California Ag Network

Tag: Water

  • A New Water Year Brings Uncertainty

    Sacramento, Calif., (October 9, 2017) – After five years of drought, the 2017 water year brought unexpectedly heavy precipitation, ranking second only to 1983 as California’s wettest year for statewide runoff. The dramatic swing in water conditions highlights the need to develop better long-range weather forecasting to cope with the state’s highly variable annual precipitation.

    DWR begins water year 2018 intent on narrowing the forecasting gap with improved sub- seasonal to seasonal (S2S) forecasting. Working with researchers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, DWR is developing innovative technology to forecast land-falling atmospheric rivers.

    “Current short-term forecasting for seven days out is 70 percent accurate, while the 14-day forecast is only seven percent accurate,” said DWR Director Grant Davis. “That isn’t adequate for water management. Advancing accurate, even longer-range forecasting is critical for our ability to plan for California’s highly variable weather.”

    The water year that ended September 30 saw an extraordinary number of atmospheric rivers that created high water conditions throughout the state. The Feather River watershed received record runoff in January and February, which led to some of the highest inflows into Lake Oroville ever recorded. More accurate forecasting would have helped DWR manage reservoir levels to deal with significant inflow in the days following the February 7 discovery of erosion on the main spillway at Lake Oroville. Better forecasting also would help inform the spillway’s reconstruction timeline based on predicted precipitation.

    The record-setting precipitation in Northern California and above-average rainfall elsewhere contributed to flooding in several river systems. Fifty-two counties declared states of emergency due to the January storm sequence, and flood fight materials and specialists were pre- positioned in Merced, Butte, Stanislaus, Fresno, and San Joaquin counties based on the forecasts in anticipation that local agencies would request support.

    Despite record-breaking rainfall in Northern California in water year 2017, drought impacts still linger. Governor Edmund Brown Jr. issued an executive order in April to end the statewide drought emergency, but maintained a state of emergency for the counties of Fresno, Kings, Tulare, and Tuolumne, where homes with dry or contaminated private wells continue to receive emergency drinking water deliveries.

    One success story stemming from the drought is the East Porterville Emergency Water Project, which will see 756 unincorporated East Porterville homes connected to the City of Porterville’s municipal water supply by the end of 2017. Similar projects are underway in the communities of Okieville, Monson, and Seville-Yettem to connect an additional 195 homes to a sustainable water supply.

    Another highlight of the 2017 water year was the announcement that 99 percent of the state’s high- and medium-priority groundwater basins met a key deadline to form local Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) under the state’s landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) of 2014. California depends on groundwater for a major portion of its annual water supply, particularly during times of drought. The long-term planning required by SGMA will reduce the impacts of groundwater overdraft, including subsidence, and provide a buffer against drought and climate change.

    Although a wet 2017 minimized the risk of subsidence in historically affected parts of the San Joaquin Valley, DWR continues to fund satellite- and aircraft-based radar monitoring of subsidence by NASA to support local implementation of SGMA.

    Looking ahead, DWR is preparing for the uncertainty of water year 2018 and beyond:

    • In August, the Central Valley Flood Protection Board adopted the 2017 update to the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan, prepared by DWR, which recommends long-term multi-benefit actions to improve flood risk management.
    • This past year DWR awarded more than $4.2 million in Delta Flood Emergency Response grants to improve Delta flood response and increase public safety.
    • In the past five years, DWR has awarded 46 grants totaling $25 million to develop and update flood safety plans, and increase coordination, training, and flood fight supplies for local agencies across the state.
    • Ongoing SGMA implementation will bring overdrafted groundwater basins into balance to protect our water supply against the impacts of prolonged drought and climate change.
    • California WaterFix will upgrade California’s water supply infrastructure to more reliably transport water through the Delta, protecting against the impacts of natural disasters and climate change. The project provides a more flexible and environmentally-responsible way to convey water during significant precipitation events for use in dry years. Construction could begin in 2018, pending support from public water agencies.
    • The first phase of reconstruction on the Lake Oroville spillways will be completed by November 1, 2017, ensuring the spillway can handle 100,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) this water year. Phase 2, which will be completed by end of 2018/early 2019, will bring the spillway to final design with a capacity of 270,000 cfs. The emergency spillway will be reinforced with several erosion-prevention features, including a cutoff wall to prevent head-cutting erosion.

    In the face of California’s highly variable weather patterns, DWR and our local, state, and federal partners are working together to ensure that Californians are prepared. Infrastructure improvements and advances in accurate, long-term forecasting are critical to public safety and sustainability. When it comes to water, California must prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Read more about water year 2017 in the report “What a Difference a Year Makes.”

  • Westlands Water District Releases Statement on California Water Fix

    Fresno, Calif., (September 22, 2017) – After a thorough analysis by independent consultants and District staff, multiple special board meetings, and grower workshops, the Westlands Water District Board of Directors voted by a margin of 7 to 1 to not participate in the California WaterFix (CWF). The District appreciates the efforts of Governor Jerry Brown and his administration to balance the interests of many. Indeed, over the last 12 months the State administration worked diligently to define a viable project, but from Westlands’ perspective, the project is not financially viable.

    Westlands’ principal source of water is the Central Valley Project (CVP), a project operated by the United States Bureau of Reclamation. The CVP is integrated both operationally and financially. However, under the “participation approach” announced by Reclamation for CWF, only CVP contractors that chose to participate in CWF would pay the costs of constructing and operating new facilities, with no assurance that those contractors would receive the water supply benefits resulting from CWF.

    Westlands supported the development of CWF and has invested considerable financial resources, time, and expertise into its planning, but consistently stated that it would not obligate the farmers it serves to billions of dollars in debt without reasonable assurances that the project would produce reliable, affordable water supplies. The District recognizes that solving Delta conveyance issues is critical to ensuring reliable water supplies to support the economy of the State, but it cannot support a project that would make water supplies for its farmers unaffordable.

    Source: Westlands Water District, Press Release, September 20, 2017

  • 11 Water, Ag, And Energy Start-Ups Selected To Receive Valley Ventures Support

    Fresno, Calif., (September 20, 2017) – The Valley Ventures Accelerator at Fresno State announced its fall cohort of start-up companies that will receive venture capital direction and support in the water, agriculture and energy technology industries.

    The three-month program will provide professional guidance on growing sales, company value and profitability for 11 emerging companies from primarily California, as well as Brazil, Chile and Malaysia.

    “The fall cohort will represent a diverse range of technology and entrepreneurial talent in the water, energy and agriculture industry and represents a collective revenue of $2 million annually and $3.5 million in equity funding,” said program coordinator Benjamin Francis. “We believe each company that has been selected exemplifies extraordinary potential to scale and accomplish great things in the Central Valley.”

    The companies are:

    • AQUAOSO— water rights management buyer and seller trading platform
    • Avsonic — automated cattle soaker system
    • BovControl— analytics platform for cattle operations
    • Deep Root Irrigation— irrigation products for landscape and agricultural usage
    • Drought Diet Products — sub-irrigation zone pipe for greywater and rainwater catch and release
    • DSPii— soil moisture sensing through aerial application
    • ECO2Mix— carbon dioxide-based water pH control system for irrigation units
    • Fluid Pulse— wireless irrigation valve controls for use on existing water pipelines
    • GroGuru— precision soil moisture, salinity and temperature monitoring system
    • Nanomass — unit converting biomass into powdered fuel to be used in coal plants
    • REDtrac— online agricultural well, water and soil efficiency monitoring system

    Companies accepted into the program demonstrated the potential to have an economic impact in the region and the ability to improve the efficient use of scarce resources. Other evaluation criteria included company scalability, potential return, environmental impact, fundability, commercial value, personnel skills and leadership.

    Participants will take part in exercises and learning modules led by Central Valley professionals, investors, industry and technical experts, successful entrepreneurs and target consumers.

    The program also offers companies access to Fresno State research staff and facilities, as well as product testing through the Water, Energy and Technology (WET) Center, Center for Irrigation Technology and 1,000-acre University Agricultural Laboratory.

    The three-year accelerator program is coordinated by the International Center for Water Technology at Fresno State. Program funding was made possible by a $500,000 federal grant through the Regional Innovation Strategies i6 Challenge and Seed Fund Support Grants competition and the BlueTechValley innovation cluster funded by the California Energy Commission.

     

  • San Joaquin River Water Infrastructure Authority Press Conference – Application Signing Ceremony

    Los Banos, Calif., (August 16, 2017) – The signing ceremony for the Water Infrastructure Authority application marks an important milestone for the water users we serve. A diverse group of stakeholders have joined together in a bold effort to advance water storage for California. As chairman of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, I am proud to be a part of this historic action,” said Cannon Michael, chairman of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority.

    “Surface water is vital to California. From our agriculture to our information technology to environmental management, the cities, counties, tribes and public water agencies represented here share a common bond. That bond is the need for adequate and dependable water supplies. Thousands of farmers produce food and fiber on some of the most productive farmland anywhere for consumers that live right here in our back yard and around the world. And as the world leader in technology, Silicon Valley depends on adequate and dependable water supplies to fuel the innovation of the future.

    “Temperance Flat Dam will enhance California’s water supply, both for economic purposes and also to provide important ecosystem benefits. Fisheries and wetlands, stream flow and riparian forests will all thrive in the future with the additional water this project will provide. It will also be an important part of our efforts to address climate change. If predictions are right, future storms will be warmer and wetter and our ability to depend on the Sierra snowpack will diminish. It is important to begin preparing for that today.

    “We are confident that with projects like this, the Valley and the rest of California will be a better place for our farms, our communities, and the important ecosystem resources that contribute to our quality of life.”

    By Cannon Michael, Chairman – San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority

  • Future Water Leaders Soak Up Irrigation Information

    Sacramento, Calif., (June 26, 2017) – University of California students are taking a long journey through California to trace the state’s complicated and critical water supply. The recent graduates and upper-division co-eds from UC Merced, UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley and UC Davis are part of the UC Water Academy, a course that combines online training with a two-week field trip for first-hand knowledge about California water.

    Recently emerged sorghum that is part of a trial aiming to tease out the genes that express drought tolerance.

    The tour began June 18 at Lake Shasta, the state’s largest reservoir, and followed the water’s course to the Sacramento Valley, through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and south along the Delta-Mendota Canal. Since a key water destination is agriculture, the UC Water Academy toured the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension June 23, where research is underway to determine how the state’s water supply can be most efficiently transformed into a food supply for Americans.

    “You’re visiting a place ideal for growing high-quality fruits and vegetables, because of the Mediterranean climate and low insect and disease pressure,” said Jeff Dahlberg, director of the UC KREC.

    UC Cooperative Extension water management specialist Khaled Bali joined the students next to his alfalfa research plot, where different irrigation regimens are compared to determine the maximum yield that can be harvested with the minimum amount of water.

    “It used to be that the No. 1 objective was to maximize yield,” Bali said. “But with the limited supplies and the cost of water, now the No. 1 objective is to get the maximum economic return. Growers might be better off selling some of their water to other jurisdictions.”

    Students gather in the post harvest laboratory at Kearney.

    A water tour wouldn’t be complete without an introduction to drought research. A recently planted sorghum trial provided the backdrop.

    “California is a great place to study drought tolerance,” Dahlberg said, “because you can induce a drought by withholding irrigation.”

    The sizable field contains 1,800 plots with 600 sorghum cultivars under three irrigation schemes: one irrigated as usual, one in which water is cut off before the plants flower, and the final one where water is cut off after the plants flower.

    “Every week, a drone flies over to collect data on the leaf area, plant height and biomass,” Dalberg said. “Hopefully we will get associations with gene expression and this phenotype data. “

    Dahlberg and his collaborating researchers believe identifying the genes responsible for drought tolerance in sorghum will help scientists find drought-tolerant genes in other cereal crops – such as wheat, corn, rice and millet. “This will go a long way to feeding the people of the world,” he said.

    There is still much to learn about sorghum drought tolerance – is it conferred by the plant’s waxy leaves, the way stomata are controlled, accumulation of sugar in the leaves, or a mechanism in the roots?

    “These are all questions you will have to answer to feed the world,” Dahlberg said. “That’s why I would encourage you to continue studying water. There’s a lot for you to get into.”

    A third-year earth science student at UC Santa Cruz and a member of the academy, Denise Payan, said the sense of responsibility for the future is not daunting, but encouraging.

    “It makes me feel like I can make a difference,” she said. The tour through California is shaping her plans for the future, which may include a career at the intersection of geology and biology.

    “This has opened my eyes to a lot of issues,” she said.

    The next stop for the UC Water Academy is the vast Tulare Lake basin to learn about groundwater recharge before heading east to the Owens Valley and the shores of Mono Lake. From there the academy turns to the Sierra Nevada to visit San Francisco’s water supply, which is collected by Hetch Hetchy Dam. The field trip ends with a two-day rafting trip on the American River.

    The UC Water Academy is offered through UC Water and led by UC Merced professor Joshua Viers and UC Cooperative Extension water management specialist Ted Grantham. In addition to the two-week tour, students participated in weekly online meetings and complete a project on communicating California water issues to public stakeholders. Students receive 1 unit of academic credit.

  • Water Announcement Tempers Enthusiasm on California Cotton Acreage Increase

    Fresno, Calif., (April 3, 2017) – The good news is that cotton acreage looks like it will increase for the 2nd year in a row.  Record rainfall and snowpack, coupled with stable cotton prices and falling prices from other commodities are leading to an increase in cotton acreage.  However, that increase is being tempered by a disappointing, less than expected water allotment from the Central Valley Project (CVP) of only 65%, and the potential flooding in the Tulare lake bottom in Kings County.

    As of today, all indicators of water supply are above normal.  Way above.  Currently, the statewide snowpack is at 164% of average, while statewide rainfall is over 200% of average to date, with Blue Canyon in the northern Sierras at 245% and Mariposa in the central Sierras at 211% of average to date.   Reservoirs are all higher than average with Shasta at 87%, Oroville at 74%, New Melones at 77%, Don Pedro at 88%, and most importantly San Luis is at 98%.  Flood releases are occurring at many of these dams including Shasta, Oroville, Folsom, and Millerton.  Yet, with all of these positive factors, farmers relying upon the CVP water are only going to receive 65% of their allotment.  While industry is thankful for the water, it is inconceivable that the number isn’t closer to 80% or more.  Unfortunately, this will have a direct impact on the cotton plantings for this coming year.

    According to preliminary planting intentions survey conducted by the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association this past month, the Association is currently estimating approximately 186,000 acres of pima and 70,000 acres of upland statewide for the 2017 cotton season.   This survey is based on surveys from all of the gins in California prior to planting and a lot can happen between now and when things are actually planted.  If it plays out, it will represent a 22% increase in pima acreage and a 6% increase in upland acreage in California as compared to 2016.

  • More Than a Slogan – The urgent need to work together for a better water future

    Sacramento, Calif., (March 23, 2017) – Posted on March 16, 2017 by Karen Ross, Secretary, California Department of Food and Agriculture; Earlier this week I joined people representing a diverse group of interests for a panel discussion about water. The event, in Clovis, was organized by Sustainable Conservation, and its title, The Common Good: Working Together for a Secure Water Future, represents much more than a simple, optimistic slogan. As our discussion made clear, working together is absolutely essential to maintain and build sustainability for California agriculture as well as the state’s ongoing development in all facets.

    I was honored to join former Fresno mayor Ashley Swearengin, Sustainable Conservation’s Ashley Boren, the Public Policy Institute of California’s Ellen Hanak, and Central Valley Farmer Cannon Michael. Between the four of us and moderator Mark Keppler of the Maddy Institute, we covered the waterfront, so to speak – all of the modern demands for water were represented. Our group symbolizes the type of partnerships that must come together and move forward to effectively manage our future.

    We know that demand for food worldwide will grow significantly over the next several decades, and we know that available natural resources are becoming more scarce – so to reach a point where sustainability can be achieved, all sides in the water discussion must truly communicate with one another. This is no longer about Farms v. Fish. Rather, it’s about building a California where we’re all vested in each other’s success. I hope you’ll take the time to view this video recording of our discussion and then join us in working together for a better water future.

  • Los Banos Farmer is Newly Elected Chair of San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority

    Los Banos, Calif., (March 15, 2017) – Cannon Michael, a 6th generation California farmer is the newly elected chairman of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority (Authority). Michael is president of Bowles Farming Company, a family owned and operated farming company headquartered in Los Banos.

    Bowles Farming Company is an 11,000 acre organic and conventional farm growing fresh market and processing tomatoes, field crops including corn, melons, carrots and onions, alfalfa for local dairies and other commodities such as durum wheat for bread, pima cotton, pistachios and almonds. Other activities include managing wetlands and habitat restoration on the family farm.

    In accepting the new position, Michael said, “It is an enormous responsibility to lead the Authority. I look forward to working with the board and the 100 dedicated employees who make up the Authority family, working to make sure it’s members have access to reliable water supplies that serve communities, wetlands and are used to grow the food and fiber crops for much of the nation.”

    Cannon Michael replaces Mike Stearns who has served as the Authority chairman for the past two decades.

    Stearns said, “It has been a great honor to serve our diverse member agencies that are bound together by the facilities that the Authority operates. We have faced many challenges and changing dynamics over the past two decades to deliver water to 1.2 million acres of farmland, 300,000 acres of wildlife refuges and wetlands and 2 million people.

    “Cannon is an outstanding farmer and leader. He is the right person to take the Authority into the next generation. Future water management challenges will require a balanced approach to meet the needs of California’s farms, its people and the environment,” he said.

  • Groundwater: Act Locally, Think Sustainably

    Karen Ross, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture

    Sacramento, Calif., (March 7, 2017) – The complex challenges that the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act aims to resolve don’t lend themselves to quick fixes. With the deadline for the first major step—forming “groundwater sustainability agencies” in affected basins—coming up in June, we asked Karen Ross, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, about progress to date.

    PPIC: How are California communities doing in implementing the law so far?

    Karen Ross: I’ve been very impressed with how implementation is progressing. Clearly, people realize it’s time to address groundwater sustainability, and they are working together at the local level because they prefer that to state action. This is a big undertaking because to address groundwater covers areas like land use and economic development for cities and counties. So the progress made on establishing the governance structure is just the first step. The next step is the hard part: putting together plans that will bring basins back into water balance. That will require very difficult decisions about how the resource is allocated and managed.

    The state is supporting this process in a number of ways. Our colleagues at the Department of Water Resources (DWR) have a huge role to play in supporting the process by establishing guidance for governance structures and the criteria for what constitutes a sustainable groundwater plan. The state is backing that up with facilitation and financial support. For example, DWR awarded $6.7 million in grants last year to 21 counties for groundwater planning projects, and just last month the Department of Food and Agriculture and DWR announced a joint $6 million water efficiency grant program for agricultural water suppliers and farmers.

    PPIC: What big challenges do you think will result?

    KR: Some of the critically overdrafted basins will have challenges getting back into balance, and many of these areas are dependent on agriculture as the primary engine for their local economy. The state of the basins is directly impacted by the lack of surface water over time. Tough decisions will have to be made about demand management, potential fallowing, and how to balance the human impacts we saw during the drought, like drinking water supplies and jobs.

    It won’t be easy to bring all parties to the table to address these issues―not to mention the specific trade-offs needed to bring the water supply back into balance. But we must ensure that all have a voice in determining the governance structure and taking part in the planning process. That is critical to success.

    PPIC: What kinds of opportunities do you think will arise for communities implementing the law?

    KR: I see a unique opportunity to unite communities in a deep and lasting way. This is a chance to help determine the future of their community. People must work together to maintain a thriving local economy, their quality of life, and environmental quality. What these communities face is daunting. While it is easy for me in my position to be optimistic about future progress in maintaining sustainability in a special part of California, we must all recognize that building resiliency for the long term will be hard work. But future generations will thank us—just as we owe previous generations a debt of gratitude for the vision, the leadership, and the investment they made in the infrastructure for agriculture and rural California that we enjoy today.

    By Lori Pottinger March 01, 2017

     

     

  • California State Board to Discuss Safe Drinking Water Issues

    Sacramento, Calif., (March 6, 2017) – The California State Board of Food and Agriculture will be discussing issues related to safe drinking water in disadvantaged communities at its upcoming meeting on Tuesday, March 7th. The meeting will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the California Department of Food and Agriculture, 1220 N Street – Main Auditorium, Sacramento, CA 95814.

    “All Californians have a right to safe drinking water,” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “Finding broad long-term solutions for impacted communities is critical and involves many stakeholders. The agricultural community is an active participant in those discussions and farmers and ranchers continue to use the latest research findings and best practices to protect groundwater supplies.”

    Invited speakers include: Darrin Polhemus, State Water Resources Control Board; Laurel Firestone, Community Water Center; Wade Crowfoot, Water Foundation; Cindy Tuck, Association of California Water Agencies; Gail Delihant, Western Growers; Tim Johnson, California Rice Commission; Emily Rooney, Agricultural Council of California; David Cory, Consultant and Ismael Herrera, California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley.

    “Water quality issues associated with drinking water are taken very seriously by agriculture,” said President Craig McNamara, California State Board of Food and Agriculture. “Long term solutions to water quality challenges should include consideration of a public role at the state and federal levels.”

    The California State Board of Food and Agriculture advises the governor and the CDFA secretary on agricultural issues and consumer needs. The state board conducts forums that bring together local, state and federal government officials, agricultural representatives and citizens to discuss current issues of concern to California agriculture.

    All meetings are open to the public and attendance is welcome.

    Follow the board on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/Cafood_agboard