A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
June 24 2008
2. Supply –
Drought in
Bloomberg News -6/24/08
By Adam Satariano
California farmer Mike Wood has let $150,000 worth of cotton die. Barry Baker spent $2.5 million to obtain water rights on the open market to salvage his crops. Shawn Coburn is risking long-term damage to his land by pumping water from a 1,200-foot well.
``If the drought were to continue and everything that has been associated with it at the same time were to continue, I don't see myself in this business in five years,'' Wood, a third- generation farmer, said in an interview at his farm in Firebaugh, about 150 miles southeast of San Francisco.
After two years of below-average rainfall, diminished snowmelt runoff from the Sierra Nevada Mountains and court- ordered water-transfer reductions to protect an endangered species, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a drought and deemed nine counties disaster areas because of the economic strain and potential rise in food prices. Schwarzenegger wants to sell $11.9 billion of bonds for new water projects.
The region supplies tomatoes, almonds, grapes, melons, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, wheat, onions, garlic and other produce used throughout the U.S. Fresno County, one of the disaster areas, is the largest agricultural county in the U.S., producing $4.8 billion in crops a year, according to the Fresno County Farm Bureau.
Supply Cuts
``I'm very concerned -- panicked is probably a better word,'' said melon broker Stephen Patricio, a former chairman of the Western Growers Association, which is based in
Westlands Water District is among the areas facing supply cuts after the state's driest March, April and May in more than 85 years. State precipitation is 80 percent of average and snowmelt runoff is 60 percent of normal, according to the state Department of Water Resources in
The Westlands district covers 600,000 acres (240,000 hectares) of land that accounts for about 20 percent of Fresno County production.
``We lost the ability to use 50 percent of our supply in the three months of the summer when we need it most,'' said spokeswoman Sarah Woolf.
$1,000 Water
The drought has pushed water prices on the open market to about $1,000 per acre-foot, or 10 times the amount charged by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Woolf said. An acre-foot of water is equivalent to about 326,000 gallons, or as much as one to two families use in a year.
Baker, owner of Baker Farming Co. in Firebaugh, said he's spent about $2.5 million to obtain water credits from those with excess supplies elsewhere in the state. Coburn has spent at least $500,000 on credits.
Pumps, each costing about $500,000, are another option. Coburn's pump, down a dirt road from his almond packaging facility in Firebaugh, digs 1,200 feet into the ground to extract 1,500 gallons a minute. Baker and Wood also use the electricity- driven pumps in an effort to salvage some of their crops.
The pumps may have long-term consequences. The water has high salt and boron contents, which can harm future harvests. Each acre-foot of water contains about half a ton of salt, said Patricio.
``Fire water,'' Coburn said.
Ground Sinking
Unrestricted pumping from underground aquifers has caused the ground to sink in some areas and could eventually impair drinking water supplies and damage the California Aqueduct, a main water artery for the state's agricultural region, said Woolf.
The drought is reverberating throughout the local economy. Ramon Gonzalez, owner of a tire shop in
``It all traces back to water,'' said Jose Ramirez, the city manager of Firebaugh. ``Water is economic development. Water is jobs.''
The scarcity was exacerbated by a court decision in August to protect the endangered Delta smelt, a 2-inch-long fish killed by the water pumps, limiting water that reaches the
In the Westlands Water District, the problem is compounded by its status as a junior water rights holder. When shortages occur, the area is among the last to get water because it developed later than other regions.
`First Call'
``By law, when there isn't enough water, senior water rights holders get first call,'' said Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, an environmental research group. He said such problems are inevitable during drought.
The state expects water scarcity to intensify as a result of global warming. The increase in average global temperatures of the 3-10 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 to 5.5 degrees Celsius) predicted by many scientists could result in a 70 percent loss of Sierra Nevada snowpack, putting supplies for 60 million people at risk, according to the state Environmental Protection Agency.
``You know the old joke about the farmer who won the lottery and they asked him what he's going to do with it,'' Wood said.
``He said I'm just going to farm until it's all gone.'' #
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aQHnfaaeWKCs&refer=home
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