Ag water battle goes viral [Hanford Sentinel]
Seems
like everybody is jumping into the red-hot California water debate. Ever since
Gov. Jerry Brown announced on April 1 that cities like Hanford and Lemoore
would be forced to conserve in a big way to cut the state’s water use by 25
percent, the accusations have been flying, with major non-California blogs,
newspapers and pundits jumping into the ring last week and asking whether
California agriculture – the largest private source of jobs in Kings County and
a $45 billion industry statewide – is sharing the pain. That, in turn, has sent
agriculture into full defense mode, with trade and advocacy groups churning out
press releases and fact sheets purporting to set the record straight.
Almonds
really not that thirsty, supporters say [Stockton Record]
As
California moves into the fourth year of a withering drought and Gov. Jerry
Brown announces mandatory water use restrictions on the state’s 39 million
residents, attention has focused on its thirsty agricultural industry and, in
particular, rapidly expanding almond orchards….So how does it feel to become
the whipping boy for drought finger pointers? “It doesn’t feel good at all,”
said Dave Phippen, an almond grower and processor in the Ripon/Manteca area. “I
don’t think it’s fair. I think it’s very much undeserved.” Yes, commercial
almond production does take water, the equivalent of 46 to 56 inches of
rainfall per year, said Brent Holtz, director of University of California
Cooperative Extension for San Joaquin County. But that’s about what many other
crops require.
Opinion: Making sense of water
[New York Times]
Almost
every number used to analyze California’s drought can be debated, but this can
be safely said: No level of restrictions on residential use can solve the
problem. The solution lies with agriculture, which consumes more than its fair
share. That doesn’t mean homeowners can’t and shouldn’t cut back. But according
to estimates by the Public Policy Institute of California, more water was used
to grow almonds in 2013 than was used by all homes and businesses in San
Francisco and Los Angeles put together. Even worse, most of those almonds are
then exported — which means, effectively, that we are exporting water. Unless
you’re the person or company making money off this deal, that’s just
nuts….California grows fruits and vegetables for everyone; that’s a good thing.
It would be an even better thing, however, if some of that production shifted
to places like Iowa, once a leading grower of produce. That could happen again,
if federal policy subsidized such crops, rather than corn, on some of that
ultra-fertile land.
Opinion: To respond to
California’s drought, we need to follow the facts [Sacramento Bee]
Beware
simple reactions to complex issues. If anything has scarred the drought debate,
it’s that….For instance, critics of Big Agriculture like to say that farms use
80 percent of water, but sometimes gloss over that that number refers only to
water for human purposes. Of California’s total water, about half is devoted to
urban and agricultural use, while the other half goes to environmental
purposes. “The No. 1 user of water in California are trees in the Sierra
Nevada,” says Doug Parker, director of the California Institute for Water
Resources….Critics claim that Gov. Jerry Brown’s mandatory water reductions
give farmers a free pass. Yet, last year they took a 30 percent cut in water
supplied by water agencies and fallowed some 500,000 acres. This year, the Farm
Bureau projects that fallowed acreage will double. For farmers, the drought
started long before the governor’s edict.
With
his well nearly dry, a farmer draws on his resolve [Los Angeles Times]
It
was done. Over. No more waiting for rain, hoping for snow. The 32-year-old
farmer in the barber's chair said his well wouldn't make it to summer. "I
held on a little longer than some," Adam Toledo said. "But only the
richest will survive now."…Orange blossoms scented the air. White bee
boxes were stacked in nut orchards. Down the road, an orange grove in
Strathmore was dead — black moldy fruit clinging to the trees. A farmer's well
had gone dry. Other groves in this eastern part of the San Joaquin Valley at
the foot of the Sierra Nevada were dying because the owners could make more
money selling their water to irrigation districts than farming their land.
Water — bought and sold — flowed in concrete canals, but rivers were dry.
Ag
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