California Ag Network

Tag: California Farm Water Coalition

  • Effort to Alert Consumers to Looming Food Shortages Goes National

    With water in short supply for western farms, a coalition of farmers and farm organizations throughout the west have come together to alert U.S. consumers that without prioritizing a safe, affordable, domestic food supply; higher prices and food shortages could be coming soon.

    The first step was a national ad which ran in the Wall Street Journal Saturday, April 2. The ad, which can be seen here, reminds consumers that in world of global uncertainties, we can’t afford to take the farms that produce our food for granted.

    Over 80% of our country’s fruits, nuts and vegetables are grown west of the Rockies but current government policies are putting that food supply, and the farms that produce it, at risk. In addition to produce, beef, poultry and dairy are also at risk.

    Farms are always the first to have their water supply cut. For most western farmers, this is the second year of very little or no stored water. In addition, the water bureaucracy continues to allocate water for purposes that decades of data show simply do nothing to help fish or the environment. Our government must also move much more quickly to build the infrastructure necessary for us to store water in wet years for use in dry ones like 2022.

    Without balance among water uses, none of these farms can continue to operate. Consumers will see shortages at the store, even higher prices, be forced to rely more heavily on increasingly unstable foreign sources, or all of these at the same time. And once the grocery shelves are bare, it will be too late. Unfortunately, most American consumers are simply unaware that our food supply is at risk.

    Consumers have experienced supply chain disruptions over the past two years and now see the tension around the world as a potential threat to global food supplies. We thought it was important to remind them that California remains our best, most reliable source for food if farmers have the water they need to grow it,” said Mike Wade, executive director of the California Farm Water Coalition.

    Western irrigated agriculture supports the national economy and is the foundation for U.S. consumers to pay less of their disposable income on food than anywhere else in the world,” said Dan Keppen, executive director of the Family Farm Alliance, one of the partners in producing the ad.

    The Journal ad, which was a first step, contained a QR code, taking consumers to a website with more information. Social media outreach is also planned in order to amplify the message in the ad and continue to raise awareness. U.S. consumers must insist on a domestically grown food supply before it is too late.

    We encourage all farmers and farm organizations to share the ad as widely as possible. If you’d like to participate in this program moving forward, contact Mike Wade, Executive Director of the California Farm Water Coalition at MWade@faramwater.org.

  • Map Shows 2021 California Farm Water Supply Cuts

    California farms are bearing the brunt of this year’s short water supply and have been forced to reduce the acreage of popular California crops, such as asparagus, melons, lettuce, rice, tomatoes, sweet corn, and others.

    Water supply reductions mean fewer fresh fruits and vegetables for consumers, massive farm-related job losses, and billions in lost economic activity, impacts that go beyond rural and disadvantaged communities.

    About 2 million acres of California’s irrigated farmland, or one out of every four acres, has already had its water supply cut by 95 percent. Another million acres has lost 80 percent of its water supply this year with much of the remaining farmland experiencing cuts of 25 percent or more.

    Conditions are similar to those that occurred in 2015. According to a 2015 drought report issued by UC Davis, ERA Economics, and the UC Agricultural issues Center, water supply cuts led to the fallowing of 540,000 acres of farmland, 21,000 lost jobs, and an economic loss of $2.7 billion.

    Critical reservoirs, including Shasta, Oroville, Folsom, Millerton, and San Luis combined have 1.1 million acre-feet less water in storage today than they had at the end of March in 2015, California’s last critically dry year. Levels in these reservoirs are currently at 56 percent of average, compared to 72 percent of average at this time in 2015. They are essential to supplying rural communities with drinking water, irrigating farms, supplying water to wildlife refuges, and recharging aquifers in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys where a majority of California-grown food products originate.

    It is a distressing time for farmers, farm workers, and businesses that depend on agriculture all across California and illustrates the need to invest in infrastructure that will increase our ability to capture more water during wet years when it is abundant to save for dry years like this. It also puts a strain on consumers who want local, California-grown fresh food choices for their families.

  • What Can the 2015 Drought Tell us about the Impacts of a Drought in 2021?

    California Farm Water Coalition – Taking a look back at a similar water year can help us understand what might be in store for us through the rest of this year and possibly beyond.

    California is in a critically dry year, the same as in 2015. Water will be extremely tight for thousands of farmers around the state, and many of them have already received notice that their water supplies are being cut by up to 95 percent.

    In 2015, water supply cuts of that magnitude led to over half a million acres of land taken out of production. Had there been sufficient water supplies in 2015, the amount of land that was fallowed could have produced:

    • 8.6 billion heads of lettuce, or
    • 594 million cartons of melons, or
    • 54 million tons of grapes, or
    • 27 million tons of tomatoes. 

    Instead, because no water was available, those fields produced nothing but weeds.

    California is the No. 1 farm state in the nation with tens of thousands of agricultural jobs, with wages at all income levels covering all 58 counties. When farms aren’t growing food for people, it affects jobs, personal income, and their quality of life. In addition, farm-related jobs contribute hundreds of millions of dollars annually to state and local tax revenue which provide services local communities value, like police, firefighters and teachers.

    In 2015, a total of 21,000 jobs were lost with an economic impact of $2.7 billion across the state.

    Preparing for Drought

    Farmers have been preparing for another drought and have invested heavily in water use efficiency projects, including drip and micro-sprinkler irrigation systems, soil moisture monitoring, and computerized irrigation controllers. But the savings achieved by those investments haven’t been enough to avoid wide-scale land fallowing due to the massive water supply shortages farmers are experiencing again this year.

    Info Graph – Long Term Impacts on California From Water Supply Cuts

    Looking long-term, continuing water shortages will have a devastating effect not only on California farms but also on the farm related jobs throughout our economy.

    The Blueprint Economic Impact Report, available HERE, indicates that over the next 30 years, water supply cuts will lead to the permanent loss of 1 million acres of productive farmland.

    Fewer healthy foods will be available from California farms. The report estimates that California will permanently lose:

    • 86,000 acres of vegetables,
    • 130,000 acres of fruit-producing trees,
    • 129,000 acres of wine and table grapes,
    • 327,000 acres of nuts, and much more.

    These reductions translate into the permanent loss of 85,000 jobs, half of which are off the farm, such as food processing, transportation, wholesale, retail, and ports. They also mean the permanent loss of over $535 million in tax revenue which, again, is used to provide the services local communities value, like police, firefighters and teachers.

    Actions, including better flood management for groundwater recharge, improved conveyance to move water to potential groundwater banking areas, new and enlarged storage projects, and regulatory reform designed to improve in-stream flows for ecosystem benefits while protecting agricultural water supplies can help minimize the effects described above. Federal investments toward improving water supply infrastructure is essential to providing a secure water future to sustain the nation’s food supply, meet urban and suburban needs, and provide for a healthy environment throughout California.

  • New Governor, Wet Year, What Does this Mean For California Water Storage?

    A new governor, a new year, and lots of rain and snow!  It’s going to be an interesting year for California farmers and what kind of support they may or may not receive on the water front.  Check out this brief interview with Mike Wade from the California Farm Water Coalition for his insights and read more about it in Pacific Nut Producer Magazine.

  • Presidential Order Restores Western Water Supplies

    Today’s order by President Trump will provide welcome relief to Western farmers, cities, rural communities and wildlife refuges that have struggled under water supply rules that are long overdue for an update. Prioritizing national interest and the value of California food production, the president’s order requires the re-consultation of the biological opinions to be completed and fully implemented by August 2019. The deadline will bring to a close the review of rules governing the long-term operation of the federal Central Valley Project and California State Water Project. The review has been underway since August 2016, a process today’s order requires to be concluded by Aug. 31, 2019.

    The president’s action today fulfills his campaign commitment to help solve the state’s water supply shortages and will greatly benefit Central Valley communities and the environment. Since 1992, water supply restrictions have caused severe economic consequences for farms and the people who depend on them for work. Many of the state’s most disadvantaged communities have suffered due to scarce water supplies. Wildlife refuges that are a critical component of the Pacific Flyway have had insufficient water to meet the needs of millions of ducks, geese, shorebirds, songbirds and endangered animals in large parts of the Central Valley and the Klamath Basin. An ongoing review of the rules governing these critical water supplies only delays the ability of these important areas to recover.

    This action will also help address water shortages that have occurred across the West as the result of federal regulations overseen by multiple agencies. It offers hope to farmers and ranchers served by federal water projects in the Pacific Northwest, including the Columbia Basin and the Klamath Basin. The president’s order places the responsibility of operating the federal water projects with the Department of the Interior, to be supported by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The action prohibits any impacts to threatened or endangered species protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.

    This issue has been scrutinized by the Executive Branch as far back as 2011. At that time, President Obama observed that the Interior Department is in charge of salmon while they’re in freshwater, but the Commerce Department handles them when they’re in saltwater. Those overlapping jurisdictions have only slowed efforts to help the fish.

    A committee convened by the National Research Council also studied this matter a few years ago. The NRC found that the lack of a systematic, well-framed overall analysis between the two services is “a serious scientific deficiency, and it likely is related to the ESA’s practical limitations as to the scope of actions that can or must be considered in a single biological opinion.”

    Improved coordination between federal agencies will promote more efficient, effective and coordinated management of all ESA responsibilities for anadromous and freshwater fish in Western watersheds, from the highest reaches of our headwaters to the Pacific Ocean.

    “This action is an important and common-sense move that will benefit Western farmers and ranchers whose livelihoods depend on federal water projects,” said Dan Keppen, executive director of the Family Farm Alliance. “It’s a practical and assertive change to Western water management and species recovery that our membership strongly supports.”

    California’s GOP congressional delegation from the Central Valley played an important role in identifying the problems in the state’s water system and worked closely with the Trump administration to produce a solution that is consistent with federal law and will improve the water delivery system.

    “There’s no question that the Central Valley has lagged behind the economic recovery experienced in other parts of the state. We’re optimistic that these changes will not only help improve water supplies for farms, farm-related businesses, and disadvantaged rural communities, they will provide the incentive to put science-based solutions to work to help recover iconic native fish species that have suffered under the existing regulatory approach,” said Mike Wade, executive director of the California Farm Water Coalition.

    “This is a common-sense improvement to a process that has been abused in the past by regulatory agencies seeking to impose a scientifically-unsound regime on water users that ultimately, by design, de-irrigates some of the highest quality farmland in the world. This move by the Administration simply ensures that the process of revising the rules governing Delta water operations will be less vulnerable to regulatory abuse,” said Tom Nassif, president of the Western Growers Association.

    “Implementation of the Endangered Species Act can be better for both species and people, and the president’s action moves us in that direction,” California Farm Bureau Federation President Jamie Johansson said. “It’s time to grow beyond the culture of conflict that has governed California water for too long. We need streamlined solutions that benefit species and that benefit both the farmers who provide California-grown food and farm products and everyone who depends on those products.”

    Manuel Cunha, Jr., President of the Nisei Farmers League shared, “We want to thank President Trump, Congressman Devin Nunes and the entire Valley delegation for their efforts that will improve the lives of many, especially in the San Joaquin Valley. There will be a strict timetable for rewriting the biological opinion that caused millions of acre feet of water that would have been used in the San Joaquin Valley to be flushed out to the ocean. This action prioritizes building water storage projects that are badly needed. ​It is a good day for California, for our hard-working families,and for our communities.

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  • Statement by California Farm Water Coalition Executive Director Mike Wade on Oroville Dam Operations.

    Sacramento, Calif., (February 16, 2017) – This winter’s record-breaking storms have tested our state and its infrastructure in ways no one could have predicted.

    The past week has been particularly frightening for people in and around the City of Oroville. We’d first like to say how glad we are that hundreds of thousands of people were able to safely evacuate and that the emergency spillway helped provide the necessary time to do so.

    There has been a lot of finger-pointing and talk about whether the structure should have been made even stronger.

    Unfortunately, facts sometimes get lost in a crisis.   As was pointed out by Jeffrey Mount of the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, the Oroville structures had successfully handled the big flood of 1997. The emergency spillway as well as the dam itself were re-checked and re-licensed a decade ago, and deemed safe and capable of handling what at the time, experts believed would be the worst-case scenario.

    It’s also important to point out that the spillway in question was an extra precaution taken in addition to the regular overflow mechanisms. The licensing agency, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), even noted that in an extreme event, some erosion of the emergency spillway would be likely. In other words, it performed as expected.

    California is facing an unprecedented amount of rain and snowfall this year, well above the wettest year in the state’s recorded history. Precipitation in the Northern Sierra this year is 221% above average.

    We applaud the swift work of government officials, are delighted to hear the evacuees are now returning home and look forward to rolling up our sleeves and working with all involved toward an even more secure water future.