It is not news that California is in its 4th year of a very serious drought. Lack of snow pack within the Sierra Nevada Mountains (lowest on record) indicates that minimal water will be flowing into the reservoirs. In response, severe water cut backs have been occurring in the State, Federal, and locally managed irrigation districts.
So what does it mean when a farmer received a reduced water allocation? Although pretty straight forward – it means that the farmer receives less surface water than what is normally provided from these projects. It is usually a percent reduction or fixed allocation (e.g. Turlock Irrigation District is delivering 18 inches this year). This doesn’t mean, however, that they aren’t able to utilize water from exchanges, open market, or from groundwater. Water from these routes can be bought or pumped if possible. Not all ground, however, has the ability to access water through these channels. For example, if the farm is located upstream, it is not possible – without a feat of engineering – to pump water against the flow of gravity. In this case, water can only be delivered if the farm is downstream from the source.
This is where it gets interesting and, in some cases sad. The ability to have the resources to deliver water is based on diversity of operations. If the landholder is large, they may be able to divert water from annual crops to higher value crops. They also may have multiple operations that are located at varying points in the “water chain,” allowing them to deliver water to various operations downstream of a “water rich” operation. They also may have more assets which will help them drill a new well if needed (~$250K for a 300-400′ well). A small farmer (<40 acres), however, may not have the land or capital to perform any of these strategies. In their case, if their water allocation has been cut to zero, they stand a high chance of losing their operation.
Zero allocations within traditionally water rich” Eastern Valley Districts are occurring. Although this will affect all farmers, I suspect that this will impact small farmers more severely, impacting their ability to produce crops or keep their perennial crops alive. This will reduce the experience, diversity, and quality of California’s farming industry.
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