Gov. Schwarzenegger announces water release to Central Valley farms
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 3, 2009 at 7:38 amFrom the Office of the Governor:
Today the Department of Water Resources (DWR) will release up to 100,000 acre-feet of water to aid Central Valley farms. Today’s action comes after the Governor visited the farming community of Mendota June 19 where he met with local elected officials to discuss the three-year drought and its effects throughout the region.
“Nothing is more important to Central Valley farmers than ensuring there is water to fuel jobs and feed families, and with today’s announcement, we are taking quick action to deliver water to those who need it most,” said Gov. Schwarzenegger. “This situation further highlights the seriousness of our state’s water crisis and the critical need to upgrade California’s water infrastructure for our jobs and our families.”
The release represents a “water loan” from State Water Project (SWP) supplies to the federal Central Valley Project (CVP) conditioned on “repayment” of the water after this summer’s irrigation season. The emergency action will allow Central Valley farmers to continue receiving water supplies promised by the federal CVP. It will not result in a net reduction of supply for users of SWP water, which will be repaid no later than November 30, 2009.
DWR will continue to work with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on possible additional support subject to “repayment” by the CVP. With California in its third year of drought, compounded by federal restrictions on Delta pumping, the CVP has less water than expected to deliver to Central Valley farms.
To help those impacted by the drought, the Governor last month requested a federal disaster declaration from President Obama for Fresno County and issued Executive Order S-11-09, activating the California Disaster Assistance Act. And in February, the Governor declared a state of emergency due to water supply shortages and associated drought impacts. The Governor has called for a comprehensive habitat and species conservation plan to better protect all Delta species while ensuring more reliable water supplies for farms, homes, industry and wildlife.
USDA chief spotlights food crops at D.C. garden: Six acres of organic vegetables designed to showcase USDA mission
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 3, 2009 at 6:20 am
From the Capital Press:
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack is transforming the six-acre site surrounding the department’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., into a showcase of good farming and conservation practices.
While Vilsack’s original plans called for a 612-square-foot organic vegetable garden, those plans were soon expanded to encompass 1,300 square feet. In addition to the garden, the site also has ornamental flower gardens and mini-wetlands designed to reduce pollution and surface water runoff. Dan Newhouse, director of Washington state’s Agriculture Department, recently traveled to the nation’s capital on a trade trip. He said initiatives like the new gardens at the White House and USDA headquarters send “a great message.”
“People continue to be more and more interested in where their food comes from,” he said. “A garden is a window into the lives of the men and women who farm for a living.”
For Vilsack, these landscaping changes make more sense for an agency dedicated to agriculture than the site’s original landscaping with its grass, flower borders and memorials. During the Feb. 12 dedication of “the People’s Garden,” Vilsack, 58, broke ground with a tool far more powerful than the customary shovel. Donning a hard hat and manning a jackhammer, he started removing what he referred to as 1,250 square feet of “unnecessary paved surface” that will be planted in grass.
“You’ve heard of paving over farmland,” he said as onlookers cheered. “We’re taking a reverse action today. We’re reclaiming this piece of earth.”
Read more from the Capital Ag Press by clicking here.
The Fight for Valley Water is Far from Over
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 2, 2009 at 2:07 pmFrom Fresno’s CBS 47:
Valley growers hope lawmakers will not forget they need water desperately. Thousands of farmers and workers marched through downtown Fresno Wednesday. They’re trying to get lawmakers to turn the pumps in the San Joaquin River Delta back on and they don’t plan to stop the protests until they get their water.
Thousands of farmers, workers and water rights supporters asked to be heard.
Valley Congressman George Radanovich, who took part in the rally, said, “The important thing is to focus the energy so that we make sure that we get an interim project in this fall.”
Read more from Fresno’s CBS 47 by clicking here.
Ag board hears farmer’s plight; Irrigation cuts have cost $830 million in farm revenue
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 2, 2009 at 2:05 pmFrom the Capital Press:
Corporate ag can have dirty boots too. To be sure, there are plenty of large-scale farms on the San Joaquin Valley’s west side and some, even though they are family owned, are corporations. In many instances the farms are owned and operated by people like Bob Diedrich, who took time June 24 to tell members of the state’s board of food and agriculture what restrictive water policies have done to his livelihood.
Diedrich, a fourth-generation farmer, normally grows almonds, tomatoes, garlic, onions, beans, cantaloupes and wheat on 1,100 acres on the west side of Fresno County. This year he’s down to 400 acres, hoping to save a block of five-year-old almond trees.
The announcement that federal water deliveries to the valley’s west side water districts would be 10 percent of normal this year has had large and small growers scrambling for water to irrigate their crops. A third year of drought has reduced run-off from the Sierra, but restrictions on pumping water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to protect several species of fish have many farmers calling this year’s shortage a “man-made drought.”
Read more from the Capital Press by clicking here.
Rally for water rights hits downtown Fresno
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 2, 2009 at 8:00 am
From the Fresno Bee:
Ron Schafer and Alice Powlick aren’t farmers or farmworkers. They are middle-school teachers who came to Wednesday’s water rally in downtown Fresno on behalf of their students. The teachers joined several thousand who jammed the front of City Hall to plead with the state and federal governments to provide the Valley with more irrigation water. Mike Lukens, city of Fresno spokesman, estimated the crowd at between 3,500 to 4,000 at its peak.
More than a dozen speakers, including Congressmen Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, and George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, blamed environmental protections along with a third dry year for the shortage of water for Valley farmers.
Schafer and Powlick say they see the ripple effects of the drought in their southeast Fresno classrooms. “We hear the students talk about their parents being out work because of the drought,” Schafer said. “And it is hard for them.”
Read more from the Fresno Bee by clicking here.
From Stockton’s Record:
“Water makes the difference between the Garden of Eden and Death Valley,” said comedian Paul Rodriguez, who acts as a spokesman for the Latino Water Coalition, a group lobbying for changes in water delivery policy regarding the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
The noon rally was organized by the grower-funded group, which also organized an April march from Mendota to the San Luis Reservoir hoping to draw national attention to the issue.
On Wednesday, nearly 4,000 people carrying professionally printed signs proclaiming, “No water, no jobs, no hope, no future,” marched through downtown. One man who declined to give us name said his Kettleman City employer had driven him and other workers there and were paying them for their time. Another woman said she came with 50 other employees of a Tulare agriculture contractor for free, to protect their jobs.
Speakers stressed the importance of San Joaquin Valley agriculture, which they said produces more than half of the domestically grown U.S. food supply. “If you like foreign oil, you’ll love foreign food,” some signs read.
More from The Record by clicking here.
More Coverage:
- The Packer: San Joaquin Valley water rally attracts 2,000
- Photo essay at IndyBay.org: Another Right Wing March and Rally for Water
Group plans another march for water
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 1, 2009 at 6:22 amFrom Fresno’s KFSN Channel 30:
A group called The Latino Water Coalition organized a march in Los Banos, and the rally in Fresno for one reason. Coalition leader Mario Santoyo explains: “The intent of the rally is to keep the issue alive in the media and in the public eye.”
With agriculture the number one business in the Valley, political leaders like Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin are eager to help. “We have to keep the pressure up. That’s what this rally is all about tomorrow, is continuing to draw attention to this issue.”
The Governor, and local congressmen are also on board, calling for more water for valley crops. They made enough noise to get the secretary of the interior , Ken Salazar to come to town to listen. But their claims that the water shortage is caused by the endangered species act, or ESA, to protect fish in the Sacramento Delta, are under dispute. Juliet Christian Smith of the Pacific Institute is among those challenging the claims.
“Even if the ESA went away, we’d still have a drought and recent pumping restrictions related to the Delta Smelt have actually only reduced water exports from the Delta about 5%.” Christian-Smith said.
Read more or watch the broadcast from KFSN by clicking here.
Peter Gleick: Truth drought - California’s real shortfall
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 30, 2009 at 7:49 amFrom Peter Gleick and his City Brights blog:
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar came to California on Sunday to hear firsthand about California’s drought. Unfortunately, some of what he heard was misleading or false. Certainly farms and farmers are suffering, so are fish and ecosystems. But so is the truth. Here are three oft-repeated falsehoods.
Myth 1: Farmers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley are receiving “just 10 percent of their allocation this year.”
Myth 2: Water shortages are causing massive new farm unemployment.
Myth 3: Farmers are bearing disproportional impacts of water shortfalls because of court rulings in favor of fish.
All three of these statements are false, and they’ve been shown to be false so many times that continuing to repeat them verges on intentional deception on the part of those who repeat them to gullible politicians or lazy reporters.
Read more from Peter Gleick and the City Brights blog by clicking here.
Farmers angry over water restrictions demonstrate in front of Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco office
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 30, 2009 at 7:47 amFrom KGO-TV in San Francisco:
Bus loads of Central Valley farmers brought the battle for water to San Francisco. They crowded in front of house speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office complaining about federal environmental laws that are restricting their access to cheap water.
The farmers say they’re being cut off from water supplies by federal regulations protecting endangered species like Chinook salmon.
A couple of hundred farmers and farm workers marched in front of the Federal Building shouting “turn on the pumps.” The pumps they’re talking about are the ones that pump water from the Sacramento River Delta to farmlands in the Central San Joaquin Valley.
You can watch the newscast or read the rest of the transcript from KGO TV by clicking here.
Still more action needed on water issues, says editorial
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 30, 2009 at 7:40 amFrom the Fresno Bee, this editorial:
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar offered some federal assistance to ease the California water crisis, and that at least shows the Obama administration finally has put this emergency on its radar screen. But this problem is too complex for quick fixes, and it will take state and federal action to resolve it.
So far, lawmakers in California have not offered a comprehensive water solution and that’s another failing of the state Legislature. But Salazar responded to the pressure of agriculture and farmworker groups with several key announcements Sunday. This action would not have come without the intense pressure they put on the Obama administration the past few months.
Read more of this editorial from the Fresno Bee by clicking here.
Water activists to rally in Fresno: Hundreds, perhaps thousands, expected
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 30, 2009 at 6:18 amFrom the Fresno Bee:
Organizers of a second Rally for Water are expecting several hundred, if not thousands, to descend on downtown Fresno on Wednesday as they continue their fight for more water.
Farmers, workers and elected officials have been invited to attend the noon rally in front of City Hall. A march around the downtown area will follow.
Mario Santoyo, a member of the Latino Water Coalition and organizer of the event, said the group wants to continue the momentum it gained from a four-day protest march in early April. Several thousand participated in the march that began in Mendota and ended at the base of the San Luis Reservoir with a rally that drew Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. “We are not going away and we want to continue to keep this issue alive,” Santoyo said. “We hope that this will help expedite getting a solution to the problem.”
Read more from the Fresno Bee by clicking here.
Monday afternoon update: Salazar doesn’t quench farm thirst for water in California, announces aid to valley agribusiness, but doesn’t endorse canal
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 29, 2009 at 4:51 pmFrom the Capital Ag Press:
A who’s-who of San Joaquin Valley agriculture was part of the crowd that packed a Fresno State student union on a blistering Sunday afternoon, June 28, to hear what they hoped would be good news from Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.
Salazar, dressed in boots and jeans, didn’t deliver any immediate relief to their water woes. Instead, he announced plans for some short-term and long-term fixes for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta so more water could be delivered to farms and communities to the south.
Hundreds of thousands of acres have been fallowed on the west side of the valley this year due to lack of surface water deliveries. The announced allotment is at 10 percent of normal. Unemployment in west side communities is near 40 percent.
Frustration with lack of action was apparent as audience members interrupted speakers shouting, “We don’t want welfare, we want water.” Four valley congressmen attending the meeting also drew loud cheers when they said the time for meetings and talk is over.
From The Packer.com:
Of the California speakers invited to address the officials, the warmest welcome was for Paul Rodriguez, president of the Sacramento-based Latino Water Coalition. The comedian and grower told the federal officials not to be confused by the coalition’s name. Its members include all ethic groups, he said.
“We grow the best produce and we grow patriots,” said Rodriguez, himself a veteran. “But while our young men and women are risking their lives to protect our freedoms abroad, back home, bureaucrats and court rulings are taking from their families the freedom to farm.”
The federal Endangered Species Act is flawed because it ignores the effects on human beings, said Tom Nassif, president and chief executive officer of Western Growers, Irvine, Calif. “Confidence in federal agencies cannot be restored until those agencies begin to make science-based decisions,” he told the officials.
Four members of Congress, Republicans George Radanovich and Devin Nunes and Democrats Dennis Cardoza and Jim Costa, said the lack of rainfall in California during the past three years is not the only culprit in the irrigation water dilemma. During their comments, each of the lawmakers, all of whom represent chunks of the San Joaquin Valley, used the phrase “regulatory drought.”
They referred to the Endangered Species Act and biological opinions from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service that have resulted in reduced exports of water from Northern California to the valley and to Southern California.
Well, if the farmers weren’t impressed by the visit, the environmentalists weren’t either, according to Dan Bacher:
Salazar didn’t outright endorse a peripheral canal and more dams as requested by Valley Congressmen and agribusiness representatives as the solution to their “water supply problems,” nor did he agree to their request to convene the “God Squad” to gut protections for Delta smelt, Chinook salmon, green sturgeon and killer whales mandated under the Endangered Species Act. “Water supply and infrastructure are options that need to be looked at,” Salazar said. “However, we are are not at a point where we are supporting a peripheral canal or new reservoirs.”
He said that he has appointed Deputy Secretary David J Hayes as the lead official to coordinate federal response to California water supply and related environmental issues with the state and stakeholders, including the peripheral canal and Temperance and Sites Reservoirs.
“I’ve assigned the Deputy Secretary to find those solutions,” said Salazar. “I do expect that there will be a significant water supply component to these efforts.”
He also refused to convene the “Gold Squad” as requested by Representatives Nuns, Radanovich, Cardoza and Jim Costa, who slammed the ESA and the Delta smelt and salmon biological opinions for putting “fish over people.”
“To convene the God Squad would be admitting failure in the recovery of these species under the ESA,” said Salazar. “Where the God Squad has been invoked, it just created more litigation and compounded the problems it sought to address.”
He said that the administration must both establish the “certainty” and “realiabity” of water supplies and to fulfill the responsibilities for endangered species, unfortunately invoking the “co-equal” goal rhetoric of water supply and ecoystem restoration that led to the current ecosystem crash in the Delta under CalFed.
To the chagrin of recreational and commercial fishermen, Indian Tribes, and environmental justice groups, Salazar, Hayes and Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Mike Connor said they would continue to work through the controversial Bay Delta Conservation Plan that includes a peripheral canal and more dams.
In fact, Salazar pledged “renewed federal involvement and leadership” in the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) and “federal engagement in water supply issues that extend beyond the scope of the BDCP and the immediate geography of the Bay Delta.”
“Significant progress will be made on the most contentious water supply and environmental issues by the end of 2009, including but not limited to the issues raised by the BDCP,” according to Salazar.
Read more:
Secretary Salazar, senior administration and congressional officials hold town hall meeting on California water shortage
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 29, 2009 at 4:40 pm
From the Department of the Interior:
At a town hall meeting in Fresno, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Deputy Secretary David J. Hayes, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Mike Connor and members of the California Congressional Delegation today announced multiple steps the Obama Administration is taking to alleviate the heavy toll on Californians resulting from the ongoing water shortage.
“Water is the lifeblood of agricultural communities across the West. We are here in the Central Valley to listen and hear directly from those suffering the impacts of the water shortage,” Secretary Salazar told the hundreds of citizens gathered at Fresno State. “This community has my commitment, and the commitment of the Obama Administration, that we will work with state and local officials to address continuing conflicts associated with transporting water from northern California through the Bay Delta – that includes fisheries-related conflicts and other deteriorating environmental conditions in the Bay Delta.”
Among the actions announced by the Secretary today are:
* The appointment of Deputy Secretary David J Hayes as lead official for Interior and the Obama Administration in coordinating the federal response to California water supply and related environmental issues with the state and stakeholders.
* Renewed federal involvement and leadership in the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) and federal engagement in water supply issues that extend beyond the scope of the BDCP and the immediate geography of the Bay Delta. Significant progress will be made on the most contentious water supply and environmental issues by the end of 2009, including but not limited to the issues raised by the BDCP.
* Continued efforts to distribute $220 million in Recovery Act funding for specific water and environmental infrastructure projects in California. Of this amount, $160 million will be directed to the Central Valley Project. An additional $40 million in drought relief funds will be announced within the month, the majority of which will go to California’s Central Valley.* The expedited review of infrastructure projects that could potentially add flexibility to water delivery systems, including the proposed “Two Gates” project and the canal intertie project.
Salazar noted that in addition to these commitments, the Interior Department through the Bureau of Reclamation has already taken operational steps to stretch the scarce water supply. Those measures include:
* The processing of more than 70 transfers that total approximately 245,000 acre-feet of water for the San Joaquin Valley.
* The approval of rescheduling requests by Westside and Friant Division CVP contractors to allow them to preserve and use prior year allocations of approximately 250,000 acre-feet in San Luis Reservoir and 57,000 acre-feet in Millerton Lake.
* The planned announcement of 2010 rescheduling guidelines by August 1, several months in advance of prior practice.
* The approval of contracts to convey 170,000 acre-feet of non-CVP water through CVP facilities for irrigation in various areas affected by the drought.
The Interior Department will continue these efforts and work closely with California to continue facilitating water transfers between willing sellers and buyers, as well as other efficiency improvements.
“When a community is suffering the way this community is suffering, all parties must come together and work in good faith to find solutions,” added Salazar. “We want to continue all these actions and also to learn from you today any other ways in which we can help.”
Fresh produce industry opposes California senator’s threat to cut California agriculture department
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 29, 2009 at 4:31 pmFrom The Packer:
In the wake of a June 16 Senate Food and Agriculture hearing — chaired by California state senator Dean Florez — the list of grower-shippers displeased with the senator appears to be growing. The hearing focused on the senator’s proposal to consolidate or eliminate the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
“It would make absolutely no sense to destroy the agency that oversees diseases — everything from cow pox to anthrax, from the West Nile virus to some of the most dangerous pests that can destroy agriculture and our landscape,” said Manuel Cunha, president of the Fresno-based Nisei Farmers League. “Who does he represent? What constituency?”
The proposal is designed to provide a more streamlined, more efficient government entity, Florez said, and to reduce the cost of the department for taxpayers. His proposal includes — among other things — moving oversight of fertilizer, chemical and pest control to the Department of Pesticide Regulation, giving the tasks of health and animal inspection to other agencies and eliminating the department’s marketing efforts by converting to private, non-profit corporations the state’s roughly four dozen marketing commissions.
“By breaking up CDFA, it certainly doesn’t look as if it would increase efficiencies,” said Barry Bedwell, president of the California Grape & Tree Fruit League, Fresno. “You’d probably be going the other direction, and I doubt it would save money.”
Read more from The Packer by clicking here.
Valley’s ag and water economics a complex conundrum
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 29, 2009 at 7:16 am
From the Fresno Bee:
The message from farmers is dramatic and direct: drought and federal water restrictions are crippling San Joaquin Valley agriculture — and threaten America’s food supply. “This is a crisis, and it’s a worsening crisis,” said A.G. Kawamura, California’s secretary of food and agriculture. “The federal government needs to understand this [will have] a major impact on America’s food supply, on the nation’s food security.”
Yet even as growers fallow thousands of acres and lay off workers, farm employment in Fresno County is the highest in a decade — and agricultural production hit a record value in 2008.
What’s going on? There’s no fast and easy answer. Valley agriculture and water economics are too complex for that.
There are stark differences between the east and west sides of Fresno County alone. In the vast reaches of the west side, sharp limits on water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta have forced growers to plant fewer acres and hire fewer workers. Unemployment rates are above 30% in towns like Mendota, Huron and San Joaquin. Packers and processors have closed as business dwindles.
But on the east side, farmers face fewer water cutbacks. More water means more work — enough so far, apparently, to take up the slack being felt in the west.
Read more from the Fresno Bee by clicking here.
Environmentalists dispute water shortage = job loss claims
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 29, 2009 at 7:11 amFrom the Central Valley Business Times:
The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance says that blaming Central Valley job losses on claims of water shortages is disingenuous at best.
“The truth is more water won’t wash away the Valley’s recession and endangered species are the victims, not the problem,” says CSPA Executive Director Bill Jennings.
Referring to Sunday’s Fresno town hall meeting by Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Valley congressmen and others, Mr. Jennings says “we hope Secretary Salazar will seek out the facts and see through the transparent efforts by Governor Schwarzenegger, Valley elected officials and the hydrologic brotherhood to use the red-herring of economic recession as justification for depriving the Delta of essential water.”
Read more from the Central Valley Business Times by clicking here.
CSPA: Myths, lies and damn lies about impact of drought on San Joaquin Valley agribusiness
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 29, 2009 at 7:09 amFrom Dan Bacher & the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance:
Attached is a press release from the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) that uses official data from California’s Employment Development Department to refute claims that water shortages caused by federal biological opinions and efforts to protect fish have caused massive farm unemployment. As you can see from the release, farm employment has fated far better than other sectors of the economy and, indeed, farm employment has increased during the last three drought years, according to Bill Jennings, executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance. Further, farm employment levels have varied since 2000, but this variance has not coincided with wet or dry years. These are “facts” that have failed to gain coverage in the corporate media. These are “facts” that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is not likely to hear today in Fresno.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bill Jennings, CSPA Executive DirectorMyths, Lies and Damn Lies
Despite drought, Valley agriculture doing far better than rest of economy
Stockton, CA – Sunday, June 28, 2009. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is in Fresno today to attend a meeting and listen to the economic woes of the south Valley. Newspapers and airways are awash with accusations that a three-inch fish has caused a man-made drought in California and that environmentalists and fishermen seek to “starve people in order to save whales.”
Congressmen, farmers and water agencies claim that 450,000 or more acres of land have been fallowed and 35-50,000 people have been put out of work: all because of Delta smelt and the Endangered Species Act. But, facts are stubborn things. And the facts tell us that these accusations are lies – bald-face lies.
“We hope Secretary Salazar will seek out the facts and see through the transparent efforts by Governor Schwarzenegger, Valley elected officials and the hydrologic brotherhood to use the red-herring of economic recession as justification for depriving the Delta of essential water,” said CSPA Executive Director Bill Jennings. “Their efforts can only be successful if the Secretary, reporters and the general public ignore the facts,” he said, adding, “The truth is more water won’t wash away the Valley’s recession and endangered species are the victims, not the problem.”
Column: Looking into the future of Central Valley’s water usage
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 29, 2009 at 6:59 am
From the Visalia Times-Delta, this column by William Tweed:
For the last several months, like many of you, I have been following the intensifying California “water war” that seems to fill the news reports these days. Lots of folks are hurting, and lots of blame is being thrown around.
Now, it’s my turn to share a few thoughts. As always, when I’m writing this column, I’m pursuing a point of view that takes into account both nature and human history. In other words, if we take an long-term look at what is going on, what can we learn? Attempting to be dispassionate about this, let me propose several truths that we must face.
The first of these is that the amount of water available in the San Joaquin Valley is finite. The Sierra does not produce enough water to meet all our irrigation needs, and we have been supplementing local river flow for many decades with large amounts of pumped ground’water and imported Sacramento River water.
Within the Valley, we use more water than we can sustainably produce. Water leaves the Valley in significant amounts only in occasional wet years. Regionally, we are water consumers, not exporters.
Like it or not, the future is going to see less farm water, not more. Our warming climate is forecast to reduce runoff from the Sierra Nevada. And as we continue to over-pump groundwater, its cost will rise. Eventually, if we stay on the current path, we will run out of groundwater in many areas.
Read more of this column from the Visalia Times-Delta by clicking here.
Rainwater, iPhone app help thirsty California farms
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 29, 2009 at 6:12 amFrom NPR’s Morning Edition:
Zach Sheely, 27, is excited about the family farming business now that a California-based irrigation software company, PureSense, lets him and other farmers check on their crops using an iPhone.
The iPhone application allows them to access information from underground sensors that detect moisture levels near the roots of crops. The underground sensors aren’t cheap. Each sensor station, consisting of multiple sensors in a field, costs $5,000, and the family currently has 20 of them. They’ve helped shorten watering times, stressing the plants just enough so they produce healthy fruit.
“We don’t want to put too much on,” says Sheely. “The plants go dormant with too much water, and it can slow growth. And if you put too little on, it also slows the growth. So we want to stay right in that sweet spot of growth.”
Read more from NPR’s Morning Edition by clicking here.
Dan Bacher commentary: Secretary Salazar to speak at town meeting on drought in Fresno; Valley politicians perpetuate the myth of “fish versus people”
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 26, 2009 at 7:25 amFrom Dan Bacher:
Bowing to pressure from Representatives Devin Nunes, Jim Costa, Dennis Cardoza and George Radanovich, the Department of Interior will hold a “town hall meeting on the drought in California” on Sunday, June 28, from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. in Fresno at a site to be announced.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is expected to announce new stimulus monies for the Central Valley and talk about the Bay Delta Conservation Plan process. Salazar, Deputy Secretary David J. Hayes and Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Mike Connor are also expected to field complaints from corporate agribusiness interests that they are not receiving enough water from the Central Valley and California Water Projects.
You can expect San Joaquin Valley agribusiness representatives to blame all of their economic problems, real or imagined, on Delta smelt and the recent NMFS biological opinion to protect Central Valley salmon stocks. You can also be sure that Westlands and other agribusiness interests will put intense pressure upon Salazar and the other Interior officials to support the peripheral canal and dams proposal that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Senator Dianne Feinstein are campaigning for.
Since President Obama took office in January, Congressmen Cardoza and Costa have requested that the incoming Interior Secretary come to the San Joaquin Valley, according to a joint press release from Cardoza and Costa that falsely portrays the battle to restore the California Delta and the thousands of jobs that depend on it as a “fish versus peoples” scenario. They claim that unemployment is the result of a “regulatory drought” caused by relatively modest court-ordered restrictions on pumping to protect Delta smelt and Sacramento River winter run and spring run Chinook salmon.
Farmers denounce Radanovich; Growers sign letter opposing stance on water settlement
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 26, 2009 at 7:09 amFrom the Capital Press:
It appears that far more than one farmer is upset with U.S. Rep. George Radanovich’s representation of his district.
Earlier this month on a Fresno TV news channel when a local farmer said he would not support Radanovich for re-election because of his commitment to the San Joaquin River settlement and economic policies, Radanovich’s response was that if one person was feeling disaffected, “that is the choice I have to make in representing the district.”
More than 160 farmers signed a letter to the longtime 19th Congressional District representative, calling him on his statement. The letter was published last week as an advertisement in the Fresno Bee.
The signatures were gathered in about three days, said Madera-area grower Denis Prosperi. “We only contacted about 50 farmers to make a point that there are more who are upset that he won’t listen,” said Prosperi. “Another three days and we would easily have had 100 more names.”
Read more from the Capital Press by clicking here.
Goodbye to ag, says commentary; ” … it is the responsibility of every resident of this valley and this state to demand of their officials that they clearly understand the ramifications of their votes”
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 26, 2009 at 6:04 amFrom the Santa Ynez Valley Journal, this commentary excerpt:
… Other issues in rural areas such as ours focus mainly on the loss of agriculture while completely ignoring the consequences of that loss. It is not enough to sound the alarm on just how much agriculture is being lost but rather it is critical to first identify the culprit or culprits and then to reverse the trend. Maybe, particularly for urban folk, we need to first educate people as to the value of agriculture to their everyday lives. Have we become so detached from reality that we no longer realize where the majority of the products we use every day come from? Do they no longer teach the source of things to schoolchildren so that they understand their place in the world at large?
It seems to me that many people do not feel that the loss of agricultural land is important enough to speak up about as I have heard some say that we’ll just all get our food from other countries. Do we really want to increase our dependence on other countries for not only our energy supply but our food supply as well? Do we really want to leave those basic needs to the responsibility of some other country enabling it to blackmail us should they so desire in order to keep from starving? Do we really want to lose control over how our food supply is produced?
Read more of this editorial from the Santa Ynez Valley Journal by clicking here.
Water worries on iconic farms: Rate hike a threat to flower, strawberry fields, operators say
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 26, 2009 at 5:52 amFrom the San Diego Union Tribune:
Those who thought there would be Strawberry fields forever in Carlsbad may have to readjust their thinking. And the same may be true for The Flower Fields, a trademark Carlsbad attraction.
After receiving notice that the city planned to more than double water rates for agriculture, representatives of the two farm operations told the City Council that could kill their operations.
“Water is about 10 percent of our productivity cost,” said Peter Mackauf, general manager of the Carlsbad Strawberry Co. The business has about 60 acres in cultivation, mostly strawberries, at Interstate 5 and Cannon Road. “If you double water costs, you’ve basically eliminated all profit potential,” Mackauf said.
Read more from the San Diego Union Tribune by clicking here.
Tide of water issues plus others face alfalfa
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 24, 2009 at 7:32 amYesterday, I posted this commentary about the benefits of alfalfa as promoted by the California Alfalfa & Foraging Association. Aquafornia reader ‘dfb’ posted a comment, including a link on this article on alfalfa, from the Western Farm Press (unknown date):
California alfalfa growers must ride out a tide of perennial water issues while managing waves from market shifts and public perception of their industry, says Dan Putnam, forage specialist at the University of California, Davis.
Speaking at the recent 31st California Alfalfa and Forage Symposium in Modesto, Putnam said water quality, availability, and price make up “the Achilles heel” of agriculture, particularly for alfalfa, which occupies one million acres in the state at a value exceeding $1 billion.
Attention is on alfalfa because its water needs average about five acre-feet per year (per acre) across the various growing regions in California. It claims about 15 percent of the state’s agricultural water and lacks flexibility because it is a perennial crop.
And alfalfa returns are only moderate when compared with those of the many specialty crops, so it is challenged when water is expensive.
But the nature of alfalfa’s water use should to be discussed and appreciated, Putnam said. “The high water use of alfalfa is mainly due to its high acreage, its length of season, and its high yield. If you look at the water use on a per-month basis, it’s probably comparable to most other herbaceous crops.”
Read more from the Western Farm Press by clicking here.
False claims about alfalfa continue, says commentary
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 23, 2009 at 12:23 pmFrom the Western Farm Press, this commentary by Aaron Kiess, Executive Director of the California Alfalfa & Forage Association:
CAFA’s 24-page booklet, “Alfalfa, Wildlife and the Environment”, is a valuable resource that has been an educational tool and an authoritative information source for defending California’s largest acreage crop. The scientific information in the booklet has been used by some alfalfa growers to defend water use and stave off a large reduction in allotments. That aspect of the booklet recently came to mind when a CAFA member in the low desert asked for help once again to make the case for alfalfa and hopefully keep from losing more irrigation water.
The “Alfalfa, Wildlife and the Environment” booklet can be viewed and downloaded at the CAFA Web site. As mentioned in a number of Western Farm Press columns over the past eight years, the “Water Story” chapter is often referred to, especially in a drought year or when alfalfa is singled out for the amount of water it consumes.
What makes the water chapter and the entire booklet a valuable resource is its credibility, thanks to the authors who contributed their expertise. Nearly the entire booklet was authored by University of California forage specialists and a forage specialist for the USDA-Agricultural Research Service in Minnesota.
The booklet is the cornerstone of CAFA’s educational efforts, and a two-page companion piece is now being developed to provide an overview and focus on a number if misconceptions that plague the alfalfa industry. Over the years we’ve heard the same complaints and misinformation that are repeated so often they become reality rather than myth.
Read more of this commentary by clicking here. Download the pdf file of the brochure, Alfalfa, Wildlife & the Environment, from the California Alfalfa & Forage Association by clicking here.
Fewer farmland acres irrigated in region, state
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 23, 2009 at 11:59 amFrom the Sacramento Bee:
The acreage of irrigated farmland in the Sacramento River watershed fell by 7.5 percent, or 132,000 acres, between 2002 and 2007, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The agriculture census, conducted every five years, showed a similar trend statewide, with irrigated acreage falling about 8 percent, to just over 8 million acres.
More on this brief story from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.
UC Davis to study nitrogen’s effects on air, water
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 22, 2009 at 7:41 amFrom the Woodland Daily Democrat:
UC Davis researchers will receive $2.8 million in new grants to study the use and impacts of nitrogen, a hero of the agricultural revolution that is increasingly viewed as a worrisome source of water and air pollution and potent greenhouse gases.
“This is one of the most important and least publicized environmental issues we face: Escaped nitrogen from agricultural production affects the quality of our air, water, and soil and has huge potential to contribute to climate change,” said Tom Tomich, director of the Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis. “Many members of the public and politicians are unaware of the scope of this challenge. And many farmers are unaware that nitrogen management can save them money.”
Read more from the Woodland Daily Democrat by clicking here.
Diana Westmoreland Pedrozo commentary: Family farms make us better
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 22, 2009 at 7:14 amFrom the Merced Sun-Star, this commentary by Diana Westmoreland Pedrozo, executive director of the Merced County Farm Bureau:
Simple to the point and a fact: As a Californian you have more food choices than in any place on Earth. Locally grown, organic, conventional — you name it, you can buy it, in high quality and at reasonable prices. The food you find at the store, farmers market or produce stand is also grown under the toughest safety and security standards in the country.
We are No. 1 in the nation for agricultural bounty and value. Our farms and ranches also create hundreds of thousands of jobs, both in the country and city, that are tied to the production, marketing and distribution of the food and farm products grown in California.
Why then would Fresno Democratic state Sen. Dean Florez, chairman of the Staten Food and Agriculture Committee, push for the dismantling of the California Department of Food and Agriculture? Why would he or any other member of the Legislature think that eliminating those who assure a local, safe and nutritious food supply for all Californians should be gotten rid of or transferred into another governmental agency?
Read more of this commentary by clicking here.
Nebraska’s increase in irrigated acreage puts state first in the nation; but some areas of the state are over-irrigated, however, and significant limitations on future irrigation are looming
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 22, 2009 at 6:23 am
From Media Newswire:
LINCOLN, Neb. — While the number of irrigated acres is dropping in many parts of the country, it continues to rise in Nebraska, which now ranks first in the nation. Some areas of the state are over-irrigated, however, and significant limitations on future irrigation are looming, said Bruce Johnson, University of Nebraska-Lincoln agricultural economist.
By the end of 2007, Nebraska had 8.5 million acres under irrigation, Johnson wrote in the June 10 issue of “Cornhusker Economics.” Nebraska added 560,000 acres from 1997 to 2002 and another 930,000 acres between 2002 and 2007.
The most recent U.S. 2007 Census of Agriculture, released in February, shows Nebraska now has more irrigated farmland acres than any other state, accounting for about one of every six acres of U.S. irrigated farmland. The increase puts certain areas of the state at risk for being over-appropriated, Johnson said. Some 30,000 irrigated acres may have to be changed to dryland acres as a result. “We have a very precious water resource in this state … and we’re developed pretty much to the max,” he said in an interview.
While it is not surprising that Nebraska has been in an irrigation expansion mode for several years, what is surprising is that other major irrigation areas of the country have reduced irrigated acreage, Johnson said. California, which historically has been first in irrigated acres, dropped 900,000 acres between 1997 and 2007, with the bulk of that decline between 2002 and 2007. Johnson attributed the drop to multiyear drought conditions and an ever-growing demand for water by the state’s metropolitan areas. California’s irrigation acres stood at 8.2 million in 2007, down from 8.71 million in 2002.
Pacific Institute’s Heather Cooley to testify in Washington DC today on the impacts of climate change on agriculture
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 18, 2009 at 8:06 amToday, Pacific Institute Research Associate Heather Cooley will testify on the impacts of climate change on agriculture before the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. Cooley will discuss how precipitation and weather patterns will affect agriculture and what adaptation methods will be necessary to maintain a healthy agriculture sector in the U.S. Here is the text of her testimony:
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the effects of climate change on agricultural production in the United States. Our testimony will focus on those impacts related to water resources – a critical connection especially in the western United States.
These detailed comments are intended to supplement our oral testimony.
Key Messages:
- Agriculture is a water-intensive industry, using about 70% of the nation’s freshwater resource. As a result, impacts of climate change on water resources will have major consequences for agriculture.
- Rainfed agriculture is especially vulnerable to altered precipitation patterns.
- Surface water supplies will be increasingly out-of-phase with agricultural water demand. Surface runoff is expected to decline during summer months, when agricultural water demand peaks. The impacts of climate change on groundwater resources remain largely unknown; however, recent research suggests they may decline.
- Changes in extreme weather events will have a greater effect on crop production than changes in average conditions.
- Adaptation can substantially reduce the risk of climate change for the agricultural sector.The federal government must support adaptation efforts, including better management of surface and groundwater resources and improvements in water conservation and efficiency.
To support adaptation efforts:
- The federal government must support adaptation efforts, including better management of surface and groundwater resources and improvements in water conservation and efficiency.
- The federal government should support outreach to the agricultural community about the impacts of climate change and potential adaptation strategies.
- The federal government should support additional research and development. Specifically, more regional assessments and better weather forecasting are needed.
Read more of Heather Cooley’s testimony by clicking here.
California enjoys long, productive history of agriculture
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 16, 2009 at 8:04 amFrom the Visalia Times-Delta, Don Curlee offers a retrospective on California agriculture:
Those who say California is not as rich in traditions as perhaps Virginia or the New England states apparently haven’t talked to many farmers in the Golden State.
True, the Pilgrims landed on the East Coast before Father Junipero Serra and his followers began building California worship centers. But the padres planted grapes, grain, tree crops and vegetables as well as missions. California farmers have been producing agricultural crops in abundance ever since.
While the Forty-Niners hoped the gold they sought would make them rich quicker than they could plant and harvest a typical vegetable crop. They helped to discover the width and breadth of the state’s richness in soil, water and climate.
Later on, California’s rolling plains and flat valley expanses were perfect grazing land for the vast cattle empire of Henry Miller, once the owner of the largest cattle herd in the country. Even Texans were impressed, and still should be.
Chinese workers helped reshape flood plains and waterways, some in the complex and peat-rich Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. They were a key in the development of rich fruit production areas, especially in the Sacramento Valley and along the river’s lower reaches.
Read more from the Visalia Times-Delta by clicking here.
UC Davis begins $2.8 Million in studies of agricultural nitrogen’s impacts
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 15, 2009 at 7:40 amFrom the U.C. Davis Newsroom:
UC Davis researchers will receive $2.8 million in new grants to study the use and impacts of nitrogen, a hero of the agricultural revolution that is increasingly viewed as a worrisome source of water and air pollution and potent greenhouse gases.
“This is one of the most important and least publicized environmental issues we face: Escaped nitrogen from agricultural production affects the quality of our air, water, and soil and has huge potential to contribute to climate change,” said Tom Tomich, director of the Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis. “Many members of the public and politicians are unaware of the scope of this challenge. And many farmers are increasingly interested in nitrogen management to cut costs.”
Nitrogen is a chemical element that occurs naturally in Earth’s air, water and soil. It is essential to life, and cycles through all plants, animals and people. Nitrogen-based fertilizers help California farmers produce more than 400 agricultural commodities — vegetables, fruits, meats and dairy products worth $36 billion a year.
But excess nitrogen is emitted from soils, seeps into groundwater and runs off into surface waters. Wastes from cattle, chickens and other livestock include nitrogen. Farm machines burning oil, gasoline and diesel release nitrogen to the air.
Read more from the U.C. Davis Newsroom by clicking here.
Wednesday afternoon update: Do exports of water-intensive crops hurt drought-prone California?
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 10, 2009 at 12:41 pm
From Miller McCune:
In the Imperial Valley of California, a region drier than part of the Sahara Desert, farmers have found a lucrative market abroad for a crop they grow with Colorado River water: They export bales of hay to land-poor Japan. Since the mid-1980s, this arid border region of California has been supplying hay for Japan’s dairy cows and black-haired cattle, the kind that get daily massages, are fed beer and produce the most tender Kobe beef.
Container ships from Japan unload electronics and other goods in the Port of Long Beach, and the farmers fill up the containers with hay for the trip back across the Pacific. Since the containers would otherwise return empty, it ends up costing less to ship hay from Long Beach to Japan than to California’s Central Valley.
“Everything is done for economics,” said Ronnie Leimgruber, an Imperial Valley hay grower who is expanding into the export market. “Japan cannot get hay cheaper. The freight is cheaper from Long Beach than from anywhere else in the world.”
Water is cheap for valley farmers, too: urban rates there are four times as high. It costs only $100 to irrigate an acre of hay in the desert for a year.
But what makes economic sense to farmers may not be rational behavior for Southern California in the third year of a severe drought, say some conservationists. At the very least, they contend, the growing state debate over water allocation should take into account the exports of crops such as hay and rice — two of the most water-intensive crops in the West — because they take a toll on local rivers and reservoirs.
Read more from Miller McCune by clicking here.
Fed study, proposal another blow to ag
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 10, 2009 at 12:19 pmFrom the Hanford Sentinel:
Kings County farmers struggling with drought have a new water issue to be riled about: A federal study released last week calling for more pumping cutbacks to protect threatened fish species.
The study, issued Thursday by the National Marine Fisheries Service, says that the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project are endangering the survival of winter and spring-run Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, the southern population of North American green sturgeon and Southern Resident killer whales.
Both projects have massive pumps in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta that suck water out for delivery to hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland and millions of residents to the south.
Thursday’s study estimated that deliveries will have to be cut by 330,000 acre feet a year to protect the fish, many of which spend most of their time in the ocean but must swim upstream to spawn.
Read more from the Hanford Sentinel by clicking here.
Peter Gleick: Zero or all? What’s really happening in the Central Valley?
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 10, 2009 at 7:05 amFrom Peter Gleick & his City Brights blog:
Here is a short post, with two Water Numbers, and a request for real information if readers have it.
Water Numbers: 0 and 100. These are the fractions of water allocations that some farmers in California are getting (or so we sometimes hear) from the Federal Water projects. Now, before I present my request for information, here is a bit of background.
There is a drought — a combination of three dry years, overallocations from reservoirs drawing them down low, and what some call a “regulatory drought” of additional shortfalls imposed to satisfy environmental flow requirements. This has led to cutbacks in water deliveries from, especially, the “federal” dams and infrastructure of the Central Valley Project (but also from the State Water Project facilities). Because of the odd water rights structures, this means that some users (senior water rights holders) may be getting all, or almost all of their allocations, while other users (junior rights holders) may be getting nothing, or close to it, even when they live literally next door to each other.
But: When you read in the media, or on websites or blogs, that some farmers are getting zero (0) water allocations this year, more detailed questions should be asked and some skepticism is warranted.
Read more from Peter Gleick’s City Brights blog by clicking here.
Monday’s top of the scroll: Central Valley farmers at pivotal point in search for more efficient ways to use water
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 8, 2009 at 7:19 am
From the Fresno Bee:
From the sky, John Diener’s farm looks like a swath of Kansas grafted onto the rugged flatlands of the San Joaquin Valley’s west side.
Hundreds of acres of crops grow in a circular patches on Diener’s land. The idea is to save water with an irrigation system that rotates around a pivot in the center of each field. The automated system is common in the Midwest, where farm labor is scarce — but it’s gaining traction here as growers adapt to the new reality of farming.
The pivot irrigation system has many advantages:
Diener estimates the pivot system is 10% to 20% more efficient than furrow irrigation, which can be labor intensive. Generally, furrow irrigation on the west side involves workers moving aluminum pipe from field to field. The pivot-irrigation system also applies water more evenly, resulting in less waste.
“One of our challenges is how to water more efficiently and in a way where you can get a comparable or better yield from a conventional system,” Diener said. “That is what we are after.”
Read more from the Fresno Bee by clicking here.
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