The California Drought

Calif. farmers say feds make drought worse
By William M. Welch, USA TODAY

FIREBAUGH, Calif. — The road to Todd Allen's farm wends past irrigation canals filled with the water that California's hot Central Valley depends on to produce vegetables and fruit for the nation. Yet not a drop will make it to his barren fields.

Three years into a drought that evokes fears of a modern-day dust bowl, Allen and others here say the culprit now isn't Mother Nature so much as the federal government. Court and regulatory rulings protecting endangered fish have choked the annual flow of water from California's Sierra mountains down to its people and irrigated fields, compounding a natural dry spell.

"This is a regulatory drought, is what it is," Allen says. "It just doesn't seem fair."

For those like Allen at the end of the water-rights line, the flow has slowed to a trickle: His water district is receiving just 10% of the normal allocation of water from federal Bureau of Reclamation reservoirs. He says he's been forced to lay off all his workers and watch the crops die on his 300 acres while bills for an irrigation system he put in are due.

"My payments don't stop when they cut my water off," Allen says. Read More

No natural disasters are ever fun, but I think going through a drought is one of the worst. It’s like death by a thousand cuts. And to make it more frustrating, the California drought is being caused more by government policies than it is by Mother Nature. Somewhere along the line, we lost sight of the fact that humans are important too. Rather than trying to strike a balance to accommodate everyone and everything, regulations like the Endangered Species Act require humans take a back seat and accommodate these animals at any cost. Unless you enjoy eating sunshine and scenery, we are going to have to bring some common sense back to policies that affect our food supply.

CA Drought

Drought threatens Calif. agriculture business
Thursday, April 02, 2009 6:48 PM
By Nannette Miranda

SACRAMENTO, CA (KGO) -- Three years of drought are also threatening to destroy California farmers, and the state's multi-billion dollar agriculture industry.

The news of the smaller snowpack doesn't improve the dry situation in the usually fertile Central Valley. That means farmers can't expect to see more water for their crops.

Making the problem worse is a still in-tact court order to reduce pumping in the delta to save endangered fish.

"On the high side, they're getting a 20 percent delivery. Only 20 percent of the water they would normally count on is going to be delivered. And they can't make a crop with that amount of water," said Timothy Quinn from the Association of California Water Agencies.

It's heartbreaking to see the area that supplies 40% of the nation's food supply vanishing, with farmers refusing to plant or just ripping up their crops. Read More

In visiting with several friends from CA over the last couple of months, they have all told me that California doesn’t have a water problem, they have a water storage problem. California is our biggest agricultural state. When food producing areas get hit with some sort of disaster I don’t think most people give it a second thought. Our food has to come from somewhere, it doesn’t just magically appear.

Drought in CA

Feds may cut water to California farms
If drought deepens, state to make drastic move; revenue, jobs affected

msnbc.com staff and news service reports
updated 2:06 p.m. MT, Fri., Feb. 20, 2009

SACRAMENTO - Federal water managers said they may have to cut off all water to some of California’s largest farms as a result of the deepening drought affecting the state.

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officials said Friday that parched reservoirs and patchy snow and rainfall this year would likely force them to cut surface water deliveries completely. It would be the first time in more than 15 years such a move was taken.

The move would be a blow to farmers, who say the price of some crops would likely rise if they have to rely only on well water. The state estimates it would cause $1 billion in lost revenue and cost 40,000 jobs. Read More

In visiting with several friends in agriculture from California, they have said that California doesn’t have a water problem, they have a water storage problem. The state has an incredible system of catching water for future use, however, an expansion is overdue. It will be interesting to see who does get to use the available water. Because watering a golf course or filling a swimming pool is not the best us of a scarce resource when food could be grown with it.