Obviously there is a big difference in price. Farmers have no choice among the systems, but must accept whatever is installed in their area. Tom Newkirk reduces these numbers to terms we can all understand. An acre foot, that is, the amount of water it takes to cover an acre of ground to a depth of 12 inches, equals 326,000 gallons. You can't grow anything on an acre foot of water.
Most orange groves require two and a half to three acre feet per acre per year.
That does not include the costs of pumping the water. Costs have tripled in five or six years. I don't foresee the rising costs of water stopping for quite awhile. Many of the canals and delivery systems are 40 years old. Just recently Orange Cove had to replace 110 miles of pipeline at a cost of millions of dollars.