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largest CVP reservoir at 4.5 million acre- feet. Lake Shasta is at 38%capacity, which is 48% of the historical average. San Luis Reservoir, a critical south-of-delta hold- ing facility for theCVPand the StateWater Project, remains at 46%of average or 53% of the historical average. Conant said the federalwater provider’s primary goals are now public health and safety and trying to build storage. Meanwhile, hesaid2millionto3million acre-feet a year is needed to repel salini- ty in the critical Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. But this year a petitionwas granted toreducestandards inthedelta topreserve water storage in key reservoirs. Conant said the Bureau of Reclamation is working with the state on reconsulta- tionof long-term, biological opinions that guide CVP and SWP operations. The federal agency joined the state and major water districts as signatories to vol- untaryagreementsthatpromisetoincrease flows for salmonandnative fish, andfinan- ciallycompensateNorthernCaliforniarice farmerswho fallow land to savewater. The agreements are being advanced as an alternative to the regulatory regime of theBay-Deltawaterqualitycontrol planby the StateWater Resources Control Board. Seeking to increase the supply of water, the bureau completed feasibility studies for projects thatmay receive federal fund- ing, includingbuildingSitesReservoir and Del Puerto Canyon and expansion of Los Vaqueros and San Luis Reservoir. Reacting to efforts to increase the water supply, Ferguson said, “I think there’s a future of farming inWestlands. It’s proba- bly going to look different thanwhat it has beenhistorically, but I thinkwe’regoing to have to get innovative.” Sheely added, “Agriculture is a key in- dustry. You reallywant it in your country.” Buthesaidhe isworriedthat restrictions onCaliforniafarmscouldresult inforfeiting agricultural production toother nations. “Whenyou farmagricultureout toother countries,” he said, “you’re really putting yourself at risk.” (Chr i s t ine Souza i s an ass i s tant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com.)
Fresno County farmers Jacob Sheely and his father, Ted Sheely, stand in a field of volun- teer wheat that they would have planted with another crop if they had the water this year.
investment, which potentially could be a multi-generational investment,” he said. “We can survive on zero, short term.” Most west side farmers, Ferguson said, relyonaportfolioof differentwater sourc- es. But insufficient supplies have them looking at which trees to topple or crops to idle to conservewater. “We’ll fallow a lot of row-crop ground, we’ll pump some well water, we’ll pur- chase water through the district’s supple- mental pool andprobablypurchasea little bit ofwater on theopenmarket,”Ferguson said. “Supplemental water brought in by the district is really expensive water. You can’t afford to farmawhole crop on it, but it’s part of your water portfolio.” Neighboring farmer Ted Sheely grows a mixof tree, rowandfieldcrops inLemoore. Sheely said he began preparing for spring planting last fall, adding, “Our thing has been let’s plan for the worst and hope for the best.” Sheely said he is pondering these ques- tions: “What contracts can we sign? And, how much water do we have that we’re going to carry over?” “Between all the entities,” he said, “there’s about 1,300 acres being fallowed. Wewant tomakesure thatwehaveenough water tosupplyourneedsduring theyear.” Sheely’s water portfolio includes sup- plemental water from last season that he
purchased for $1,100 per acre-foot in his Westlands account. “You’renot going togrowanycrop(with supplemental water), but when you just need a little bit—a proportional amount like a tenth of an acre-foot—you put that in there,” Sheely said. “We keep some be- cause, when bad things happen, it’s good tohavea littlebitmore inreserve.We’ll buy supplemental water this year.” Both farmers said they are also con- cerned about economic impacts to em- ployees and local communities. “It’s just unfortunate. The socioeco- nomic impacts of fallowedground trickles down to all throughout the community,” Ferguson said. “For us, it’s fewer acres planted, less work for employees and less business that we’re doing with our ag re-
tailersandlesscommerce that’sbeingcon- ducted in town.” AgriculturalproductionwithinWestlands Water District generates more than $4.7 billion in annual economic activity and supportsmore than35,000 jobs, according to a study released in March by Michael A. Shires, a professor at the Pepperdine UniversitySchool of PublicPolicy. The study found a correlation between local poverty levels in Fresno and Kings counties and available surfacewater. Erne s t Conant , U. S. Bureau o f Reclamation regional director of the California Great Basin region, said the re- gion is facing water challenges unseen in more than 160 years. “We now find ourselves in the lowest January, February and March of records going back to 1858, and we wouldn’t ex- pect to get very muchmore precipitation beyond this point,” Conant said last week during a meeting of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture held at the University of California, Merced. “This year, the settlement contractors are not going to allow any transfers south of the delta, so that is another impact.” Conant added: “There’s just going to be very little transferwater available because things are so difficult in the north. There’s going tobehundredsof thousandsof acres in the Sacramento Valley that have never been fallowed before that are going to be fallowed this year.” In discussing the low levels of most of the state’s reservoirs, Conant said storms added very little to Lake Shasta, the state’s
State agriculture board hears warnings of dire year
ByChristine Souza With January, February andMarch the driest on record and reservoir conditions well below historic averages, California agriculture is bracing for the fallout. University of California, Merced, pro- fessor JosuéMedellín-Azuara said there will likely be even more water restric- tions this year for surface-water trans- fers and pumping under groundwater sustainability plans. He added, “We have to reduce net water use by 1.7 million acre-feet.”
Medellín-Azuara, who led an eco- nomic study on the impact of last year’s drought, was among the speakers last week as the California State Board of Food and Agriculture held a meeting at UC Merced to discuss challenges of a third straight year of drought. The board heard fromwater officials, farm- er representatives and county govern- ment leaders. Don Cameron, president of the State
See DROUGHT, Page 14
12 Ag Alert April 13, 2022
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