On October 6, we were in Valencia to present our research on the sustainability of irrigation methods in citrus orchards. It was one of these rare days in the year at which Valencia experiences one of its few, but heavy rainfall events. More than 100 mm fell in one day - this makes up almost 20% of its total rainfall in an entire year! For us, the heavy rain meant that we arrived at the conference with wet feet. For the farmers, it meant that much of the fertilizer they have applied to their citrus orchards in the previous weeks was about to be washed down to the groundwater, compromising groundwater quality and challenging the health of nearby groundwater-related ecosystems. Interestingly, farmers practicing the technologically advanced drip irrigation were likely losing more of their fertilizer than farmers practicing traditional flood irrigation. Why is that? And what does that mean for the sustainability of citrus production?