Farmers Dealt Double Blow on Water Supplies

SACRAMENTO —  The worsening drought hit the California farming industry on two fronts Monday as the state announced the suspension of all its agricultural water deliveries and Gov. Pete Wilson disclosed that federal deliveries would be cut by two-thirds.

Farming interests immediately predicted that the cutbacks would force more agricultural lands to go out of production and probably lead to steep increases in food prices as soon as next year.

Although some water will be available to farmers from underground sources, the California Farm Bureau said the shortages would affect a wide range of crops including cotton, wheat and other grains, almonds, grapes, tree fruits, olives and a variety of vegetables.

“This is going to be tough on the farmers. We’re going to be losing acreage and the effect on the consumer is going to be felt in the marketplace,” said Farm Bureau spokesman Mike Henry.

The first assault on the farmers came with the announcement from the Department of Water Resources that it was immediately stopping all water deliveries to agriculture from the State Water Project. Hardest hit are farming interests in Kern County, the largest agricultural area to rely on state water for irrigation.

The small number of Southern California farmers served by the Metropolitan Water District will not be affected by the cuts.

The announcement did not mention cutbacks of urban water, but officials said there is a 50-50 chance they will reduce those deliveries by half. A decision is expected to be made after the snowpack is measured March 10.

Although officials said last week that they would make a cutback to farms, the announcement took farmers by surprise because it was not expected until next month.

Just after Farm Bureau officials reacted to the first disquieting news, Wilson disclosed in Washington that federal officials will announce next week that their agricultural customers in California will receive only one-third of their normal federal water deliveries this year. Those cutbacks will affect 20,000 farmers, mostly in the Central Valley, but will not compound the loss to State Water Project customers because most farmers are served by either federal or state sources, but not both.

“They have no choice. They don’t have the water,” Wilson said after a meeting with Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan Jr. Wilson is in Washington to attend the National Governors Conference.

Last year the federal government reduced water deliveries by 50%. While saying that this year’s allocations will be less than last year’s, federal officials declined to confirm the two-thirds reduction cited by Wilson.

“Right now it looks tough,” said Joseph Hunter, deputy assistant secretary for water. “But we don’t know the actual allocation figure yet.”

Jason Peltier, manager of the Central Valley Project Water Assn., said the twin cutbacks will not only hurt consumers but will have a potentially devastating effect on ground water reserves. He said that locally controlled underground water sources--already overtaxed--will be used to the maximum to make up for lost surface water. His organization represents federal water customers.

“One thing for sure is that cuts this year will have a much more significant impact than last year simply because ground water supplies were so heavily overdrafted last year,” Peltier said. “We have reports that wells will be pumping at levels never before experienced.” Overdrafts occur when more water is pulled from the ground than is naturally replenished by rain and other sources.

Last year’s drought conditions, Peltier said, caused about 500,000 acres of California farmland to go out of production. This year, he said his “speculation” is that as much as 1.5 million to 2 million acres could go out of production. In a normal year, California has 10 million acres of planted farmland.

“It’s going to be very severe on the local economies, not to mention that prices on some of these crops are going to be increasing,” said Assemblyman Jim Costa (D-Fresno), who represents a heavily agricultural area.

After four full years of drought, the state is facing another critically dry year. Since Oct. 1, rainfall has been 28% of normal. Reservoirs are at record low levels, many with only half their normal supplies, and the snowpack shows little water content.

“If I’m to fulfill my place in history,” Wilson joked at a luncheon meeting in Washington, “I’m going to have to learn how to make wine into water.”

Larry Gage, speaking for the state Department of Water Resources, said his agency normally would not have made the agriculture cutbacks until March 1 but “the severity of the drought made it necessary to take this action sooner.”

He said the decision would be “updated” every month and additional rainfall could allow the department to resume some water deliveries to farms.

Gage said the decision to order the cutbacks was reviewed by department director David Kennedy, who was appointed by Wilson last Friday to head what the governor called a “drought action team.” The team, which includes many state agency heads, was ordered to report back to the governor by Feb. 15 with recommendations of actions Wilson could take to deal with the drought.

Department officials believe the drought is so critical, Gage said, that they needed to take action and not wait until the task force had completed its recommendations or the Water Resources Control Board had taken action on a series of drought proposals. The four-member board is supposed to decide Thursday on a number of far-reaching measures, including a recommendation to limit household water use to 300 gallons a day. While the water resources department manages state water systems, the resoures control board makes policy and has the authority to order water rationing.

Gary Bucher, surface water resources manager for the Kern County Water Agency, said his customers were not surprised by the cutbacks themselves but by the timing.

“Back in mid-January we were already aware that the probabilities were increasing that we may receive zero water from the state project, but normally that would not have been announced until March,” he said.

Under state water contracts, agricultural interests must absorb the first and the heaviest cutbacks in a drought.

Bucher said some of the water loss in Kern County would be made up from underground sources, even though 1 million acre-feet a year is already being taken that is not replenished. An acre-foot is enough water to serve an average household for about a year.

He said the agency is having to make emergency accommodations for five districts it serves, which have little or no ground water. He said state officials have agreed to “lend” the agency water until it can channel ground water from other districts to the five dry areas.

Using ground water and some water from the Kern River, the amount delivered to agricultural customers will be marginal, Bucher said. Even before the latest announcements, he said about 100,000 acres in the county were expected to go out of production this year.

“We’re down to a trickle and we’re just talking about not stopping that trickle,” Bucher said.

Ellis reported from Sacramento and Savage reported from Washington.