Science & Tech Quote by Jim Costa

“Smart Irrigation Month” is the kind of civic branding politicians love: it sounds modest, practical, and faintly festive, like a public service announcement you can clap for. Jim Costa’s line is doing several jobs at once. On the surface, it’s a celebration of technical progress: better tools, better practices, better outcomes. But the real power is in the trade he’s offering a nervous audience: you don’t have to choose between abundance and restraint.

The phrase “not only more but also higher quality plants” quietly flatters two constituencies that don’t always share priorities. Growers and landscapers hear yield and market value; suburban homeowners hear lushness and curb appeal. Then comes the pressure valve: “with less water.” In a drought- and climate-defined West, water isn’t just a resource; it’s a political fault line, a moral language, a budget item, a lawsuit. Costa sidesteps the fight over who should sacrifice by promising efficiency as a win-win.

That’s the subtext: innovation as reconciliation. It reframes conservation from deprivation into modernization, a narrative that preserves economic growth while signaling environmental responsibility. “Recognize advances” also matters; it’s a politician’s way of endorsing action without naming regulation, restrictions, or the hard arithmetic of water rights. The context is a region where agriculture is both indispensable and scrutinized, and where “smart” functions as a soothing adjective: it implies competence, science, and progress, all while keeping conflict just out of frame.