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Opinion: Own Up to Bringing Water to Farmers and Help Put Food on American Families’ Tables

California’s agriculture industry helps feed the world. California grows more than 400 food and fiber products including a third of the country’s vegetables and two-thirds of the nation’s fruits and nuts. In fact, 99.9 percent of our nation’s commodities, including peaches, artichokes, olives, pistachios, almonds, walnuts, and so many others, are grown right here in the Golden State. Further, we lead the nation in the supply of 75 total foods, such as broccoli, mandarins, carrots, corn, strawberries and more.

Food security for families depends on the ability of California farmers to continue producing. Growing food successfully depends on countless risk factors, such as weather changes, water allocations, labor availability and trade stability.

LA’s Kern County Sludge Farm To Stop Receiving Free Bakersfield Water

It was a match made in heaven, at least for the residents of Los Angeles, but it will soon be coming to an end. For around 20 years, Los Angeles has shipped a large portion of “biosolids” from its toilets to fertilize a farm it owns just west of Bakersfield. Bakersfield, in return, has been providing an annual load of 18,000 acre-feet of free water to the farm, Green Acres, in a deal that was meant to benefit both cities. However, Bakersfield is choosing not to renew the water contract with LA, and the farm will have to find another source to irrigate its crops.

Market-based Program Would Encourage Farmers to Buy, Sell Local Groundwater

A local water district is developing a novel, market-based groundwater trading program that, if successful, could be expanded or copied to help Central Valley farmers cope with new state restrictions against over-pumping the region’s aquifers.

Support Newsom’s ‘Reset’ To A One-Tunnel Project

One tunnel or two? It’s just four words, but if you say them around anyone familiar with California water issues they will know exactly what you are talking about, and it’s likely they will have a strong opinion. During Gov. Newsom’s State of the State speech, he made it clear that his administration will build one tunnel under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta instead of two as was proposed in Gov. Brown’s California WaterFix.