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Time to tap into water-wise farmers’ well of ideas, say Gleick & Cooley in rebuttal to recent commentary

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 2, 2008 at 6:42 am

From the Modesto Bee, this rebuttal by Peter Gleick, Juliet Christian-Smith & Heather Cooley of the Pacific Institute, in response to James O’Banion’s recent commentary:

Water supply constraints have reduced the amount of water available for California this year, causing economic losses and midseason fallowing for many farmers. Independent of what we might want, it is very likely that there will continue to be serious constraints on water available to all California users, including agriculture.

At a recent state Board of Food and Agriculture meeting in Sacramento, Secretary of Agriculture A.G. Kawamura stated that because of changes in the timing and reliability of water supply, “doing nothing is not an option.”

We agree and think it is time for an open and honest discussion about the full range of ways to respond to the water crisis in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and throughout the state. Certainly, new infrastructure for water supply is one option that might be necessary. But it is also critical that farmers explore another promising option: agricultural water conservation and efficiency.

A new Pacific Institute report, “More with Less: Agricultural Water Conservation and Efficiency in California,” does this by looking at what innovative California farmers are already doing and offering ideas to help overcome barriers to further improvements.

We may be facing another drought year. The Old Farmer’s Almanac and the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center are forecasting a third dry winter in a row for California. While they both could be wrong, of course, even most optimists don’t think it likely that there will be more water for agriculture in coming years as population and environmental pressures grow, uncontrolled development in the Central Valley continues, and climate changes get worse.

Read more of Gleick & Cooley’s commentary in the Modesto Bee by clicking here.

October 2, 2008 · Filed Under Agriculture, Conservation

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