When it comes to water decisions, we are all farmers
ByChris Scheuring Wendell Berry famously said that eat- ing is anagricultural act. Thatmakes all of us into farmers, andnowhere is thatmore true than in water terms. For farming is irreducibly the process of mixing dirt, water and sunshine to
the flora and fauna that are dependent upon our rivers and streams. Gone are the days in California when a grizzly bear might paw a salmon out of the Suisun Marsh, but we can work to- gether to find non-zero-sum water and habitat solutions that would take ad- vantage of opportunities to protect and rehabilitate species of concern, where it can be done without disproportionate human impact. Again and again through public enactment, Californiahas demon- strated itswill to keep the environment in mind as we move forward. Further, we must also carry forward processes to develop newwater supplies for California’s farms and growing cit- ies, whether those are storage facilities above groundor belowground, or storm- water capture and aquifer recharge, or desalination or recycling. In the face of a changing hydrology and the expected loss of snowpack, we simply cannot ac- commodate serious discussion on the demand side of water questions without working on the supply side. Otherwise, we are chasing a receding goalpost—and we will not get there. Finally, remember that farming is not a question of “if” but “where.” We’re go- ing to eat—all of us around the world— and we’re going to farm in order to do so. So we should protect California’s agricultural water supplies, because the case for California water being used on California’s farms is strong. (Chris Scheuring is senior counsel for the California Farm Bureau. He may be contacted at cscheuring@cfbf.com. This article was originally published by Cal Matters, calmatters.org/commentary/ 2022/01/the-importance-of-californias- agricultural-water-supplies/)
bring forth from the ground what we need to eat . And no ma t t e r who you are, it’s true: Somebody somewhere must devote a lot of wa- ter to the process of feeding you. Some have been sidestepping this
Chris Scheuring
fact in the ongoing policy evolutions over the way wemust capture, store andmove water inCalifornia.Yeteventhemostardent urbanenvironmentalists findthemselvesat thelocalgrocerystoreor thefarmersmarket filling their baskets withCalifornia-grown nuts, fruits andvegetables. Some of these crops can only be grown here or in one of the few similar agricul- tural climates around the world, in an irrigation-based agricultural economy. Take almonds, now and then the wh i pp i ng pos t o f Ca l i f o rn i a wa - ter use: They cannot be grown in a place where it rains in the summer. Iowa, for example, is awfully cold in February, which is precisely when almonds need mi ld Mediterranean winter weather for their blossoms to be pollinated. Mediterranean crops need a Mediterranean climate, which usually means mild winters and hot, dry summers.
The California Aqueduct flows between farm fields in Kern County. California’s irrigation-based agricultural economy has embraced water-efficiency measures and environmental stewardship.
Beyond that, the case for California ag- riculture ismade by our farming practic- es and their regulatory backdrop, what- ever natural reticence California farmers may have about being regulated. We do it more efficiently here—and with more oversight—than in most alternative ag- ricultural venues around the world. I would compare a California avocado fa- vorably to an avocado anywhere else in the world, on those terms. That’s why I have always thought that a subtle strain of NIMBYism runs through the retrograde ideas that some have about “reforming” agricultural water rights here and constraining the water projects that ultimately deliver food to the world. With nearly 8 billion people on the planet, pinching off California’s
agricultural water supplies is a game of whack-a-mole that will cause the same water issues to arise elsewhere. Without question, we must continue on our trajectory of making California farmingmorewater-efficient. If you have been watching California agriculture for a generation, you already know that much of the landscape has transitioned from old-fashioned flood and sprinkler irrigation to more efficient drip and mi- cro-sprinkler techniques—even in the case of row crops. Wemust continue this path; new technologies related to irriga- tion continue to be developed, including better monitoring of applied water and crop water use. We must also recognize inherent con- flicts between agricultural water use and
VOL. 49, NO. 4
January 26, 2022
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