UC ANR vice president Glenda Humiston visits the Imperial Valley

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Humiston (in red jacket) stands on what was a Salton Sea boat ramp 12 years ago. Imperial Irrigation District's David Bradshaw and Jessica Lovecchio. The Imperial Irrigation District works with UCANR to deal with reduced water flows to the human-made body of water.

Humiston (in red jacket) stands on what was a Salton Sea boat ramp 12 years ago. The Imperial Irrigation District works with UCANR to deal with reduced water flows to the human-made body of water.

Glenda Humiston, the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources vice president who was appointed to her position last summer, toured the Imperial Valley yesterday to become familiar with agricultural and environmental issues in the state's southernmost desert region, reported Edwin Delgado in the Imperial Valley Press.

Humiston visited local farms, the Salton Sea, and UC Desert Research and Extension Center and UC Cooperative Extension in Imperial County. She had discussions with local farmers and industry representatives about renewable energy, drought and water issues, and agricultural production.

"It's great ot have our new vice president here to learn about the programs that we have here and discuss how we can improve them and bring more resources to the area," said Khaled Bali, director of UCCE in Imperial County. "That is basically my objective, bringing more resources to the area and have more collaborative projects."

Andy Horne, a Imperial County executive, said that solar farms have expanded in the county. Projects in place and those approved will cover about 4 percent of Imperial County farmland, a level the county intends to maintain. Humiston told the reporter that she is an advocate for farmland protection because the planet as a whole has a limited surface for cultivating crops.

"As we are dealing with things such as climate change and invasive species and drought, not only protecting those acres so that they are available but keeping them healthy and making sure water is available becomes ever more important," Humiston said.

Delgado reported that Humiston's trip to the Imperial Valley is part of an effort to visit all the UC Cooperative Extension offices and the nine research and extension centers around the state to familiarize herself with UC ANR efforts throughout California.

“The issues going on here are completely different than the Central Coast, Northern Sierras or Sacramento Valley,” Humiston said. “What is important is that we, the University of California, we have these offices in each and every county and that we have these research centers because if we are going to develop knowledge and find solutions and be able to implement those, we got to be able to have people in the ground here that can really dig into the real problem. You got to have people on the ground.”

Posted on Thursday, December 3, 2015 at 10:16 AM

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