Farmers and consumers share a unique relationship. The California drought is helping people understand how important it is for farms to have the water they need to grow the food we all find at the grocery store. Serious water supply cuts affect our food supply as well as the people in rural communities who depend […]
Over 41 percent of California’s irrigated farmland loses nearly entire surface water supply
Over 41 percent of California’s irrigated farmland will lose 80 percent or more of its normal surface water allocation this year, according to a new survey by the California Farm Water Coalition. The survey of agricultural water suppliers conducted the first week of April shows that 3.1 million acres, or 41.6 percent of California’s irrigated […]
Farm water cuts hurt jobs, food supply and the economy
Farmers first to be hit with water supply cuts Farmers have been the first to feel the effects of the drought because of mandatory water supply cuts. Last year saw an unprecedented amount of farm water cuts – zero water – for vast parts of the state and 2015 will be worse. Stories like this don’t often […]
I Heard it on the Radio
From California Farms to Your Table We enjoy a bounty of fresh fruits, vegetables and nuts grown on California farms – farms that produce about half of the fresh food in the U.S. But food only grows where water flows. California’s aging water system has put our economy, farmers and fresh food production at risk. […]
Illegal diversions, wasteful water use threatens water supply
Statement by Mike Wade, Executive Director: Illegal diversions, wasteful water use threatens water supply “We applaud Governor Brown for taking more decisive steps toward increased water conservation and improving water management among all water users during this unprecedented drought. “Identifying illegal diversions and wasteful use of water will benefit the state’s overall water supply. Whether […]
Another zero water allocation for Valley farms – Unemployment, food lines in California’s food basket
USBR to deliver zero water Today’s announcement that farmers in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys will receive zero percent of their contracted supplies from the federal Central Valley Project is a tragic repeat of last year. In 2014 the state’s farm economy lost more than $2 billion and more than 17,000 jobs as […]
Elected leaders urge SWRCB to reverse staff decision denying limited water supply increase
Elected leaders urge SWRCB to reverse staff decision denying limited water supply increase In two separate letters submitted February 11, a bipartisan group of State legislative and congressional leaders, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, urged the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to overturn a single staff member’s decision to deny additional water to much of drought parched California. The letters emphasized […]
SWRCB staff rejects urgent request for water
SWRCB staff rejects urgent request for water Despite concurrence among five State and federal agencies, a single State employee reversed a plan that would have delivered desperately needed water to most of drought-parched California. The decision is currently costing California water users about 2,000 acre-feet of water per day. A decision yesterday afternoon by State […]
Water management: A Super Bowl of a different kind
Water management: A Super Bowl of a different kind By Stefanie Schulte, New South Wales Irrigators’ Council A visitor to the United States cannot fail to notice that Americans love their sports. Be it baseball, basketball, tennis, ice hockey or football – Americans ‘live and breathe’ their games. Back home in Australia there is no […]
Fish don’t have calendars
Federal government cuts water supply to farms On January 1 the federal National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) instituted a management action that reduces water deliveries to 25 million Californians and millions of acres of struggling drought impacted farmland. All of this is done in the name of protecting salmon. But fish don’t have calendars. Regrettably, […]