Let It Rain and Snow – For the Sake of Our Local Ag Economy

Look. Up in the sky. It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s …. RAIN.

Yes indeed, the skies finally opened up as we welcomed the first couple days of March, dumping a welcome inch of rainfall.  The news is worthy of the opening line of the old 1950s Adventures of Superman TV series in which onlookers on the ground peered skyward to spot an amazing sight – the Man of Steel.

In our case, rain is just as welcome as Superman arriving to save the day. Let’s put some context about how dry it has been in the Valley – the 1.32 inches  of rain accumulated during the first three days of March boosted the region’s rainfall total since November by an amazing 73 percent. That’s right. We saw only 1.53 inches of rain in November, December and January and .26 inches in February.

Of course, we’ll need lots and lots of rain as well as snow in the mountains to bring good water news to growers.

Valley farmers are already disappointed – although not surprised – by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s recent announcement ofthe initial allocation of 20 percent from the Central Valley Project (CVP).

Here's a map of the Central Valley Water Project.

“Despite the historic rainfall last year, California’s lack of sufficient water storage forces us to operate on a year-to-year basis. The amount we can store in our reservoirs is not enough to get us through these very dry years,” said David Murillo, Reclamation’s Mid-Pacific Regional Director.

“Given what we know today, and what we see in the forecast, we must be very conservative with our allocation. If this lack of rain and snow continues, we could very well be right back in drought operations. A situation like this really underscores the need for more storage in California.”

As you recall, we came out of five years of drought in 2017 after record rain pelted much of Northern California.  Last year, the CVP allocated 65 percent of water to suppliers such as the Westlands Water District, the nation’s largest agricultural water provider. Westlands serves cotton growers in western Fresno County.  That compared to 5 percent in 2016 and no water in 2014 and 2015. The Bureau reported growers in the Friant Division will receive a 30 percent allocation.

We’ll have to see how the tight water supplies impact the Valley farming community. During the drought, we saw growers fallow acres and acres of prime farm land. Almond trees were pulled out and cotton acreage dropped. Some alfalfa growers stopped production mid-season, opting to save water for higher value crops.

A drought could impact lots of Valley agricultural workers.

The Westlands Water District (WWD), which supplies water to 700 family farms cultivating 1,000 square miles of ag land, has published a series of economic reports that points out that the lack of water allocations has forced farmers to turn to less labor-intensive crops.  The district estimates its farmers provide nearly 29,000 jobs and $3.6 billion in economic activity.

“The failure to provide the contracted water levels has resulted in an 18 percent loss of economic output within the district,” a September 2017 report stated.

“Consistent and ongoing provision of the full allocation of water to WWD would result in a 19.9 percent increase in employment and more than a 17 percent increase in economic output from WWD alone.”  

The report notes that more than half of agricultural workers have less than a high school education and 95 percent have no college. “Agriculture does provide a path for social mobility with opportunities to advance and earn significantly higher wages, even for these low skilled workers.”

Here’s our wish for March: Let it rain. Let it snow.

FIELD DAY: To help almond growers get off to a good start this season, two leading University of California Cooperative Extension farm advisors will outline disease, fungicide, pest and nutrient management tips at a March 21 field day in Fresno County.

The free event will be from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Rushing Ranch, 11599 W. Shaw, Fresno.  David Doll, a Merced County UCCE pomologist, will review bloomtime diseases and chemical choices, including reduced risk choises and proper selection of fungicide choices. He also will cover irrigation management in a dry year.

Mae Culumber, UCCE nut crop in Fresno County, will offer tips about nutrient management to help growers better understand how to management nitrogen applications and avoid over fertilization to minimize disease and pest outbreaks.  For more information contact Project Director Marcia Gibbs at (530) 370-5325 or at marcia@sustainablecotton.org.