Posts

Agencies: Arizona Farmers Should Expect Less Water in 2022

/in , , /by /AP News

State officials are putting farmers in south-central Arizona on notice that the continuing drought means a “substantial cut” in deliveries of Colorado River water is expected next year.

A joint statement issued Friday by the state Department of Water Resources and the Central Arizona Project said an expected shortage declaration “will result in a substantial cut to Arizona’s share of the river, with reductions falling largely to central Arizona agricultural users.”

Full Story

Drought Takes Hold in West After Second Dry Winter

/in , , /by /Western FarmPress by Tim Hearden

Dry conditions in the Southwest, largely associated with La Niña, have intensified what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is calling the most significant U.S. spring drought since 2013, affecting an estimated 74 million people.

Full Story

Opinion: Pushing Congress to Move on Aging Water Infrastructure

/in , , /by /Western FarmPressby Dan Keppen

The American food consumer has access to fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains and meat throughout the year. That’s largely because of Western producers and the projects that provide water to these farmers and ranchers.

Western irrigators have been dealing with changes in climate and hydrology for more than a century. But the outlook for water supplies in the future is not positive.

Full Story

Feds Start 2021 with Light Water Supply for Valley Farmers

/in , , /by /San Joaquin Valley Sunby Alex Tavlian

Valley farmers had low expectations heading into the spring. Federal water authorities likely met them, to say the least.

Tuesday, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced its first water allocations for farmers and water users along the Central Valley Project.

Light snowpack is, once again, the culprit, Federal officials said.

“Although we had a couple of precipitation-packed storms in January and early February, we are still well below normal for precipitation and snowfall this year,” said Bureau region director Ernest Conant. “We will monitor the hydrology as the water year progresses and continue to look for opportunities for operational flexibility.”

Full Story

Few Fire Insurance Options Left for San Diego County Farmers

/in , /by /KPBS San Diegoby Camille von Kaenel

Three wildfires have crept close to Nathan Rakov’s 30-acre chicken ranch in rural Alpine since he moved there in 2006. If his barn, coops and storage rooms burned down, he’d struggle to rebuild because he hasn’t found a complete and affordable insurance policy.

Full Story

Water Authority Helps Farmers Boost Water Efficiency

/in , , /by /Fallbrook Village News Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority
Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Agriculture is a rich part of San Diego County’s heritage and a foundational piece of the region’s economy, but it’s not easy to make a go of farming here given the hilly terrain, uneven soils and limited natural water supplies.

That’s where the San Diego County Water Authority comes in. The region’s wholesale water agency has funded more than 2,300 free irrigation system evaluations for farmers on more than 35,000 acres of avocados, citrus, field flowers, and other fruits and ornamentals since 1991.

Full Story

In the Heart of the San Joaquin Valley, Two Groundwater Sustainability Agencies Try to Find Their Balance

/in , /by /Western Water (Water Education Foundation)by Gary Pitzer and Douglas E. Beeman

Groundwater keeps the San Joaquin Valley’s orchards, vineyards and fields vibrant and supports a multibillion-dollar agricultural economy. But that bounty has come at a price. Overpumping of groundwater has depleted aquifers, dried up household wells and degraded ecosystems. Now, hundreds of agencies in California have the task of making things right in their respective groundwater basins – no easy task considering the enormity of the problem and the need to protect both the farm economy and the drinking water for vulnerable communities. Western Water examined how two San Joaquin Valley groundwater sustainability agencies are striving to find that balance.

Full Story

Pendulum Swings in Clean Water Act Regulation

/in , , /by /Capital Pressby Mateusz Perkouwski

The regulatory pendulum is expected to swing toward stricter Clean Water Act enforcement, though experts say the Biden administration’s changes probably won’t be immediate. Farmers and environmentalists have been in a political tug-of-war over the law’s scope for years, largely due to ambiguous legal interpretations of the statute. While Democrats will now have power over Congress, their majority is too slim to make changes to the law, said Don Parrish, the American Farm Bureau Federation’s senior director of regulatory relations.

Full Story

The Rancher Trying to Solve the West’s Water Crisis

/in , /by /Politicoby Annie Snider

Paul Bruchez’s family has ranched cattle in Colorado for five generations. And twice in his lifetime, his generation has nearly become the last. The first time, it was the city of Denver that squeezed them out. By the 1990s, when Bruchez was still in high school, the city’s fast-growing suburbs had swept north and totally surrounded their roughly 2,000 acres in Westminster.

Full Story

Weary but Determined, California’s Small, Family-Owned Farms Fight Through the Pandemic

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Lucas Kwan Peterson

Vince Bernard loves his trees. He’ll tell you as much. They are what have sustained him and his family for decades at Bernard Ranches. Bernard grows mostly citrus with his wife, Vicki, in Riverside, where a pair of navel orange trees planted in 1871 marked the beginning of the area’s storied citrus industry.

Full Story