A well drilling rig in the San Joaquin Valley.
A recent article in the Sacramento Bee titled “Farmers say, ‘No apologies,’ as well drilling hits record levels in San Joaquin Valley” highlighted the rapid increase in groundwater wells drilled in the Central Valley of California. Over the past few years and continuing through current day, agricultural well drilling has occurred at a rapid rate with 905 agricultural wells reported dug in 2015 in Tulare County alone.
The reporters blame the recent passing of the Sustainable Groundwater Water Management Act as the cause of the uptick in well drilling. I couldn’t disagree more. The amount of wells drilled is the fear of drought and well moratoriums that occurring within varying Counties. Even of more interest – and interestingly left out – are that the Counties drilling these wells are Counties that faced severe surface water reductions in 2014-2015. Fresno County faced delivery reductions on both the east and west side (Fresno Irrigation District had no deliveries and the State and Federal Water project had 5% and 0%, respectively). Merced County – number three on the list – faced a curtailment of 75% in 2015 for surface water deliveries from the local irrigation district. This offset was made up with fallowing of land and use of groundwater.
Why are farmers drilling wells? Mostly because of the insecurity of surface water. The land only has value if it has water. Wells weren’t drilled in the past because water allocations were always enough to get by, even in dry years.
The decision on drilling wells is not easy. They are expensive and there is no guarantee that it will deliver the quantity or quality of water needed. It is an act of desperation to gamble $300K or more to provide security for an agricultural business. It is a gamble that most farm owners have to take.
What would you do? Lose the value of your primary asset?
It is shame that people only view well drilling as a component of greed. No doubt, it is about money, but it is about protecting assets and providing a livelihood for the farming family, the employees, and the local community. It is about securing the future value of the best farmground in the world. Shame on us for not understanding the issues at stake with the current crisis.
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