Water allocation increases slightly, but drought remains

Issue Date: May 6, 2009

By Steve Adler

Westley farmer Matt Maring considers himself to be one of the lucky ones. Of the 1,600 acres he farms on the Westside of the San Joaquin Valley, only about half of it relies on federal Central Valley Project water for irrigation. The other 800 acres has other, more reliable water sources.

But even with that, Maring is fallowing 120 acres of his farm that would have been planted to processing tomatoes, cantaloupes or dry beans.

"The 10 percent that they gave us last week helps a little bit. A lot of us are living by the skin of our teeth on our irrigation plan and that kind of strengthened it," he said.

The 10 percent that Maring was referring to was the late-April announcement by the Bureau of Reclamation that farmers in the Central Valley Project would receive 10 percent of their contracted water deliveries, an increase from the zero allocation that had earlier been announced.

Westley farmer Matt Maring, right, checks the progress of the cherry harvest on his farm. With him are his wife, Lynn, and children, Mark (left), Morgan and Benjamin.

"I'm a lot better off that some of the guys farther south who have to rely solely on CVP water deliveries," he said. "There is some water available, depending on where you are farming, but it is very expensive. I had an opportunity last fall to buy some federal carryover water at $200 an acre-foot and I feel fortunate that I bought it because now it is a strong $400 if you want some water."

Maring's permanent crops are almonds and cherries and he is able to move water from one part of the farm to another to keep those orchards in production. He started harvesting his early cherries last week—rushing to get as much crop off the trees as possible in front of two days of forecasted rain. "We're picking anything that is ripe because the rain is very hard on the cherries."

The Westley farmer said that one of the most depressing consequences of the water cutbacks is the affect it is having on farm employees, many of whom are out of work because of fallowing of agricultural land. He said people approach him nearly every day seeking employment.

Snow surveys taken by state officials last week confirmed that the water situation is only going to get worse this year. Snow surveyors found 66 percent of average snowpack in their final Sierra measurement. The Department of Water Resources said the measurement last year at this time showed 72 percent of average snow pack.

Westley farmer Matt Maring feels fortunate to get a cherry crop this year. He has had to fallow 120 acres of his farm this year because of a cutback in federal water deliveries.

Water storage in Lake Oroville is at 58 percent of average for this date. Others are also below average: Shasta at 66 percent of average, Folsom 81 percent, New Melones 53 percent and San Luis Reservoir 39 percent of average.

Although allocations from the state and federal water projects have been slightly increased, uncertainty remains about whether farmers in the San Joaquin Valley actually will see a drop of irrigation water this year. New restrictions on the state's water conveyance system, expected in coming days, could further choke deliveries.

In April the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced a 10 percent water allocation to contractors south of the delta. That's less than 2.5 inches of water per acre of farm ground in the region.

Officials with the San Luis Delta Mendota Water Authority and Westlands Water District say already hundreds of thousands of farm acres lie fallow and will remain that way for the remainder of this crop year. With an annual requirement of about two feet of water per acre, those who farm the valley's thousands of acres of almonds, pistachios, grapes and citrus run the risk of losing permanent trees and vines due to lack of water.

Meanwhile, with the latest supply cut looming, the San Luis Delta Mendota Water Authority and Westlands Water District jointly filed a motion for preliminary injunction against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on April 24. The water agencies are seeking to prevent the Fish and Wildlife Service from shutting down the pumps and further restricting the water in the system.

If allowed to take effect, these added pumping restrictions could, for example, restrict pumping from the delta if 10 percent of the delta-smelt population were in the vicinity of the pumps. The intention is to limit harm from the pumps on this endangered species.

In a statement explaining their action, the agencies said these latest restrictions would apply even though this year survey data show most of the delta smelt are in fact far away from the pumps. They said the regulations on water delivery operations, expected mid-May, are based on the hypothetical results of a model, instead of data about actual conditions.

Currently, the lack of a water supply has resulted in unemployment levels at and above 40 percent in many valley communities. Families are standing in food lines because there are no farm jobs available.

"The harm we are trying to prevent is a perfect illustration of how precarious the lives of 2 million people and the future of food production in this region have become," said Jean Sagouspe, president of Westlands Water District.

He said numerous personal statements of extreme hardship that outline the extent of the crisis were submitted to the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California, in support of the agencies' petition for a preliminary injunction.

Dan Nelson, executive director of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, said even at the currently announced level of 10 percent of contract amount "it's too little to change the economic situation faced by our farmers because of continuing environmental regulations that are destroying Central Valley agriculture."

He said almost 300,000 acre-feet of water have been lost to the ocean since the first of the year "instead of supplying the farms and homes it was intended to serve. This is in addition to the water that was lost last year due to these questionable environmental regulations.

"The inability to move water through the delta and into the Delta-Mendota Canal and the California Aqueduct clearly points to a water supply system that was built years ago under operating conditions that do not exist today. The system isn't working for farms, for people or for the environment. It's time to change course before it's too late."

"Every drop of water counts," said Tom Birmingham, general manager of the Westlands Water District, whose members are major employers in Fresno and Kings counties. "Farmers who otherwise would use groundwater to irrigate orchards or vineyards will now be able to reduce pumping of groundwater."

Chris Scheuring, California Farm Bureau Federation's managing counsel for the Natural Resources and Environmental Division, said, "It is a direct blowback from rigid environmental regulation that some of the world's most productive farmland is being stripped of water in what can only be seen as a regulatory drought. We recognize the dry conditions that have persisted in California during the past several years, and also recognize the need for balanced and reasonable protection of the environment. The natural drought condition, however, compounded by overly restrictive court decisions and the actions of government agencies, have precipitated a full-blown crisis."

While 10 percent is better than the zero percent allocation initially announced by the bureau, Scheuring said, "We are only hoping it's sufficient for farmers to save some of their permanent plantings. Decent crops this year are completely out of the question for certain farmers."

Scheuring said although there's the hope for a trickle of water, this slender promise is "no reason to lose focus on the regulatory train wreck that is occurring in the world of California water."

The district, which produces about $1 billion in crops annually, estimates that the water shortages have meant that as much as 300,000 acres of lettuce, tomatoes and other crops were not planted this year.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced in late April that the federal government has cleared the way for water transfers among various sources through California's Drought Water Bank.

"The drought situation in California threatens community water supplies, farms and ranches," said Salazar.

This action enables the state to purchase water from willing sellers upstream of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and to approve the transfer of the water to willing buyers using State Water Project facilities or Central Valley Project facilities.

The water will be made available for transfer through a combination of crop idling, crop substitution, groundwater substitution and reservoir reoperation and will be available for purchase by public and private water providers in California based on certain needs criteria developed by the state, Salazar said.

For more information about water transafers, visit www.water.ca.gov/drought.

(Steve Adler is associate editor of Ag Alert. He may be contacted at sadler@cfbf.com. Kate Campbell and Ron Miller contributed to this report.)

Permission for use is granted, however, credit must be made to the California Farm Bureau Federation when reprinting this item. Top