A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
July 11, 2008
2. Supply –
Thirsty orchards' plight in Central Valley
The
Drought Also Affecting Crops
KGET Channel 17 News Bakersfield- 7/10/08
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Thirsty orchards' plight in Central Valley
The
07-11) 04:00 PDT Newman, Stanislaus County -- Standing on a ridge between a sluggish water canal and a swath of spindly, gray almond trees, farmer Jim Jasper has a good view of California's water crisis.
Drought forced one of Jasper's friends to abandon these trees. The adjacent canal's flow has been reduced by more than one-third to protect an endangered fish. To offset the loss, Jasper has leased the land beneath the dying trees to use its water on his own 2,500 acres of almond trees, some of them "babies."
Being a farmer in drought-prone
"We got through (droughts) in the 1970s and 1980s, but now we have the two-pronged attack of the drought and the Endangered Species Act," Jasper said. "With a row crop, you can park the tractor or say, 'This year I'm going to plant only 50 percent.' When you have a young orchard, you can't walk away from it."
Some farmers in
"The bigger problem is not the immediate impacts on costs," said David Zoldoske, director of the California Water Institute at Cal State Fresno. "If (a farmer) goes to a banker to borrow money to plant almonds, if you can't show them you have a good water supply, it's almost like having bad credit. You might get a loan, but it's not at the terms you want."
Even a record rainfall might not save these farmers' fields, however. That's because Mother Nature is responsible for only part of the water scarcity.
Snowpack in the
Compounding the problem for growers, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation initially told them they'd receive 45 percent of their normal water allotment. Then in June, the agency trimmed that figure to 40 percent. On top of that, the bureau told the growers that water would be further rationed during the crucial summer season.
Coping with cuts
Fellow Newman almond grower Richard Greger said the scarcity of water means his orchards will receive about 8 inches of water. Typically, almond trees need 48 inches of water in a year, and they can suck up 2 inches during a triple-digit day. These days, Greger and his workers use a 4,000-gallon tanker truck to individually water tiny, first-year trees. It takes four days to water those 65 acres, but it's more efficient than sprinklers.
"We're hoping we can manage what's going on, but if we go into more years of this, I'm not sure we can handle it," Greger said. "It feels like a drought that's been forced on us."
The Bureau of Reclamation says it had to take drastic steps to ensure some supply for its users, given hydrological and legal constraints.
"It's a critically dry year, and we were looking at potential inflows. ... We had to change to adjust to conditions," said Louis Moore, spokesman for the agency's
Jasper, Greger and farmers of walnuts, cherries and peaches - so-called permanent crops - have attempted to make the most of their water supplies. Over the last decade or two, water experts were pleased as more growers shifted to permanent crops because they don't require the same amount of labor or production time and usually yield higher-value crops.
"The market has been terrific for almonds, for vineyards, pomegranates and pistachios - that's the benefit of a diversified agricultural community," said Mike Wade, director of the California Farm Water Coalition. "But the people who have moved into permanent crops to maximize their investment in water, they're hurting."
Agriculture policies
Growers like Jasper and Greger are being mindful of their use of water, but some farmers receive an almost guaranteed water supply for "pennies on the dollar" because their water rights date back to a period before the birth of the Central Valley Project, according to Barry Nelson, senior policy analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council. In addition, the federal government provides subsidies for a range of low-value, water-greedy crops, such as cotton, rice and alfalfa.
"You can't blame them for accepting federal largesse, but there's something wrong when we have federal policies that discourage farmers from conserving at a time when they need to be doing more of that," Nelson said.
Nelson and others say state and federal water agencies need to do a better job of serving water users without damaging protected species or the economy.
"The practices of promising irresponsibly high deliveries of water have hurt the environment, farmers and fishermen."
Though environmentalists decry the large portion of
Nelson believes that shift is necessary to protect an ecology harmed by dams and reservoirs. He insists the answer to many of these problems rests squarely on urban conservation. If cities and towns around
As farmers and growers look out over parched fields and drooping trees, however, the answer seems clear and immediate: additional water storage. Jasper and others think of the millions of acre-feet that flow down
Meanwhile, agricultural researchers quietly toil on new ways to deliver and extend this most precious resource. Zoldoske of the California Water Institute, for instance, is testing a system that would use drip irrigation lines to disperse carbon dioxide to the air around a plant. As part of photosynthesis, plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Zoldoske said tomato fields in the trial yielded twice the usual number of tomatoes.
Expect higher prices
Until such systems become more common, however, consumers should expect to pay even higher prices for produce - on top of the 5 percent or so overall increase in food prices over the last year.
"Farmers are always caught in the squeeze," Zoldoske said. "But when farmers can't plant it, buyers can't get it from anyone else."
And it might not be a short-term phenomenon.
"There will be 10 percent less irrigated agricultural land by 2030 to help offset urban growth, and the remaining 90 percent will have to conserve more," he said.
"Farming is under assault from every angle - environmental, water use, immigration, higher costs for fuel and fertilizer. It's not a good time to be a farmer. A lot of farms aren't paid for. They borrow for each season."#
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/10/MN7210D50A.DTL
Drought Also Affecting Crops
KGET Channel 17 News Bakersfield- 7/10/08
The extreme heat is a major issue for
A 3 year drought, and severely restricted water exports to the valley are putting additional pressure on crop production down on the farm.
Parched crops, the sound of lost revenue. And this isn't a scene unique to Murray Family Farms near
Steve Murray, owner of Murray Family Farms said, "I think the percentage of fruit in the box will go down because of this heat."
Not enough rain, resulting in a low snow pack and below average runoff, coupled with restricted delta pumping to protect endangered fish, and now this stifling heat - it all adds up to a season of discontent for farmers here in the valley.
"I know some growers who have 700-acres of tomatoes who are just going to turn the water off and let them dry out and die cause they don't have enough water to finish them out."
But the lack of water isn't driving Murray Family Farms into the ground.
The farm is part of the Arvin-Edison water storage district which banks water in the ground during the rainy season, and pumps it out to farms during summer months.
Water banking "is the future of agriculture and the water systems in
Though water is flowing today, Steve Murray says his profits may soon dry up.
"What we are going to see within the distribution system is that things like peaches and nectarines are going to all come off at the same time and there's going to be a glut so that's going to suppress prices for growers who are harvesting right now."
But these issues don't worry him most.
"If they feel like they need extra breaks, then they take extra breaks."
Juan Garcia of Murray Family Farms said, "a lot of people are sick and maybe go home at 10 o'clock or 11 o'clock due to the heat."
And shorter work days due to the heat means more product ends up on the ground than in your bag at the store.#
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