Balanced approach to water needed for farms, fish
By JustinFredrickson Project operators recently explained unprecedented emergency plans for
Rivers are to be reconnected to areas of managed seasonal floodplains and, eventually, some of these fish popu- lations may regain access to mountain streamhabitats they once used. But with droughts in California intensifying, it leaves one to wonder. The commercial fishing industry in California is a shadow of what it once was, and it appears somewould like to see California agriculture similarly impacted. Even if every farm in California dried up, we could still see our very best manage- ment efforts frustrated as salmon remain vulnerable to extreme weather patterns, voracious non-native predators in rivers andchanges inmarine ecosystems off the California coast. Growing food to feed people anywhere in theworld takes water—lots of it. That is a fact anywhere in theworld. And, undeni- ably, fish and rivers needwater too. We must steward the resources that we have, and do so in a way that is ju- dicious, realistic, effective and smart. But still the questions come: What can we do differently or better? Can it work? And at what cost? As California farmers see their liveli- hoods—andour food supply—hit incred- iblyhard this summer,many arenodoubt asking these questions. With another season of hotter, dri- er, more extreme conditions poised to squeeze our economy and state, there’s a lot for all Californians—and consumers of Californiaagricultural productsnation- wide to ponder. (Justin Fredrickson is a water and environmental policy analyst for the California Farm Bureau. He may be contacted at jef@cfbf.com.)
cold-water tem- perature manage- ment to support endangered salm- on below Shasta Dam, the feder- al Central Valley Project ’s largest reservoir. Basedon what they told the Cal i fornia State Water Resources Control Board, the
Justin Fredrickson
effort is pulling out all stops imaginable. The goal is to get at least a few nests of Central Valleywinter-runchinook salmon eggs tohatch,whilestill leavingsomething in the reservoir at the end of this summer, shoulddry conditions continuenext year. But conditions this year are soabnormally dry, and feasible flows below the damwill be so low, it’s not clear what will happen. Amid blast-furnace temperatures during the peak of summer, this process seeks to maintain water temperatures as cold as a beer in the ice chest of an angler casting his lure from the shore. Such cooling is possible inmost years, thanks to the elaborate machinations of armies of planners, project operators and biologists. Carefully managed releases of very cold water from rain and melting snow, generally provided courtesy of Mother Nature, are critical drivers. But inbone-dry droughts, suchas thehistoric one we are now experiencing, this whole enterprise becomesmuchmore difficult. To date, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has zeroedout all deliveries to agricultural water servicecontractorson thewest sides
Farms and fish alike depend on water from the Sacramento River in Northern California.
of theSacramentoandSanJoaquinvalleys. For the second year in a row, farmers have onlygroundwater, scarceandultra-expen- sivetransferwateror theoptionof fallowing annual crops toget their nut and fruit trees through the season. S a c r amen t o R i v e r S e t t l emen t Contractors water-rights holders face an 18% water allocation, a direct conse- quence of this year’s anticipated tem- perature management operations out of ShastaDam. As a result, 375,000 acres out of 450,000acres in theSacramentoValley’s rice-growing regionareexpected togoun- planted. Zerowater will be left for normal transfers out of the region to help other users in the state. State Water Project contractors will get just 5% of water deliveries. Senior San Joaquin River Exchange contractors may get 75% of their historic water rights on the San Joaquin River. This will leave those relyingonwater allocations fromthe
Friant-KernCanal—which supplies farm- ingcountiesof Fresno,Madera, Tulareand Kern—withanallocationof less than15%. The state water board is again ready- ing summer water-rights curtailments for even some of the most senior users throughout the extended Sacramento- San JoaquinDeltawatershed. That’s hap- pening as emergency barriers are back in place to keep saltwater from the San FranciscoBay frompushingupstreamand threatening the health of the delta. There are potentially promising things we can do for the salmon to make things better, including steps that are included in an announced set of proposed voluntary water agreements.Under theNewsomad- ministration’s $2.6billionplan to improve water quality for salmon and native fish, this involves dedicating additional water for rivers, improvinghabitat andnutrients instream, investing in scientific studies and improving collaboration.
VOL. 49, NO. 17
May 4, 2022
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