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Coverage wrap-up: Drought still on tap; rain did little to fill major Northern California reservoirs; Farms and cities prepare for the worst

Posted by: Maven on February 21, 2009 at 8:02 am

From the Associated Press and the San Diego Union Tribune:

Federal water managers said yesterday that they plan to cut off water, at least temporarily, to thousands of California farms as a result of the withering drought gripping the state.

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officials said parched reservoirs and patchy rainfall this year were forcing them to stop surface-water deliveries for at least two weeks beginning March 1. Authorities said they haven’t taken such a drastic move since the early 1990s, the last time California struggled through a prolonged drought.

The situation could improve slightly if rain and snow fall over the next few weeks, and officials will know by mid-March whether they can release some irrigation supplies to growers.

Farmers in the nation’s No. 1 agriculture state predicted the dire shortages would cause consumers to pay more for their fruits and vegetables, which will have to be grown using expensive well water.

Jeff Peracchi, a pomegranate and grape grower in the small Fresno County town of Huron, said he was winnowing his staff down to a skeleton crew because without water, there wouldn’t be much fruit to pick. “I can’t just say I won’t farm this year – I have to do something. But I’m having to lay off guys who have been with us for years,” Peracchi said. “At this point, I’m planning to farm to keep the fruit as healthy as I can, but I’m not sure I’m going to be able to be profitable.”

The AP article is the only one that has the ‘temporarily shut-off for at least two weeks’ angle that I’ve not seen mentioned anywhere else, not even in the Bureau of Reclamation’s press release. Central Valley farmers are preparing for the worst, says the Los Angeles Times:

“We’re hoping we can squeak by,” said Chuck Dees, an irrigation specialist and farmer at S&S Ranch, a 14,000-acre spread known for its broccoli, cantaloupes, sweet corn and bell peppers about 40 miles west of Fresno.

Dees said the ranch began preparing for a severe drought and a water crisis about 10 years ago and installed 50 miles of pipeline to carry water from 14 wells. In a good year, the ranch receives about 30,000 acre-feet of water. “If we get 5,000 acre-feet, we’ll be tickled to death,” he said.

In order to cope, S&S Ranch managers are choosing not to grow crops on at least 2,000 acres and will hire only about 60% of the roughly 2,000 people they employ in a good year. “There’s some people that are not as in good a shape as we are. But if this goes on year after year, there’s going to be some real bad problems,” Dees said.

In Mendota, about eight miles east of the ranch, unemployment “has soared to 40%” mostly because of the drought, Tom Birmingham, general manager of the Westlands Water District, said in a statement.

“Farmers in the Westlands Water District have already begun destroying thousands of acres of almond orchards and plan on fallowing over 300,000 acres of land. Wherever possible, almond production will be stunted in hopes of keeping the trees alive through this desperate time,” Birmingham said.

Santa Clara County called the federal decision “a big hit” to their water supply:

Santa Clara County depends on the delta for half of its water, with the other half coming from local groundwater pumping. “Even if we are getting a lot of local rain, we still need the imported water to supplement it,” said Siravo, who called the federal decision “a big hit.”

There’s no way to say precisely how much more rain Northern California needs to prevent rationing. The summer water picture depends on a complex series of issues, from when the rain falls, to where it falls, to even when endangered fish, like salmon and smelt, are swimming in front of giant delta pumps.

But chances are slim that more rain — including the storm expected this weekend — will bring enough water to make up for three dry years. Friday’s decision was solely based on rain patterns, and not the restrictions placed to protect the endangered fish, Glaser said.

The problem so far is that most of the recent rain has seeped into the dry ground and not run off into reservoirs in significant quantities. Northern California’s five largest federal reservoirs — Shasta, Folsom, Trinity, New Melones and San Luis — were 35 percent full on Jan. 27. After the recent heavy rains, they are now 38 percent full — far short of the 15-year average of 72 percent for this time of year.

It isn’t all farming in California, however; some areas are not dependent upon state or federal water. The Salinas Valley itself isn’t in bad shape, according to the Salinas Californian:

In the Salinas Valley, which doesn’t receive any water from these state or federal projects, the outlook is sufficient for the near term, thanks to the Nacimiento and San Antonio reservoirs that supply water to replenish the groundwater.

“We have at least a year’s worth of water in those reservoirs,” said Robert Johnson, chief of water resource planning at the Monterey County Water Resources Agency.

And parts of San Joaquin County won’t be in as bad of shape, either, reports Stockton’s Record:

Most of San Joaquin County does not rely on state or federal water from the Delta, and thus is in better shape than other portions of California.

However, Friday’s announcement does mean Tracy’s share of federal water from the pumps will likely be slashed, perhaps by half. The city has groundwater and another water contract that will help see it through.

Also, the Stockton East Water District, which feeds eastside farms and the city, is not projected to receive any water from New Melones Lake this year. This will increase dependence on groundwater and the Calaveras River.

The Central Valley Project serves not only farms south of the Delta, but also farms north of the Delta as well. From the Capital Press:

“You’re causing a catastrophe here,” Johanna Trenerry told bureau officials at the meeting in Redding on Friday, Feb. 20, moments after they announced that Central Valley Project contractors may get no water for agriculture this year because of the drought.

“It’s interesting that (wildlife) refuges get 75 percent and farmers get nothing,” said Trenerry, who grows fruit in western Shasta County. “How are we supposed to feed the nation? How much food comes out of California?

The Happy Valley farmers were joined by those from Bella Vista, a rural community in the rolling hills east of Redding. They all had two things in common: They grow their goods on small-acreage plots, and they’re served by two of the scores of small water districts in California that contract for federal water.

Previous cutbacks have made it tough for small farms to survive, asserted Arnold Wilhelmi, a retired schoolteacher who grows fruit in Bella Vista. In the past dozen years, the number of agricultural users in his area has dwindled from 6,000 to about 270, he said.

With the allocations announced Friday, farmers’ land will go dry while swimming pools in Southern California will still get their water, he said.

“I think what’s happening is homes and people who live in lot-sized dwellings are going to take priority over agriculture,” Wilhelmi said.

The news from the CVP overshadowed Lester Snow’s announcement that the 15% SWP allocation would not be increased. From the Press-Enterprise:

Also on Friday, the state Department of Water Resources announced that, despite recent storms, there will be no change to its 15 percent allocation from the State Water Project, which ferries supplies from Northern California to millions of residential users in the Inland region. The lowest allocation — 10 percent — came in 1993 at the end of a six-year drought. The amount was increased later that year after more rain and snow fell.

State officials had hoped for a wet winter that would allow them to revise their cautious preliminary appropriation upward, but that probably won’t happen.

“January was dramatically disappointing, with 34 percent of normal precipitation on top of historically low reservoir storage,” said Lester Snow, director of the Department of Water Resources. “There’s not much chance of even getting up to 30 percent (allocation) by summer.”

Snow urged all major California communities to impose mandatory conservation in the next two months. Residents should reduce water use by 20 percent by eliminating runoff in the yard, not irrigating in the rain and capturing water from the tap while waiting for it to get hot, he said.

“We’re targeting urban use because agriculture’s response to drought is obvious: They lay people off and fallow acres. Their conservation level is way above 20 percent because they’re just not getting the water,” Snow said.

Even communities as far south as the Coachella Valley will be affected, as noted in the Desert Sun:

The Coachella Valley’s two major water agencies could end up getting only 15 percent of their contracted supply from the State Water Project as California faces its third dry year, it was announced Friday.

Steve Robbins, executive director of the Coachella Valley Water District, said his organization, along with the Desert Water Agency, are entitled to 171,000 acre-feet of State Water Project water and need to send 140,000 acre-feet into the aquifer annually to replenish it as water is pumped for use in the region.

‘‘It just adds to the long-term deterioration of the basin” when water isn’t resupplied, Robbins said.

The Coachella Valley doesn’t actually get State Water Project water but exchanges its allocation with the Metropolitan Water District for Colorado River water.

From the Sacramento Bee, officials called for a 20% reduction in water use statewide:

State water officials sent out an urgent call Friday to all Californians, urging an immediate 20 percent cut in water use to ease a drought that could be the next serious hit to California’s economy. …..

Officials aimed a warning at those who thought recent storms broke the drought: California is already deep into a third year of drought, with little of winter left to make up ground.

“These storms have been great, but they have done nothing to alleviate the drought,” said Lester Snow, director of the California Department of Water Resources.

“You’ve got to think about water as a precious commodity,” he added. “It is relatively easy to reduce your water use by 20 percent. We need to do that now.”

MORE DROUGHT COVERAGE ON AQUAFORNIA:

Check out California’s drought in pictures and graphs by clicking here.

Read DWR’s press release announcing that State Water Project allocations will remain at 15% by clicking here.

Read the Bureau of Reclamation’s press release, announcing the CVP’s allocation of 0 (to 10%) for ag this year by clicking here.

Even more stories by clicking here (category page for Drought, Weather & Snowpack articles), or simply keep reading the scroll.

February 21, 2009 · Filed Under Drought, Weather & Snowpack

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