• Irrigation system design, installation, and management (micro, flood, sprinkle)
  
• Irrigation scheduling
  
• Water and energy conservation program development and management
  
• Nonpoint source pollution program development
  
• Education (extension type and past Lecturer in the Ag Engineering Dept. at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo)
  
• Software development for irrigation system design, irrigation scheduling, and general business databases (Visual Basic/Visual FoxPro/Access)

Seen below is a summary resume of my expertise and experience since I entered the agricultural water management field.  Before that I worked as an Industrial Engineer in both Los Angeles and Fremont, CA.

My interest in agriculture began during a trip to Australia just after graduating from College in 1972.  A friend and I spent four months in a place called Inverloch, Victoria on a sheep and cattle ranch- quite an experience for a young man.

PETER CANESSA, P.E. - An Independent Consultant since 1983
Registered Professional Agricultural Engineer, California # AG0442 

665 Asilo, Arroyo Grande, CA 93420
(805) 473-2751 (voice/fax) / PCanessa@charter.net
web site at - http://webpages.charter.net/pwcanessa

EDUCATION

• Bachelor of Science - Industrial Engineering, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, 1972 (with Honors)
• Master of Science - Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, Utah State University, Logan, 1977
  Additional post-graduate studies, Utah State University, 1983-1984

EXPERTISE

• Agricultural Water, Water Quality, and Energy Management
• Microcomputer Applications for Business and Engineering
• Education (extension or classroom)

PARTIAL LIST OF CLIENTS/PROJECTS

Center for Irrigation Technology, Fresno State University (1999 to present)

• development and management of the Agricultural Pumping Efficiency Program, a $6.4 million program funded under the Calif. Public Utilities Commission to promote energy conservation in agriculture
• development and management of the Agricultural Peak Load Reduction Program, an $11.6 million program for reducing peak electric demands in agriculture (program expired 12/31/03)
• content development and improvements to irrigation scheduling system for the WateRight web site
• reassessment of real-world irrigation efficiencies and benefit/cost ratios for improvement in Grasslands area of Central California
• development of a Rapid Seepage Assessment Vehicle using geo-coded measurements developed via electromagnetic inductance principles for locating and quantifying water losses from canals and reservoirs

Narromine Irrigation Board, Narromine, NSW, Australia (1999 - 2002)

• development of an Action Plan to guide improvements in the irrigation district's operations - to address seepage control, water measurement accuracy, energy use, and on-farm efficiency

Macquarie River Food & Fibre, Macquarie Valley Landcare Group, and New South Wales Agriculture, Dubbo, NSW, Australia (1998 - 2002)

• implementation of an irrigation management evaluation/improvement program

San Diego County Water Authority, San Diego, CA (1996 - 2003)

• investigations to identify water conservation opportunities and implementation costs in Imperial Irrigation District in support of on-going negotiations between SDCWA and IID for a potential long-term water transfer agreement

Pacific Gas & Electric Company, San Francisco, CA (1991 - 2002)

• presentation of educational seminars for Agricultural Account Representatives concerning recognition and analysis of energy efficiency projects in irrigation systems
• development of revised Financial Incentives Application process
• development of new Incentive products
• preparation and review of Incentive Applications for validity
• co-author of analysis of Kerman, CA, Photovoltaic Site for agricultural production systems
• analyses of selected measures of the energy efficiency program for agricultural power-users, including gated and transfer pipelines, low-pressure sprinkler nozzles, surge-valves, time-clocks, variable frequency drives, micro-irrigation, and automatic pump re-starters for irrigation systems, plate-coolers and heat-exchangers for dairies, and thermal curtains for greenhouses
• technical advisor for measurement and evaluation studies of the Agricultural Incentive Program’s gross and net energy savings for 1994 through 1997
• technical advisor for development of Standard Performance Contracts in the agricultural sector
• demographics analysis of the agricultural sector
• investigations into the potential energy-use impacts of new non point source pollution control regulations on waste mangement systems in confined animal feeding operations (specifically dairies) 

Monterey County Water Resources Agency, Salinas, CA (1991 - 1998)

• preparation of draft Nitrate Management Program document (addressing groundwater contamination)
• evaluation of different methods for groundwater extraction reporting
• feasibility study of using Agricultural Commissioner's Office pesticide-use data for preparation of summary land/water-use statistics in Salinas Valley
• review of the Agency's Water Conservation Plan
• Consultant to CH2M-Hill, Inc. (a consultant to the US Bureau of Reclamation) during the 1991 MCWRA-Bureau of Reclamation Joint Land-Use Survey, responsible for the development of a Salinas Valley crop calendar, identification of common crop rotations, and preliminary estimates of crop water use; development of crop water demand simulation programming for estimating average annual net and gross water demands as well as serving as database for the crop calendars, rotations, climatic information, and crop water use estimates

Washington State University, Pullman, WA (1993 - 1997)

• Project Coordinator writing/publicizing a Best Management Practices manual addressing non-point source pollution for irrigated agriculture in Eastern Washington under a joint Washington State Department of Ecology/ WSU Cooperative Extension project

Eurodrip, Incorporated, San Diego, CA (1997 to present)

• development of a computerized engineering analysis system for use by their international sales force in marketing Eurodrip micro-irrigation systems

T-Systems International, San Diego, CA (1996 - 1997)

• development of a computerized financial analysis system for use by their international sales force in marketing T-TAPE brand micro-irrigation systems

Netafim International, Fresno, CA (1995 - 1997)

• development of a computerized engineering and financial analysis system for use by their international sales force in marketing Netafim micro-irrigation systems

California Energy Commission, Sacramento, CA (1992)

• co-author with Kurt Schulbach, University of California Cooperative Extension, of position paper discussing possible responses to higher electrical energy costs by Central Coast agriculture

Irrigation Training and Research Center, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (1991 - 1993)

• co-author of Irrigation and Drainage in the Grassland Area of the Westside of the San Joaquin Valley by Dr. Charles Burt, R. Walker, P. Canessa, K. Robison, a study funded by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (contract 1-078-150-1)
• co-author of Irrigation Efficiencies in Parts of the Selenium Drainage Area on the West Side of the San Joaquin Valley by Dr. Charles Burt, P. Canessa, J. Parrish, a study funded by the CVRWQCB (agreement #45902062)

California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, Agricultural Engineering Department (1991-1993 and 1980 - 1982)

• Lecturer in agricultural water management, irrigation science and irrigation system design

Imperial Irrigation District, Imperial, CA (1991)

• development of irrigation tailwater simulation programming to aid in design/management of tailwater recovery systems

Central California Irrigation District, Los Banos, CA (1990-1991)

• Water Conservation Coordinator for the eight Grasslands area water districts (a project funded by the California Department of Water Resources) - development and implementation of the area’s first formal water conservation program including preparation, dissemination, and presentation of educational materials, a weekly newspaper column, and the monthly New Irrigator newsletter

Westlands Water District, Fresno, CA (1987 - 1991)

• Project Advisor performing irrigation system efficiency evaluations under the California Department of Water Resources/Westlands Water District/Westside Resource Conservation District-sponsored Water Management and Drainage Reduction programs
• development of ICE, the Irrigation Cost Evaluator- programming for rapid analysis of alternative irrigation system’s benefits and costs
• rewrite and further development of the District's Water Conservation Handbook

Also...
Irrigation Engineer, Superior Farming Company, Bakersfield, CA (1977-1980)

• irrigation system design, installation, and maintenance (fully automated drip, automated surface, tailwater return systems, level basins, high and low-pressure pumping plants)
• irrigation scheduling (computer program development, neutron probe operation, field consultations)

(Superior Farming was a 38,000 acre, fully diversified, extremely modern farm with operations in the central and southern San Joaquin Valley, the Coachella Valley, and Tucson, Arizona. Superior Farming was a leader in the development and adaptation of modern water management including micro-irrigation, computerized water-budget irrigation scheduling, and linear sprinklers.   By 1980, Superior had well over 15,000 acres in drip and was using neutron probes, on-site weather stations and an on-site IBM 32 computer for irrigation scheduling and irrigation system design)

MEMBER

• American Society of Agricultural Engineers
• United States Committee on Irrigation and Drainage
• California Irrigation Institute
• Soil and Water Conservation Society