California Ag Network

Category: Ag Economics

  • Can Dryland Farming Help CA Agriculture Adapt to Future Water Scarcity?

    Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) — Large areas of California farmland, particularly in the San Joaquin Valley, face future restrictions on groundwater pumping to meet the requirements of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. We talked to Caity Peterson—an adjunct fellow at the PPIC Water Policy Center and a consulting agroecologist—about a joint research project* on the potential for dryland farming to reduce the amount of land needed to be retired from production to balance water budgets.

    Caitlin Peterson is an adjunct fellow at the PPIC Water Policy Center and a consulting agroecologist

    PPIC: What is dryland farming, and how might it help the San Joaquin Valley achieve groundwater sustainability?

    CAITY PETERSON: Dryland farming can mean different things, but at a fundamental level it means growing crops using primarily soil water and rainfall rather than irrigation. In California, rain comes in winter, so dryland farming here usually means winter crops such as small grains, forage crops, and pastures. Our project will also look at cases that use a small amount of supplemental irrigation to get the crops started.

    Many basins in the San Joaquin Valley will have to reduce groundwater pumping, whether due to SGMA requirements or simply the increased frequency of severe droughts. This means that some crops may no longer be viable on some lands in the future. While it’s expected that some retired lands will be used for large-scale renewable energy or natural habitat, there’s concern about a lot of farmland coming out of production at once and of land being fallowed for a long time. That can have serious drawbacks, including soil erosion, air quality impacts from dust, and economic losses. Dryland farming could reduce those problems. On some marginal lands dryland farming could be a permanent solution, while other lands may be irrigated as usual but switch to dryland practices in drought years. It will depend a lot on where you are in valley, because there is wide geographic variability in rainfall and other factors.

    PPIC: What are some constraints to this approach in the valley, and are there opportunities that could help make it succeed?

    CP: Dryland farming is not an easy proposition, primarily because of the valley’s climate. It’s a semi-arid zone, and it’s very difficult to produce anything—especially in the southern reaches—without irrigation. Some people are attempting forms of dryland farming in these areas, but it’s risky. Some years you may get a good crop, but you can regularly get years where it doesn’t rain for a couple of weeks, which can ruin a newly planted crop. The other major constraint is the economics. The valley has an extremely valuable ag economy, with some crops like almonds pulling in $7,000-$8,000 per acre. But the commodity crops suited to dryland farming are more like $200 an acre. We also have relatively small-sized farms and higher production costs compared to other dryland farming areas, which makes it hard to compete.

    As for what might make this work, a couple of things have come up in our conversations with our project advisors and stakeholders on the role that public and private incentives might play. We’re assuming that having some sort of production would be better than having nothing in the ground because it reduces the negative impacts of fallowed land. But given the economics, we’d have to help farmers cover their losses. Incentives could come from federal and state programs, or emerging climate markets that could reward carbon storage in soil. Corporate responsibility initiatives might be willing to pay for sustainability practices on farms that supply their markets. And then there’s the dairy industry, which is so fundamental to California agriculture; dryland farmers could get a premium for dairy forage or silage, especially in dry years when there’s a shortage of good pasture.

    PPIC: What knowledge gaps need exploring to determine if this is viable in the valley?

    CP: One of the big obstacles is we don’t know the value of some of the benefits of keeping land in production rather than fallowing it, and who benefits—for example, from improved water infiltration or better air quality. We need to explore ways to measure these benefits and verify them. We also need more information on how to grow dryland crops in this part of California—for example, which crops and which varieties would work, and how can we reduce the risks of crop failure from unreliable rainfall. It would also be nice to know more about who is innovating in this area and learn from their experience. And finally, any solutions we come up with will have to be geographically specific to deal with the climatic variables across the valley. That will require a lot of coordination with stakeholders across the valley to create customized solutions for different areas.

    Lori Pottinger, Public Policy Institute of California, Center Communications Manager

    * The project, “Incentivizing Climate-Smart Farmland Transitions in the San Joaquin Valley,” is a joint venture between PPIC, UC Davis, UC Merced, Fresno State, and the Central Valley Community Foundation. The work is supported by the California Strategic Growth Council’s Climate Change Research Program with funds from California Climate Investments—Cap-and-Trade Dollars at Work.

     
    Article by Lori Pottinger, Public Policy Institute of California

  • Collaboration on CA Groundwater Accounting Platform and Data Standards

    State water agencies, the California Water Data Consortium (Consortium) and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) announced a new partnership today to make an open-source groundwater accounting platform freely available to help groundwater sustainability agencies manage the transition to sustainable supplies. 

    Collaborative efforts are underway among the Department of Water Resources (DWR), the State Water Resources Control Board (Water Board), the Consortium and EDF to adapt and scale the groundwater accounting platform that was co-developed by EDF and Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District with technical support from Sitka Technology Group, OpenET, WestWater Research, and Olsson Engineering and funding from the Water Foundation, among other supporters. Use of the groundwater accounting platform is entirely voluntary. 

    “Our goal is to help groundwater managers more easily and cost-effectively track water use across their agencies and coordinate within and across basins to find the most effective approach for enabling sustainable groundwater management,” said Steven Springhorn, acting deputy director at DWR for statewide groundwater management. “The accounting platform developed by EDF is a valuable tool for local decision making, and the Water Data Consortium is a natural fit for ensuring the platform meets local and state needs long term.”

    “An accounting system is the crucial backbone to managing groundwater and balancing supply and demand — you can’t manage what you can’t measure,” said Christina Babbitt, senior manager of EDF’s California Groundwater Program. “Bringing groundwater supplies into balance is a challenge that demands new, innovative solutions and partnerships, like the one announced today.”

    “This project is a great opportunity to build local capacity to support data-driven water management decisions. We look forward to this unique partnership that will help state and local agencies to continue protecting groundwater in California.” said Tara Moran, president and CEO of the Water Data Consortium. “A common accounting platform could provide consistency and reduce costs for local and state agencies.” 

    The open-source platform enables water managers and landowners to track water supplies and use, create water budgets, model scenarios, and trade allocations of water within a district or basin. EDF, an international environmental organization, has been working with Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District in Kern County since 2018 to develop and pilot use of the platform in order to facilitate innovative water management and protect disadvantaged communities and ecosystems. 

    DWR and the Water Board are working with EDF and the Consortium to ensure that the platform is compatible with the online electronic portals that local agencies use to submit data to the state, such as DWR’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) Portal and the Water Board’s Groundwater Extraction Annual Reporting System (GEARS). 

    The partners are working to expand the platform’s features to provide a cost-effective option for local agencies. State agencies do not require use of the accounting platform. Local agencies will continue to have the option to develop and use other accounting and trading platforms.

    Under the historic Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) of 2014, more than 250 local agencies have been formed to bring groundwater basins into sustainable conditions over the next two decades. The law was enacted in the midst of severe drought in which overpumping groundwater caused hundreds of drinking water wells to go dry and land to sink, damaging canals, roads, and bridges. 

    Since the last drought, the state has made significant investments to support local groundwater sustainability agencies as they work to bring basins into sustainable conditions through a variety of approaches, including finding additional supplies to recharge basins; reducing water use through efficiency measures, changing cropping patterns, or strategic fallowing of farmland; and efficient and equitable groundwater trading.

    State agencies, the Consortium, and EDF intend to engage stakeholders as they expand the open-source platform to meet local needs and define and encourage adoption of data standards consistent with the Open and Transparent Water Data Act (AB 1755). 

    To enable local agencies and the broader community to share ideas on how platform features and design can best accommodate local needs, a public workshop on the open-source accounting platform will be held on June 23 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Pacific Time. Please register for the workshop here.

    Other state efforts complement this work. DWR has created a Water Budget Handbook, a reference guide to help water managers create water budgets that account for historical conditions and how future changes to supply, demand, hydrology, population, land use, and climatic conditions may affect an area. Such budgets are useful for planning and evaluating potential management actions. Use of DWR’s handbook could help ensure consistency in the data that populate an online accounting platform.  The Water Board’s GEARS platform, which will only be used if state intervention is triggered, can also inform the need for sound accounting principles as a key groundwater management component; carrying these principles to an open-access, third-party system will help GSAs reduce costs, communicate with groundwater users and other stakeholders, and will ultimately help implement SGMA successfully. Joaquin E. Esquivel, Chair of the Water Board, is a member of the California Water Data Consortium steering committee. 

    The state also is weighing how to ensure that any groundwater trading that develops in response to SGMA protects disadvantaged communities, ecosystems, and other water users. Well-designed water trading programs are one of many tools that local agencies are considering for managing groundwater sustainably, and an accounting system is the first step for such programs.

    The California Water Commission is expected to begin public workshops on water trading this summer and distill conclusions from the public discussions by the end of the year.

    Additional resources:

    Online interactive guide to accounting platform

    California Water Data Consortium

    California Department of Water Resources Handbook for Water Budget Development

  • State Develops Tool and Recommendations to Support Those Most Vulnerable to Drought

    With drought conditions returning to California, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) has finalized a tool and recommendations to support those communities most at risk during drought.

    Historically, small water systems and rural communities that rely on private domestic wells have been hit the hardest by prolonged periods of dry conditions. To provide increased state support, DWR led a two-year process learning from stakeholder experiences about what puts small water systems and rural communities at higher risk of water shortages and what is needed to build their resilience to drought.

    Dried earth is seen at Lake Mendocino in Mendocino County (Photo taken April 20, 2021).

    The final report is now available online and could inform future legislation and efforts to help small water suppliers and rural communities reduce their risk of inadequate water supply amid a drought or other extreme event.

    Recommendations in the report include:

    Planning: Small water suppliers serving more than 1,000 customers would create an abridged version of a water shortage contingency plan. This plan would be a less stringent version of the water contingency plan that urban water suppliers are required to submit as part of their Urban Water Management Plans every five years. The report also calls for county governments or regional entities to conduct water shortage contingency planning to cover all their rural communities.

    • Preparedness: Small water systems should compile a list of resources needed to assist them in a drought or water shortage emergency. The list could include local community-based organizations that work with vulnerable populations, contractors for drilling wells, certified water haulers, and emergency shower vendors. DWR recommends that counties and regional entities use periodic statewide water shortage risk assessment prepared by the state to prioritize needs for drought and water shortage assistance.In addition to the report,a new online tool has been finalized that enables small water suppliers and rural communities to explore their relative risk of water shortage. The tool represents California’s first effort to systematically and holistically describe the risk of water shortage across small water suppliers and rural communities statewide. This information will also be useful for groundwater sustainability agencies as they develop and implement groundwater sustainability plans as part of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.

      Small water systems that serve 15 to 2,999 customers and those serving schools were assessed. The analysis of rural communities seeks to assess water shortage risk for households on domestic wells and those customers served by “state smalls,” or water suppliers serving fewer than 15 customers.

      The recommendations contained in the report were developed in coordination with multiple state agencies and vetted through an extensive stakeholder process with input from the County Drought Advisory Group, which included nearly three dozen experts in this field.

  • ARS Citrus Rootstocks: A Success Story

    Remember that old commercial that declared, “A day without orange juice is like a day without sunshine”? Thanks to the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), consumers can enjoy “citrus sunshine” whenever they like. Begun by USDA more than a century ago, the citrus research program has helped to ensure a bounty of not only oranges, but also grapefruits, mandarins, lemons, and more.

    But that bounty was severely threatened in 2005 with the appearance of a new and destructive disease. Citrus greening, or huanglongbing (HLB), has caused Florida citrus production to plummet around 70 percent in the 15 years since the disease hit U.S. citrus groves. HLB, which causes low yields, yellowed leaves, and bitter-tasting fruit, is caused by a bacterium, Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus. So far, there is no cure.

    Like other crops, citrus crops are susceptible to a variety of diseases and pests. One reliable way to fend off those threats is to graft the fruit-producing part of a tree (the scion) to the lower trunk and root system (the rootstock) of a different tree that has been bred to resist the disease or pest. Rootstocks are also used to obtain specific tree sizes, yields, and fruit quality, among other goals.

    A 6-year-old Owari Satsuma Mandarin tree on US-942 rootstock developed by ARS. In this trial, US-942 was the highest yielding rootstock, averaging more than 300 pounds of fruit per tree (Photo by Jake Price, University of Georgia).

    With ARS’s long history of helping growers keep their groves healthy and productive, the agency had the expertise required when HLB appeared. To quickly address the problem, the ARS citrus breeding project was refocused in 2005 partly to develop new, HLB-tolerant, highly productive citrus rootstocks.

    Led by Kim Bowman, a plant geneticist in the ARS Subtropical Insects and Horticulture Research Unit in Fort Pierce, FL, the team released 12 new HLB-tolerant citrus rootstocks between 2007 and 2018. Before and after the releases, Bowman conducted dozens of field trials to evaluate and validate the rootstocks’ performance, providing the scientific data needed to demonstrate their potential and gain industry acceptance. These rootstocks, all with the prefix “US,” have since become a key component in the survival of the Florida citrus industry.

    ARS plant geneticist Kim Bowman in front of 5-year-old Valencia orange trees on HLB-tolerant rootstocks he and his colleagues developed (Photo by Diane Helseth).

    Not surprisingly, demand for the rootstocks was extremely high, and growers also needed assurances that they’d be getting the real deal. Bowman arranged for the plant material to be certified disease-free by the Florida Department of Agriculture, paving the way for the rootstocks to be commercially propagated on a large scale.

    Bowman and his colleagues have also done a great deal of research on rootstock propagation. Even though most common citrus rootstocks can be grown uniformly from seeds, it takes several years for a young tree to produce a lot of seeds, and the seeds of many new rootstocks don’t grow into true-to-type plants. The scientists have shown that using plant cuttings or tissue culture is an acceptable alternative to starting new rootstock trees from seed, and it’s a much faster way to create hundreds of thousands of plants.

    The use of these alternative methods has dramatically increased propagation for some of the new rootstocks, so that nurseries are not limited by seed supply.

    From 2018 to 2020, the HLB-tolerant “US” rootstocks were used to produce nearly 3 million new citrus trees, or about 37 percent of all trees propagated in Florida. These rootstocks have also proven effective in areas affected by other diseases besides HLB. The rootstock “US-942” demonstrated the most consistent outstanding performance in field plantings and was the most popular rootstock in Florida from 2018 to 2020, with about 1.8 million trees propagated during that 2-year period, or about 22 percent of all propagations.

    For more information, visit Citrus Rootstocks.—By Sue Kendall, USDA-ARS Office of Communications.

  • Honor Your Mentor Through the Syngenta #RootedinAg Contest

    Ag mentors come from all backgrounds. Some are more traditional, like our parents, grandparents, FFA leaders or ag teachers. Others are unconventional, like the random ag leader that showed up in your urban classroom. Regardless of who your mentor was, your story is special, and Syngenta wants to hear it, share it and celebrate you both through the #RootedinAg Contest.

    Now accepting entries, contest participants are asked to share the story of who inspired them to be #RootedinAg. In exchange, they have a chance to honor that person and win prizes.

    Along with being featured in Thrive magazine, three finalists will each receive a mini touch-screen tablet with a case and wireless earphones. The grand prize winner receives a $500 gift card plus a professional photo shoot with his or her ag mentor. In addition, the winner has the opportunity to pay it forward by designating a $1,000 donation from Syngenta to a local charity or civic organization in their name.

    “The roots of agriculture run deep from generation to generation,” says Pam Caraway, communications lead at Syngenta. “Everyone has a unique story that deserves to be told — a story of resilience, of mentorship, of diversity, of family bonds. The #RootedinAg Contest gives us a chance to shine a light on these stories that are woven into the fabric of the industry we all love.”

    The contest is open now. Here’s how to enter:

    • Write a paragraph or two (about 200 words) that describes the person who most inspired you and submit a photograph that supports the written entry.

    The deadline for entering is June 30, 2021. A panel of judges then chooses the three finalists. The finalists’ entries are posted on the Thrive website and visitors vote for their favorite. These votes, along with the judges’ scores, determine the grand prize winner. Online voting ends Sept. 15, 2021. Syngenta announces the grand prizewinner in October.

    For more information about the 2021 #RootedinAg Contest, visit www.SyngentaThrive.com/contest. Join the conversation online — connect with Syngenta at Syngenta-us.com/social.

    No Purchase Necessary. Void Where Prohibited by Law. Only one Gift Card per person. Must be 18 years of age (or the age of majority in their state of residence) or older and resident of the continental United States to be eligible. Employees of Syngenta, its affiliates and agents are not eligible to win.

    About Syngenta

    Syngenta is one of the world’s leading agriculture companies comprising Syngenta Crop Protection and Syngenta Seeds. Our ambition is to help safely feed the world while taking care of the planet.  We aim to improve the sustainability, quality and safety of agriculture with world class science and innovative crop solutions. Our technologies enable millions of farmers around the world to make better use of limited agricultural resources. Syngenta Crop Protection and Syngenta Seeds are part of Syngenta Group. In more than 100 countries we are working to transform how crops are grown. Through partnerships, collaboration and The Good Growth Plan we are committed to accelerating innovation for farmers and nature, striving for regenerative agriculture, helping people stay safe and healthy and partnering for impact. To learn more visit www.syngenta.com and www.goodgrowthplan.com. Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Syngenta, www.twitter.com/SyngentaUS and on LinkedIn atwww.linkedin.com/company/syngenta.

  • Research Helps Develop High-Yielding, Drought Tolerant Lines of Chickpea

    Chickpeas are a very important crop and food in India. They are used almost every day in meals and snacks. India is the largest producer, consumer, and importer of chickpeas. And with good reason — they are high in protein, fiber, and vitamins and minerals.

    While India grows about 12 million tons of chickpeas each year, the national yield of the crop has not increased much over time. However, the need for more chickpeas to feed the increasing population continues to grow.

    This is why a group of researchers across several research institutions in India are working to develop high yielding chickpea varieties. The team recently reported their results in The Plant Genome.

    “High yielding varieties will help small-holder farmers by delivering more produce with an option to increase income,” says Rajeev Varshney, member of the Crop Science Society of America. “It is important to develop better varieties that are tolerant to drought and are able to meet the demand.”

    Rajeev Varshney, a research program director at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, examines a chickpea crop (Credit: ICRISAT)

    Over time, chickpea production has moved from northern India to the central and southern parts of the country, where there is less water. This is in addition to climate change impacting global agriculture.

    Varshney and his collaborators set out to breed new varieties of chickpeas with drought tolerance and higher yields. They used genetic techniques to breed several traits for drought tolerance. They focused on popular chickpea varieties already grown by farmers.

    The team used a common method called introgression, where a popular variety is crossed with a variety with the desired traits. Following a series of evaluations and repeated crossings, the breeders arrived at an improved chickpea variety with the desired traits.

    “However, this conventional process is not very precise, and in this procedure, breeders need to screen a large number of plants in field conditions,” Varshney explains. “For example, if there is a lot of rain in that season, breeders cannot select the line for drought tolerance. It ruins the whole experiment.”

    To combat this, the researchers used a technique called marker-assisted backcrossing. It uses laboratory techniques to detect a genetic marker. Genetic markers are DNA segments associated with certain plant characteristics or agronomic traits desired by farmers.

    By being able to detect certain plant characteristics in the lab using genetic markers, there is no need to do lots of testing every year in the field. It makes the breeding process precise, fast, and cost-effective.

    The work helped incorporate drought tolerance into three popular varieties of chickpeas. Overall, researchers developed six lines of chickpea with higher yields under drought conditions. One line, Pusa Chickpea 10216, has been released for use by Indian farmers.

    “We worked with already released elite varieties that are preferred by farmers,” Varshney says. “By improving these, it’s more likely they will be adopted by farmers in a faster manner.”

    “Here we have demonstrated successful use of using genetic markers to develop drought tolerant chickpea varieties,” Varshney says. “We would like to see this kind of breeding being deployed by our national partners at a large scale in India, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and elsewhere.”

    This research shows the public benefits of this kind of genetic research. Maintaining strong public support and funding for the research pipeline allows such work to take place.

    “The work shows how genomics research can be used to develop better high-yielding drought tolerant varieties,” Varshney says.

    Rajeev Varshney is a research program director at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and Adjunct Professor with Murdoch University (Australia). Support for this research was provided by the Government of India through its Department of Biotechnology in the Ministry of Science and Technology, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare in the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

    Flowers are incredibly striking when in full bloom (Photo by L. Vidyasagar)

    American Society of Agronomy, Soil Science Society of America, Crop Science Society of America: Collectively, these Societies represent more than 12,000 individual members around the world. Members are researchers and professionals in the areas of growing our world’s food supply while protecting our environment. Together we work toward solutions to advance scientific knowledge in the areas of agronomy, crop science, and soil science.

    Twitter: @ASA_CSSA_SSSA & @SSSA_soils | Facebook: ASA, CSSA & SSSA | Instagram: @sustainablefoodsupply & @iheartsoil

  • Larger CA Almond Crop Forecasted This Year

    Almond Board of California — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is predicting an increase in the California almond crop. The USDA-NASS 2021 California Almond Subjective Forecast estimates California almond orchards will produce 3.2 billion pounds of nuts this year, up 3 percent from last year’s 3.12 billion-pound crop. Forecasted yield is expected to reach 2,410 pounds per acre, 3 percent lower than the 2020 yield of 2,490 per acre.

    This forecast comes about three weeks after USDA-NASS released the 2020 California Almond Acreage Report, which estimated total almond acreage for 2020 at 1.6 million acres, up 5.3 percent from 2019. Bearing acres – orchards mature enough to produce a crop – were reported at 1.25 million acres, up 5.9 percent from the previous year. USDA-NASS also estimated preliminary bearing acreage for 2021 at 1.33 million acres.

    “What we’re seeing with this report is a forecasted continuance of high yields,” said Richard Waycott, president and CEO of the Almond Board of California (ABC). “Water availability will be the principal concern on growers’ minds as they continue to grow this crop. We look forward to the outcome of the Objective Report to see if it corroborates this estimate.” 

    The first of two production reports for the upcoming crop year, the Subjective Forecast is based on opinions from a phone survey of randomly selected almond growers located throughout the state. It was conducted from April 19 to May 6. USDA-NASS asks individual growers their total almond yield per acre from last year and their expected yield for the current year based on field observations. 

    The sample of growers interviewed is grouped by size of operation, and different people are surveyed each year to ensure grower representation throughout the Central Valley. USDA-NASS combines all the yield estimates and extrapolates the numbers reported in the Subjective Forecast.

    In July, USDA-NASS will release its second production estimate, the 2021 California Almond Objective Report. While the Subjective Forecast provides an initial 2021/2022 crop estimate, the Objective Report will provide an estimate based on actual almond counts using a more statistically rigorous methodology to determine yield.

    The 2021 California Almond Objective Report will be released on Monday, July 12, at 9:00 a.m. PT. USDA-NASS produces the Objective Report, the Subjective Forecast and the Acreage Report to provide the California almond industry with the data needed to make informed business decisions, and thanks all farm operators, owners and management entities for their time in providing the information necessary to create these reports.

  • California Strawberry Commission Connects Farmers and Consumers with Summer Campaign

    The California Strawberry Commission has launched a campaign to connect the heart of strawberries with the heart of people. Throughout peak strawberry season 2021, consumers will have access to real farmer and farmworker stories through a #StoryBehindtheBerry webisode series shared across Facebook, Instagram and www.californiastrawberries.com.

    To inspire people to eat more healthy strawberries, consumers can enter the #CAStrawberryChallenge by recreating a California Strawberries recipe for a chance to win one of 15, $200 gift cards from May through July.

    To help consumers stay on top of the latest nutrition trends and the many health benefits of California strawberries, registered dietitian Whitney English shares her expertise on the summer-long series called Whit’s Tips featured on social media and the California Strawberries’ consumer website.

    A series of “Strawberry Snackdowns” will feature registered dietitians competing live on Instagram for prizes for creating the most creative healthy strawberry snacks. By simply voting for a winner in the fun competitions, participants are automatically entered to win $50 visa gift cards. The next #StrawberrySnackdown, hosted by influencer Michelle Smith from The Whole Smiths, will take place Thursday, May 13th at 11:00 a.m. PDT.

    Additionally, timely nutrition information, summer recipe videos, cooking demos, giveaways, and more will be shared daily across Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube and www.californiastrawberries.com.

    About California Strawberries

    The California Strawberry Commission represents more than 400 strawberry farmers, shippers and processors, proudly working together to advance strawberry farming for the future of our land and people. Commission programs create opportunities for success through groundbreaking programs focused on workforce training, strawberry production research, and nutrition research. Through science-based information and education, we deliver the good news about sustainable farming practices that benefit the health of people, farms, and communities.

  • $5.1 Billion Package for Water Infrastructure & Drought Response as Part of $100 Billion CA Comeback Plan

    Yesterday, Governor Gavin Newsom proposed a $5.1 billion package of immediate drought response and long-term water resilience investments to address immediate, emergency needs, build regional capacity to endure drought and safeguard water supplies for communities, the economy and the environment. The Governor’s proposal comes as part of a week-long tour highlighting the Administration’s comprehensive recovery plan tackling the most persistent challenges facing California.

    “Shoring up our water resilience, especially in small and disadvantaged communities, is imperative to safeguarding the future of our state in the face of devastating climate change impacts that are intensifying drought conditions and threatening our communities, the economy and the environment,” said Governor Newsom. “This package of bold investments will equip the state with the tools we need to tackle the drought emergency head-on while addressing long-standing water challenges and helping to secure vital and limited water supplies to sustain our state into the future.”

    In addition to the $5.1 billion investment, the Governor is proposing $1 billion to help Californians pay their overdue water bills.

    The Governor announced the package yesterday in Merced County while visiting the San Luis Reservoir, which sits at less than half of capacity and just 57 percent of average for this date. Earlier in the day, Governor Newsom significantly expanded his April 21 drought emergency proclamation to include Klamath River, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Tulare Lake Watershed counties. In total, 41 counties are now under a drought state of emergency, representing 30 percent of the state’s population.

    The Governor’s $5.1 billion proposed investment, over four years, aligns with his July 2020 Water Resilience Portfolio, a roadmap to water security for all Californians in the face of climate change. It is shaped by lessons learned during the 2012-16 drought, such as the need to act early and gather better data about water systems. The package includes:

    • $1.3 billion for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, with a focus on small and disadvantaged communities.
    • $150 million for groundwater cleanup and water recycling projects.
    • $300 million for Sustainable Groundwater Management Act implementation to improve water supply security, water quality and water reliability.
    • $200 million for water conveyance improvements to repair major water delivery systems damaged by subsidence.
    • $500 million for multi-benefit land repurposing to provide long-term, flexible support for water users.
    • $230 million for wildlife corridor and fish passage projects to improve the ability of wildlife to migrate safely.
    • $200 million for habitat restoration to support tidal wetland, floodplain, and multi-benefit flood-risk reduction projects.
    • $91 million for critical data collection to repair and augment the state’s water data infrastructure to improve forecasting, monitoring, and assessment of hydrologic conditions.
    • $60 million for State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program grants to help farmers reduce irrigation water use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural pumping.
    • $33 million for fisheries and wildlife support to protect and conserve California’s diverse ecosystems.
    • $27 million for emergency and permanent solutions to drinking water drought emergencies.

    Learn more about current conditions, the state’s response and informational resources available to the public at the state’s new drought preparedness website.

  • Governor Newsom Expands Drought Emergency to 41 Counties

    Governor Gavin Newsom significantly expanded his April 21 drought emergency proclamation yesterday to include the Klamath River, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and Tulare Lake Watershed counties, where accelerated action is needed to protect public health, safety and the environment. In total, 41 counties are now under a drought state of emergency, representing 30 percent of the state’s population.

    Climate change-induced early warm temperatures and extremely dry soils have further depleted the expected runoff water from the Sierra-Cascade snowpack, resulting in historic and unanticipated reductions in the amount of water flowing to major reservoirs, especially in Klamath River, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Tulare Lake Watershed counties.

    “With the reality of climate change abundantly clear in California, we’re taking urgent action to address acute water supply shortfalls in northern and central California while also building our water resilience to safeguard communities in the decades ahead,” said Governor Newsom. “We’re working with local officials and other partners to protect public health and safety and the environment, and call on all Californians to help meet this challenge by stepping up their efforts to save water.”

    In April, Governor Newsom signed an emergency proclamation directing state agencies to take immediate action to bolster drought resilience across the state and declaring a State of Emergency in Mendocino and Sonoma counties due to severe drought conditions in the Russian River Watershed. Today, the Governor took action to ensure an expedited response to address acute drought impacts in Klamath River, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Tulare Lake Watershed counties.

    Today’s drought emergency proclamation adds the following 39 counties: Del Norte, Humboldt, Siskiyou, Trinity, Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Kern, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Modoc, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Benito, San Joaquin, Shasta, Sierra, Solano, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Tulare, Tuolumne, Yolo and Yuba counties. Additionally, the proclamation provides new authority for the existing drought emergency announced on April 21 for Mendocino and Sonoma counties.

    Extraordinarily warm temperatures in April and early May separate this critically dry year from all others on California record. California experienced an accelerated rate of snow melt in the Sacramento, Feather and American River watersheds, which feed the major reservoirs of the state and federal water projects. This was exacerbated when much of the snowpack, sitting on very dry ground, seeped into the earth rather than flowing into our rivers and streams and into these reservoirs. Warming temperatures also prompted water diverters below the dams to withdraw their water much earlier and in greater volumes than typical even in other recent critically dry years. These factors reduced expected water supplies by more than 500,000 acre feet, enough to supply up to one million households with water for a year. The drastic reduction in water supplies means these reservoirs are extremely low for water users, including farmers, and fish and wildlife in the counties the drought proclamation covers.

    The Governor’s proclamation directs the State Water Board to consider modifying requirements for reservoir releases and diversion limitations to conserve water upstream later in the year to maintain water supply, improve water quality and protect cold water pools for salmon and steelhead. The state of emergency also enables flexibilities in regulatory requirements and procurement processes to mitigate drought impacts and directs state water officials to expedite the review and processing of voluntary transfers of water from one water right holder to another, enabling available water to flow where it is needed most.

    The text of yesterday’s emergency proclamation can be found here.

    In response to Governor Gavin Newsom’s expansion of the emergency drought, Western Growers President & CEO Dave Puglia shared the following, “Governor Newsom took a measured step in the right direction, but caution is needed in implementation of this proclamation. The declaration provides regulatory flexibility for water transfers to mitigate water shortages, and parallel executive action allocates $200 million to repair some damaged sections of key water delivery systems as proposed by Senator Hurtado’s Senate Bill 559. However, the emergency authority granted to the State Water Board to curtail water deliveries should give all water users pause. Water curtailments disproportionately impact rural and disadvantaged communities. During the last drought from 2014-2016, regulatory restrictions on water deliveries resulted in the fallowing of half a million acres of productive San Joaquin Valley farmland and cost farms nearly $4 billion in economic activity. With many South-of-Delta farmers slated to receive between zero and five percent of their water allocations, 2021 is shaping up to be another catastrophic year for rural farming communities in the Valley. In implementing the Governor’s proclamation, we urge state water officials to lead with voluntary transfers and curtailments, giving our smart and capable public and private water agencies the space they need to maximize limited water supplies and achieve balance between the environmental and economic needs of the state. Beyond the immediate crisis, state agencies must help mitigate the impacts of changing hydrology by removing the red tape that has long prevented meaningful investments in water storage infrastructure.”

    The California Fresh Fruit Association (CFFA) commended the drought proclamation, announcing the addition of 39 California counties to be included as part of the April 21st emergency drought proclamation. CFFA President Ian LeMay stated, “The Sierra Nevada snowpack is at the second worst levels since 2002 and today’s announcement is a step in the right direction to provide relief to California’s agricultural and rural communities. The state is the top producing agricultural region in the world, but it cannot continue to survive without a reliable water resource.”

    LeMay continued, “While drought is not an unfamiliar foe to Californians, it should be acknowledged that this will be the first drought in the era of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), with the circumstances intensified and the solutions more complex. It is the hope of the Association that today’s announcement is a step to address California’s short and long-term water resiliency. CFFA looks forward to working on behalf of its membership to engage with state and federal officials to address California’s water needs.”

    On the announcement, Westlands Water District general manager, Tom Birmingham, shared, “The realities of a changing climate mean California must prepare for longer, hotter droughts that can only be effectively mitigated through collaborative approaches that focuses equally on our state’s economic and environmental sustainability. We applaud Governor Newsom’s action to mitigate the impacts of a second year of drought in the Central Valley, which has already manifested itself in fallowed fields and lost jobs due to lack of water. In particular, his move to streamline water transfers and provide $200 million in funding for critical water infrastructure repairs as outlined in Senator Hurtado’s Senate Bill 559 will both help local communities manage drought impacts in the short term and improve drought resiliency by maximizing the beneficial use of every drop of water in the long term. Westlands appreciates the leadership of both Governor Newsom and Senator Hurtado in championing these critical water infrastructure repair investments, and we look forward to continuing to work with local, state and federal leaders to develop collaborative, holistic solutions to more effectively address the impacts of drought on our most vulnerable communities.”

    From the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, Executive Director Federico Barajas stated, “The all of government approach announced by the Governor is a positive step to responding to the evolving drought conditions facing California. The historic drought conditions have negatively impacted nearly 1.2 million acres of farmland, over 2 million people, many of whom live in economically disadvantaged communities, and 200,000 acres of critical habitat and managed wetlands are reliant on the water provided by members of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority. We applaud the Governor for the actions taken today to streamline water transfers, which improve water supply in the near term, and for proposing a $200 million up-front investment to restore critical conveyance facilities like the Delta-Mendota Canal, which improves long-term climate resilience.”

    The Governor’s executive action last month directed state agencies to partner with local water suppliers to promote conservation through the Save Our Water campaign, a critical resources for Californians during the 2012-2016 drought. Some municipalities have already adopted mandatory local water-saving requirements, and many more have called for voluntary water use reductions.

    “It’s time for Californians to pull together once again to save water,” said California Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot. “All of us need to find every opportunity to save water where we can: limit outdoor watering, take shorter showers, turn off the water while brushing your teeth or washing dishes. Homeowners, municipalities, and water diverters can help by addressing leaks and other types of water loss, which can account for over 30 percent of water use in some areas.”

    Actions by the Administration to address drought to date include:

    • Identifying water suppliers at extreme financial risk that may need additional support due to the combined impacts of COVID and drought.
    • Updating the Department of Water Resources’ Dry Well website, which tracks voluntarily reported supply issues by counties.
    • Streamlining water transfer processes.
    • Issuing letters from the State Water Resources Control Board to water right holders, urging them to plan for potential shortages by reducing water use and adopting practical conservation measures.
    • Completing the state’s first drinking water needs assessment in which the State Water Board identified small water systems and domestic wells that are failing or at risk of failing to meet the state’s drinking water standards. By working toward solutions with these systems, we are improving their drought resiliency.For more tips on saving water, visit www.saveourwater.com.

      Learn more about current conditions, the state’s response and informational resources available to the public at the state’s new drought preparedness website.