site evaluation to determine how topography can impact flow rates. Abeles said an optimal system is one in which it’s providing a uniform rate of flow. “The idea is to get the distribution uniformity as even as possible,” he said.