Tag Archive for: Agriculture

Drought Intensifies and Expands in the American West

/in , , /by /Courthouse News Serviceby Matthew Renda

The scale of the drought hitting the American West is beginning to crystallize as Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona experienced their driest year in terms of precipitation on record, according to the National Center for Environmental Information.

In Utah and California, it was the second-driest winter on record. For Wyoming, it was the third-driest ever. For Colorado, only three winters were ever drier in the 127-year history of record-keeping at the center.

“This is extreme,” said Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute.

Full Story

Drought Imperils Economy in California’s Farm Country

/in , , /by /The Wall Street Journalby Jim Carlton

Sitting in a pickup truck on his almond farm 100 miles north of San Francisco, Tom Butler pointed to a withered grove he has been planning to bulldoze in order to save his little remaining water for younger trees.

“It’s not a decision any farmer wants to make,” the 42-year-old said last week. “We’re in survival mode.”

Full Story

Opinion: Balance Pain of Drought on Farmers and Fishermen Equitably

/in , , /by /CalMattersby John McManus

In the first week of May a young salmon boat captain struggled to keep his boat stable and fishing while getting bashed by an unruly spring wind storm near the San Mateo-Santa Cruz county line. Far offshore, where the continental shelf drops off and a huge volume of marine nutrients circulate from the ocean bottom to the surface, salmon gathered. So did borderline gale force winds on top of a 10-foot swell. It looked like the scene at the end of the movie, “The Perfect Storm.”

Full Story

Severe Drought, Worsened by Climate Change, Ravages the American West

/in , , /by /The New York Timesby Henry Fountain

This year, New Mexican officials have a message for farmers who depend on irrigation water from the Rio Grande and other rivers: Unless you absolutely have to plant this year, don’t.

Years of warming temperatures, a failed rainy season last summer and low snowpack this winter have combined to reduce the state’s rivers to a relative trickle. The agency that controls irrigation flows on the Rio Grande forced the issue. To conserve water, it opened its gates a month later than usual.

Severe drought — largely connected to climate change — is ravaging not only New Mexico but the entire Western half of the United States, from the Pacific Coast, across the Great Basin and desert Southwest, and up through the Rockies to the Northern Plains.

In California, wells are drying up, forcing some homeowners to drill new ones that are deeper and costlier. Lake Mead, on the border of Arizona and Nevada, is so drained of Colorado River water that the two states are facing the eventual possibility of cuts in their supply.

Full Story

Where’s the Water? Drought Threatens California’s Lifeline

/in , , /by /The New York Times by Priya Arora

Even as California moves toward a full reopening from pandemic restrictions next month, many counties are still in danger.

From drought.

Earlier this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom extended emergency drought orders to 41 counties across the state. According to the United States Drought Monitor, 84 percent of the West is now in drought conditions, with 47 percent rated as “severe” or “extreme.” In California, 73 percent of the state falls into those categories. And if the recent Palisades fire in western Los Angeles is any indication, an active wildfire season could already be here.

Full Story

Running Out of Water and Time: How Unprepared is California for 2021’s Drought?

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Rachel Becker and Julie Cart

With most of the state gripped by extreme dryness, some conditions are better, some worse, than the last record-breaking drought. Over-pumping of wells hasn’t stopped. But urban residents haven’t lapsed back into water-wasting lifestyles. “We are in worse shape than we were before the last drought, and we are going to be in even worse shape after this one,” said Jay Lund, co-director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at University of California at Davis.

Full Story

California Farmers Facing Drought Are Choosing Empty Fields

/in , , /by /Bloomberg Greenby Daniela Sirtori-Cortina and Breanna T Bradham

In some areas of California it’s so dry that farmers aren’t even bothering to plant crops this season. Growers north of San Francisco have begun pulling out of local farmers markets and produce-box programs. County Line Harvest, which farms more than 30 acres in Petaluma, California, doesn’t have enough water to grow all the peppers, lettuces and other produce that normally go into its subscription boxes, according to a video posted to its Instagram page.

Full Story

Biden Backs Disputed Trump Contract in Court

/in , /by /E&E Newsby Jeremy P. Jacobs

The Biden administration will defend controversial water delivery contracts to California farmers issued in the Trump era, according to a court filing yesterday, rejecting pleas from a tribe and environmentalists to rescind them.

Full Story

Water Crisis “Couldn’t be Worse” on Oregon-California Border

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Gillian Flaccus

The water crisis along the California-Oregon border went from dire to catastrophic this week as federal regulators shut off irrigation water to farmers from a critical reservoir and said they would not send extra water to dying salmon downstream or to a half-dozen wildlife refuges that harbor millions of migrating birds each year.

In what is shaping up to be the worst water crisis in generations, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said it will not release water this season into the main canal that feeds the bulk of the massive Klamath Reclamation Project, marking a first for the 114-year-old irrigation system.

Full Story

Drought Forces California Farmers to Destroy Crops

/in , , /by /Yourcentralvalley.comby Kirsten Mitchell

With the uncertainty of water, some Central Valley farmers are destroying their crops ahead of the summer season in order to survive. It’s impacting jobs and soon possibly the grocery shelves. Every crop at Del Bosque Farms is planted meticulously, and every drop of water is a precious commodity. Joe Del Bosque started the family farm in 1985. He grows melons, asparagus, cherries, almonds, and corn, but the drought brings a flood of concern “Hundreds and thousands of acres that are not going to be planted,” said Del Bosque. Unlike past droughts, Del Bosque says this year is different.

Full Story