Thread: Drought leaves dark cloud over California ranchers, growers

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http://www.alipac.us/f9/us-west-face...-years-297024/

02-05-2014
. . . Drought-stricken California farmers facing drastic cutbacks in irrigation water are expected to idle some 500,000 acres of cropland this year in a record production loss that could cause billions of dollars in economic damage, industry officials said.

Large-scale crop losses in California, the No. 1 U.S. farm state producing half the nation's fruits and vegetables, would undoubtedly lead to higher consumer prices, especially for tree and vine produce grown only there . . .

California Drought 2014 Is Critical – Cutting Off Water Supply


By Aqiyl Aniys | February 2nd, 2014 | Modified - February 2nd, 2014
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California Drought 2014 Is Critical – Cutting Off Water Supply For the fist time in California’s history the California Department of Water Resources said it will not be able to deliver water to contractors who supply two-thirds of the population and a million acres of farmland with water.
Mark Cowin, director of the Water Resources Department, said in an interview with Bloomberg:

“This isn’t a coming crisis. This isn’t an evolving crisis. This is a current crisis.”

The California Department of Water Resources had said that it would only be able to supply 5% of the requested amount of water and now says that it will not be able to supply any water.
Contractors and agencies will have to rely on existing supplies such as ground water and what is stored behind dams.

Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency Jan. 17 and asked residents and businesses to voluntarily cut use by 20 percent and warned that mandatory restrictions could follow.

California Water Officials Cut Delivery as Drought Grows

By Michael B. Marois Jan 31, 2014 3:03 PM CT 4 Comments


Officials in drought-stricken California said that for the first time in state history, they won’t be able to provide any water to contractors that supply two-thirds of the population and a million acres of farmland.

The California Department of Water Resources, which earlier predicted it would supply about 5 percent of the amount requested, said today it now projects that it won’t be able to deliver any of the 4 million acre-feet of water sought by local agencies. An acre-foot is the volume needed to cover an acre of land one foot deep with water.

The reduction means that agencies will have to rely on existing supplies such as ground water or what is in storage behind dams. The Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District, serving 19 million people in Southern California, and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which supplies much of the Bay Area, have built up water reserves.

“This isn’t a coming crisis,” said Mark Cowin, director of the Water Resources Department, the state’s largest supplier. “This isn’t an evolving crisis. This is a current crisis.”

Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency Jan. 17 in the most populous U.S. state after three years of below-average rainfall, including the driest year on record, left some reservoirs and rivers at critical levels. He asked residents and businesses to voluntarily cut use by 20 percent and warned that mandatory restrictions may follow.

‘Stark Reminder’

“Today’s action is a stark reminder that California’s drought is real,” Brown said today in a statement. “We’re taking every possible step to prepare the state for the continuing dry conditions we face.”

Brown ordered the Forestry and Fire Protection Department, known as CalFire, to hire more firefighters because of drought conditions. The Public Health Department offered assistance to 17 rural communities with what it called “vulnerable” drinking water systems, and the Fish and Wildlife Department restricted fishing in some areas because of low water flows.

A small amount of water must be held back in reservoirs to protect the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, an ecologically sensitive confluence of two rivers that feed into San Francisco Bay. The reserve is needed to keep salt water from seeping in and damaging the water supply, officials said.

Reservoirs, Aqueducts

About two-thirds of Californians get at least part of their water from northern mountain rains and snow through a network of reservoirs and aqueducts known as the State Water Project, according to the Water Resources Department. Besides serving households and businesses, The system irrigates crops in the San Joaquin Valley near the center of the state -- the world’s most productive agricultural region.

“Except for a small amount of carryover water from 2013, customers of the State Water Project will get no deliveries in 2014 if current dry conditions persist and deliveries to agricultural districts with long-standing water rights in the Sacramento Valley may be cut 50 percent -- the maximum permitted by contract -- depending upon future snow survey results,” according to a statement by the Water Resources Department.

The projection could change if more rain falls in coming weeks, officials said. But the drought has grown so severe, it would have to rain heavily every day through May to get water levels back to normal, they said.

Agriculture Threatened

The drought in California, the top U.S. agricultural producer at $44.7 billion, is depriving the state of water needed to produce everything from milk, beef and wine to some of the nation’s largest fruit and vegetable crops, including avocados, strawberries and almonds.

Lost revenue in 2014 from farming and related businesses such as trucking and processing could reach $5 billion, according to estimates by the 300-member California Farm Water Coalition, an industry group.

Today’s announcement in Sacramento came one day after the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California said it would ask customers to voluntarily reduce water use by 20 percent.
The abnormally low precipitation is likely to depress revenue for the district and other local agencies, Moody’s Investors Service said in a Dec. 5 note. Metropolitan, the largest U.S. supplier of treated water, is rated Aa1, second-highest, the company said.

It had $4.4 billion in long-term debt as of June 30, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-0...t-deepens.html

California drought threatens coho salmon with extinction

Peter Fimrite

Updated 11:20 am, Tuesday, January 28, 2014


Coho salmon are raised at the Warm Springs hatchery in Geyserville as well as one in Santa Cruz. Photo: Beck Diefenbach, Special To The Chronicle


Pools stand still in San Geronimo Creek, a popular spot for salmon jumping upstream.


A popular spot for upstream-jumping salmon, pools in San Geronimo Creek stand still, January 24, 2014

The lack of rain this winter could eventually be disastrous for thirsty California, but the drought may have already ravaged some of the most storied salmon runs on the West Coast.
The coho salmon of Central California, which swim up the rivers and creeks during the first winter rains, are stranded in the ocean waiting for the surge of water that signals the beginning of their annual migration, but it may never come.
All the creeks between the Golden Gate and Monterey Bay are blocked by sand bars because of the lack of rain, making it impossible for the masses of salmon to reach their native streams and create the next generation of coho. The endangered coho could go extinct over much of their range if they do not spawn this year, according to biologists.
"It may already be too late," said Stafford Lehr, chief of fisheries for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. "The Central Coast coho could be gone south of the Golden Gate."

http://www.sfgate.com/science/articl...#photo-5774499

1. Rounds of Snow to Hit Oregon; Needed Rain for California
   
   www.accuweather.com/en/weather...storm.../22993067‎
   AccuWeather
   7 hours ago - Winter storms will make a long-overdue return to the West on Thursday and are likely to last into the middle of the month.
2. .
3. Rain, Rain, Rain! California Gets Hit with Multiple Storms ... - Ktxl.com
   
   fox40.com/.../rain-rain-rain-california-gets-hit-with-multiple-stor...‎
   KTXL
   8 hours ago - Meteorologist Darren Peck is tracking multiple storms as they roll into California today, tomorrow and through the weekend.

California Drought Impact Seen Spreading From Fires to Food Cost



The Tule Riverbed stands dry on Feb. 4, 2014.

The emergency, which follows the state’s driest year on record, is likely to boost the prices of everything from broccoli to cauliflower nationwide. Farmers and truckers stand to lose billions in revenue, weakening an already fragile recovery in the nation’s most-populous state. And California and other Western states are seeing a surge in wildfires.

A Drought Emergency in California

California is struggling with what could be its driest year on record, and forecasters say the state may see months more of historically dry weather.



Source: U.S. Drought Monitor

Signs of drought are everywhere, affecting vast sectors of the economy. A sense of dread is building among farmers, many whom have already let fields go fallow. Without more water, an estimated 200,000 acres of prime agriculture land will go unplanted in Fresno County, according to Westlands Water District officials. Cattle ranchers accustomed to letting cows graze on rain-fed grass have had to rely on bought hay or reduce their herds.

Clergy of all faiths have been exhorting the faithful to pray for precipitation. “May God open the heavens, and let his mercy rain down upon our fields and mountains,” Bishop Jaime Soto, the state’s Roman Catholic conference president, said last week. The Sacramento Valley chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations followed suit by announcing that area mosques would offer the traditional rain prayer, Salatul Istisqa.

Who Uses California's Water?

Home to almost 38 million people and some of the largest cities in the nation, you might think residents use the majority of California's water. In fact, city dwellers use only about 20 percent of California's developed water supply. Farming operations use about 80 percent of California's developed water supply.

Where Does Your Water Come From? California's Primary Water Sources

Nearly all of California's major river systems have hit limits in terms of how much water we can take from them. On rivers across the state, there is growing evidence that draining more would either cause severe environmental problems or violate the rights of other users, including Native American tribes and other states. Meanwhile, scientists predict that climate change will make California 5 to 10 percent drier—further limiting water supplies.
The contribution of sustainable solutions like conservation and efficiency, on the other hand, is growing every year.
San Francisco Bay-Delta

The San Francisco Bay-Delta is an inland river delta formed at the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. The Delta forms the upper half of the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary. About two-thirds of all Californians rely on this expansive watershed for some or all of their drinking water, but most water pumped from the Bay-Delta goes to big Central Valley farming operations. For years, people have focused on squeezing more water from the Delta to meet growing water demands. The price of draining the watershed has become painfully clear in the past decade: the Bay-Delta ecosystem, its fisheries and the state salmon industry collapsed, in large part because too much water was diverted; toxic runoff from farm fields has increased; pesticides and other pollutants get swept off our streets and dumped into our water supplies; invasive species have taken over; and saltwater threatens to creep in where freshwater has been drained. Protecting the Bay-Delta estuary and its fisheries and wildlife ensures that the cold, clean water that people need will be maintained. It also protects the jobs and livelihoods of fishermen and farmers, which is why fishing and Delta farming communities support protecting endangered species in the Delta.
Will This Water Supply Last?

California is draining our largest water source faster than nature can replenish it. The numbers simply don't add up: water users claim rights to more than 245 million acre-feet of Bay-Delta water every year—8 times more than the average runoff in the watershed. The Bay-Delta ecosystem has collapsed under the pressure—the state's salmon fishery was completely shut down in recent years, and federal courts and agencies have set limits on how much water can now be drawn from the watershed. This is not a source of water Californians can expect to grow in future decades, particularly when the State has estimated that climate change could reduce water exports by 25 percent by 2100. In fact, we must prepare to replace some of what we take from the Bay-Delta with other supplies. The question is: will we make the needed investments in alternative water supplies in time to save this important ecosystem and special place, or will we first destroy it and only then make the necessary investments in alternative water supplies?
San Joaquin River (southern portion of the Bay-Delta watershed)

Millions of Californians rely on the San Joaquin River and its tributaries for drinking water, but most of it goes to agricultural operations in the Central Valley. For decades we have taken more water out of the river than nature can put back in. For 50 years, we diverted so much water that the San Joaquin, the state's second largest river, ran dry for 60 miles, until NRDC sued and reached an agreement with the federal government and farmers to restore flows and salmon to the river. Quantity isn't the only problem; quality is too. Pesticide runoff from farm fields and sewage discharges from cities have contaminated the water with chemicals and bacteria.
Beginning in 2009, NRDC's restoration agreement has started to increase flows, sending clean mountain snowmelt through the valley towns of Fresno, Firebaugh and Tracy, and will provide a living river to support restoration of the river's salmon runs.
Will This Water Supply Last?

The San Joaquin River and its tributaries have too many users clamoring for a dwindling amount of water. The result of this excessive use has earned the San Joaquin the nickname: "the lower colon of California." The river gets its start in the snow fields of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, but in some years, as little as 20 percent of the natural flow of the river makes it to the Bay-Delta in the spring months. Most of it gets diverted to farms along the way. Sixty miles of the upper San Joaquin River ran bone dry for years until NRDC's landmark agreement restored water to the river. The San Joaquin's low flows make the presence of pesticides and other pollutants more concentrated and threaten fisheries. Mismanagement along the Upper San Joaquin eliminated the state's second largest salmon run—a run which NRDC, local farmers, and state and federal agencies are now beginning to restore. A San Joaquin River that flows from the Sierra to the sea and supports salmon runs will provide cleaner, higher-quality water for people to use, but we must reduce diversions from the San Joaquin system to restore its health.

California Drought Expected to Lower Hydro Generation

The record drought in California will cut into the availability of water for hydropower generation in the coming months, according to the Energy Information Administration. Nearly 60% of the state of California is classified to be in a condition of extreme-drought, after the driest December ever. In fact, the drought is California’s worst on record, and there is evidence that it may be the worst drought in the last 500 years. The Governor of California declared a state of emergency, and there are at least 17 rural California communities that are in danger of running out of water within the next two to four months.


Drought is posing a serious challenge to the state, not just for drinking needs and agriculture, but also for electricity generation. Much of California gets its precipitation in winter months, and as melting snowpack in spring and summer slowly releases water, it is used to generate electricity at hydropower stations. However, the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada Mountains are at only 12% of their normal levels. Unless the state gets rain, the problem will only grow worse as electricity demand rises with warmer weather. At the same time, rain becomes less likely in the summer months, and without having collected water during what is supposed to be the wet months, the drought could reach a real crisis point this summer.

This also means that California’s hydro generation in the coming months will be lower than usual. The share of electricity from hydro varies from year to year in California, but it ranges from 11%-28% of the state’s total. A dry year will require California to import electricity from neighboring states. Much of that imported power will also come in the form of hydrogenation, but from the Pacific Northwest. The problem is that, according to EIA, Oregon and Washington are also experiencing lower levels of precipitation.

Diamond Valley Lake reservoir can provide relief for drought-stricken Southern California

Thursday's rain was literally a drop in the bucket. The state is still way below normal precipitation.

In addition to declaring a drought emergency, the state has canceled water deliveries beginning in the spring from the state's water system to farms and some cities.

"This year is an epic drought," said Kightlinger. "I've never seen it this dry; we are off the charts dry in California."

Kightlinger says this emergency needs a statewide response. Everyone needs to get together to make sure there is enough water.

"We're saying we want to work with the rest of the state on cooperative programs so that maybe we can help people out in Northern California," said Kightlinger.

But even though we're doing OK in Southern California, the Metropolitan Water District plans to ask consumers to conserve about 20 percent of their water next week. They say every little bit will help.