Farmers lose two skirmishes in California water war [Cal Matters]
The most important battleground in California’s perpetual war over water is the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Dozens of Northern California rivers and streams coalesce in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, which join to form the Delta estuary and whose waters then flow into San Francisco Bay. Govs. Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom wanted to head off a full-fledged legal showdown by urging “voluntary agreements” on river flows acceptable to both farm water agencies and the water board and negotiations have been underway for several years. One such agreement affecting the Sacramento River and its tributaries appears headed for adoption, but this month, the draft of a second affecting the San Joaquin River hit a huge roadblock. In a letter to the river’s major diverters, the Newsom administration rejected their proposal and said it would urge the water board to resume direct regulation of San Joaquin flows. Environmental Protection Secretary Jared Blumenfeld and Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot told the San Joaquin districts that “at this point it is clear that despite considerable efforts, proposed voluntary actions by water agencies on the San Joaquin River tributaries have fallen short of needed flow and habitat improvements, and viable proposals are not being offered at this time.” The two administration officials added, “We will ask the State Water Board to resume all activities necessary to implement the flow objectives established by the 2018 Bay-Delta Plan for the Lower San Joaquin River and its three major tributaries, the Stanislaus, Tuolumne, and Merced rivers.”
https://calmatters.org/commentary/2021/10/farmers-lose-two-skirmishes-in-california-water-war/
California drought: Key talks over water use break down, S.F. may face tighter regulation [San Francisco Chronicle]
For nearly three years, some of California’s biggest water users, including San Francisco, have been quietly meeting with the state to figure out how much water they should be taking from the San Joaquin River and its tributaries. The talks were launched to prevent some of California’s mightiest rivers from drying up, and keep fish populations from disappearing, while still allowing cities and farms to draw the supplies they need. The vision was nothing short of a grand compromise on divvying up California’s water. But late last week, the state conceded the negotiations had failed. In a letter to San Francisco and the other mostly agricultural water agencies involved in the discussions, state regulators told the parties they had made insufficient concessions on water use. The breakdown in talks means the state will begin directly regulating river draws, a move that could significantly squeeze the water users, and one they’re bound to fight.
San Francisco gets about 85% of its water from the Tuolumne River in and around Yosemite National Park, one of the most stressed of the rivers in the San Joaquin River basin.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/California-drought-Key-talks-over-water-use-16576132.php
A California town refused to help its neighbors with water. So the state stepped in [Los Angeles Times]
At one of the last houses on a gravel road that dead-ends at a locked canal, Monica Santillan used a plastic milk jug to water her canna lilies. The mountain water in the 153-mile Friant-Kern Canal was owned by growers and cities down the line. Locally, the community’s two shallow, tainted wells were faltering because of drought and the trend of growers digging deeper wells, lowering the water table. Big plastic bottles of drinking water sit outside Tooleville homes. They are delivered every two weeks, paid for with emergency state funding passed during the California drought that ended in 2016. Yet, for more than 20 years, the nearby vibrant citrus-belt community of Exeter has refused to connect Tooleville to its water system. Among a slew of water bills signed in September was one inspired largely by Tooleville’s struggle. Called the “proactive water solutions bill,” SB 403 gives the state the power to mandate and fund consolidation when there is an at-risk water system. Exeter’s refusal to aid Tooleville may have given hope to the more than 1 million Californians who live in communities without clean, affordable drinking water, which by law in California is a basic human right. Most of the communities, like Tooleville, are in the agricultural Central Valley.
Climate challenges mount for California agriculture [Yale Climate Connections]
California agriculture has experienced just about every form of climate change-induced calamity: Heat, drought, fire, floods. None bodes well for the future of farming in this state that is the U.S. king of agriculture. But there are a couple of less headline-worthy factors that may determine what crops will survive if climate change trends don’t at least slow down. One is the state’s winters – yes, winters – and the other is its management of groundwater. Challenges ahead for sure. In the end, however, there for some is optimism that the California agriculture communities’ ability to continue adapting gives reasons for hope. “Wintertime lows have gotten warmer,” says Dan Sumner, the Frank H. Buck, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Davis and a California farming region native. “We all talk about it in the middle of the summertime because it’s hot outside, but the real news is the wintertime lows.”
https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2021/10/climate-challenges-mount-for-california-agriculture/
Farm worker study exposes hardships during COVID-19 pandemic [Salinas Californian]
The monthly $2,500 farmworker salary in California must be divided carefully to cover the high cost of living. After taxes are considered, allocating over half of the budget for rent leaves the rest to cover food, utilities, insurance, internet, clothing, and other cost of living expenses associated with family life. Seasonal work also means that a regular paycheck isn’t guaranteed. The economic burdens on Indigenous farmworkers intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic directly impact the country’s food supply. Testimonies from Indigenous farmworkers illustrate the longstanding hardships that could prevent them from doing their jobs, which would ultimately deprive the nation of locally grown food. In the new COVID-19 Farmworker Study (COFS) “Experts in Their Fields,” the contributions and realities of indigenous farmworkers (campesinos) in California during COVID-19 were analyzed through their testimonies. The report examines Indigenous farmworkers’ abilities to protect themselves and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Indigenous farmworkers are typically from pueblos originarios (home communities) in Southern Mexico and Central America where Indigenous languages other than Spanish are spoken.
For 70 years, Christmas trees were the family business. Then came drought. And fire [Los Angeles Times]
Omer and Elinor McGee opened El Dorado County’s first Christmas tree farm in 1952 in Grizzly Flats, a Gold Rush-era mountain town some 25 miles from the county seat. The business prospered, and their son Mike eventually took over. The following years delivered joy but also heartbreak: dry winters and financial strain, the death of Mike and Phyllis McGee’s youngest son, Cory. But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, something unexpected happened: Cars wrapped around Mike and Phyllis’ Placerville ranch and spilled from the parking lot. Families eager for a dose of good cheer and a breath of pine-scented air bustled through rows of conifers, seeking the perfect tree from McGee Christmas Tree Farm. Then came the drought. Low rainfall and a declining snowpack, combined with high temperatures, battered the McGee Christmas trees. Of the seedlings Mike planted in February, one of the hottest and driest on record, 80% died by July. In August, thousands of mature Christmas trees became kindling for a massive wildfire. “Sometimes Mother Nature helps you, and sometimes Mother Nature hurts you,” Mike said in early September. “That’s farming.”
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-11-01/christmas-trees
