California has been the nation’s
leading agricultural and dairy state for the past 50 years. The
state’s 80,500 farms and ranches produce more than 400 different
agricultural products. These products generated a record $44.7
billion in sales value in 2012, accounting for 11.3 percent of
the US total.
Breaking down the state’s agricultural role in the country,
California produces 21 percent of the nation’s milk supply, 23
percent of its cheese and 92 percent of all grapes. The state
also produces half of all domestically-grown fruits, nuts and
vegetables, including some products, such as almonds, walnuts,
artichokes, persimmons and pomegranates, of which 99 percent are
grown in California.
Overall, about 3 percent of employment in the state is directly
or indirectly related to agriculture.
… Nearly 1 million acres of farmland across the state are
expected to come out of production due to SGMA. Without new
uses for that land, agricultural jobs will disappear, local tax
revenues will plummet, and our small towns, which are already
stretched thin, will be left with few options. A 2023 Public
Policy Institute of California report put it bluntly: without
action, the economic fallout for the Central Valley could be
massive. If we don’t find new ways to keep this land
economically viable, our rural communities are going to suffer
badly. But legislation currently moving at the state Capitol,
Assembly Bill 1156, provides a lifeline by making it easier to
repurpose fallowed farmland for clean energy projects like
solar panels. It’s a smart, timely solution that protects
farmers, supports clean energy, and brings jobs and investment
back to rural California.
… Today, 40% of the irrigated land in the (Central) Valley
still depends on flood irrigation. It’s a method that served
its purpose for decades but no longer aligns with current
challenges. It’s inefficient and costly—not just for the
farmer, but for the entire community that relies on that water.
And perhaps most concerning: many producers remain locked into
this system not due to lack of will, but due to lack of access
to the capital required to transition. But change is already
taking shape. A new generation of companies,
organizations, and public-private initiatives is proving that
it’s possible to reduce water use without compromising
productivity. And even more importantly: that this model of
water stewardship benefits every actor involved. Every cubic
meter of water saved creates value—for the companies financing
technology adoption, for the farmers implementing it on their
land, and for the communities that depend on water to
thrive. –Written by Jairo Trad, CEO & Co-Founder of Kilimo.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) and Foster Poultry Farms
have reached a settlement of the lawsuit filed against Foster
Poultry Farms in 2020. ALDF’s complaint alleged that Foster
Poultry Farms unreasonably uses water to slaughter and process
chickens at its poultry-processing plant in Livingston,
California in violation of Article X, section 2 of the
California Constitution, which mandates that all water use in
the State of California must be reasonable. While Foster
Poultry Farms completely denies ALDF’s allegations regarding
its water use and animal welfare practices, it has agreed to
continue to work to improve water conservation and animal
welfare at its Livingston poultry-processing plant, which is
the largest chicken poultry-processing plant on the West Coast.
On a stormy spring day, Devon Peña stood atop a
sagebrush-covered hill and looked down on Colorado’s San Luis
Valley. Dark clouds had unleashed a deluge just a few hours
earlier, but now they hovered over the mountains, veiling the
summits above. Below, rows of long, narrow fields extended from
Culebra Creek toward a man-made channel, the main artery of the
valley’s centuries-old “acequia” irrigation system. This was
the “People’s Ditch,” a waterway holding the oldest continuous
water right in Colorado. … The acequia system was once
dismissed by Western water managers. But as a changing climate
brings increasing drought and aridification to the Southwest,
time-tested solutions like this one could hold the key to
mitigating the worst impacts of climate change, especially in
rural communities.
Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta
filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of President Donald
Trump’s broad imposition of tariffs on imported goods … but
California’s economy was already sluggish. … California’s
largest-in-the-nation agricultural industry, including its
famous winemaking sector, is also shrinking, largely due to
uncertain water supplies, labor shortages and the same high
costs for electricity and fuel that the logistics industry
faces. The Public Policy Institute of California has estimated
that, “even in the best-case scenario, some 500,000 acres may
need to be fallowed in the San Joaquin Valley” due
to restrictions on pumping irrigation water from
underground aquifers. –Written by CalMatters columnist Dan Walters
For decades, residents of Bakersfield have lived with a river
that’s little more than a channel of dust. The Kern, which
pours from the snowy peaks of the southern Sierra, descends
upon California’s ninth-largest city and, in all but the
wettest of years, runs dry. A sandy, weed-strewn corridor is
left winding unremarkably through the downtown, beside roads,
beneath bridges and behind businesses. … A group of
residents is trying to change that. Cooper and dozens of others
are fighting to bring water back to the Kern River, hoping to
create a lush, parklike centerpiece in a city best known for
the sunbaked oil fields and farms that surround it. It
isn’t an easy go. The river’s waters are already largely
accounted for, some serving the municipal needs of Bakersfield
and nearby communities, but most drawn for agriculture, the
engine of the regional economy.
According to the USDA Fruit and Tree Nuts Outlook (March 2025),
2024 brought historic heat to the United States, marking the
warmest year in the contiguous U.S. since records began in
1895, according to NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental
Information. While 2024 also ranked as the third wettest year
overall, key agricultural states like California and Washington
experienced a dangerous mix of summer dryness and extreme heat,
significantly affecting fruit and tree nut production. … In
California, southern regions were hit especially hard. By
February 2025, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported moderate to
extreme drought across the entire southeast interior of the
state. In Northern California, drought was less severe. The
Sacramento Valley saw a rapid shift from no drought in July
2024 to 100% of land classified as abnormally dry by October.
… The San Joaquin Valley, largely drought-free through the
summer, also saw worsening dryness by fall, with nearly all
land in drought by February 2025—over 60% at moderate to severe
levels.
… California is the country’s breadbasket, supplying roughly
one-third of US vegetables and 75% of its fruits and nuts. But
it also exports much of its produce – close to $24bn worth in
2022. This means farmers in the state could lose out
significantly as China imposes retaliatory tariffs on American
goods. … Already grappling with extreme weather events that
have damaged or destroyed crops and water
restrictions that added challenges, a spate of Trump
policies – including attacks on agricultural research, a
funding freeze of billions from the US Department of
Agriculture, and crackdowns on migrant workers – have left
farmers reeling. … But even as Trump takes grave risks
with California agriculture in his attempts to rework global
markets, few in the industry have been outwardly critical of
his actions. Many growers are instead focusing on their
confidence that the president will come through with campaign
promises to make more water available for
thirsty crops.
… Just 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles, in California’s
Cuyama Valley, an exploratory oil drilling project is moving
forward on Harvard’s 6,565-acre vineyard. This project is the
latest in a series of Harvard’s grabs on natural resources in
the region that have worsened a critical drought of groundwater
and endangered the area’s many local farmers and ranchers. To
repair these harms, the University must, to the extent that it
is able, put an end to extractive groundwater pumping and oil
drilling in the area and instead invest in building sustainable
agricultural practices that prioritize — rather than threaten —
a human right to water. … From 2012 to 2018, Harvard
purchased thousands of acres of arable land across California.
Of these holdings, North Fork Ranch, acquired through the
subsidiary company Brodiaea Inc., has been the subject of
particular controversy. The land, historically a dry rangeland,
was transformed in a water-intensive process by Harvard into
the largest vineyard in the valley.
… The latest Trends Report from the California ASFMRA (American
Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers) reveals a
significant correction in land values due largely to SGMA,
though land values in some cases did not seem to be following
as quickly with what some said was coming. … For the San
Joaquin Valley, where the northern region enjoys more ample
water supplies than other parts of the valley, even there,
farmland values have declined
significantly. … Conservative estimates suggest that
$17 billion of value in irrigated lands alone has been erased
from financial ledgers, according to Scott Bozzo, an accredited
farm manager with Macotera Ag Group from Lodi,
California. … California’s most valuable agricultural
county by gross output continues to be Kern. … The
highest agricultural land values in Kern County remain in the
river districts or where districts have done a good job
managing groundwater.
… A decade ago, California led the nation by creating a
suite of state programs that help farmers transition to
climate-friendly methods, many of which also improve farm
resilience to extreme weather. These methods include strategies
like planting perennials at the field edge or using cover crops
in the off-season, both of which boost soil carbon and improve
farmers’ ability to capture and store winter moisture for our
increasingly long dry seasons. The problem, however, is
that the California legislature hasn’t funded these programs
adequately or consistently. In recent grant cycles, farmer
demand for these incentives has outstripped available funding
by two or three times. –Written by Liz Carlisle, a public voices fellow of the
OpEd Project and an associate professor of environmental
studies at UC Santa Barbara.
… Navigating the historically intricate regulatory environment
has long posed challenges for agricultural producers and water
managers. However, growing momentum toward streamlining and
modernizing these regulatory frameworks signals a promising new
era of government-industry cooperation. Farmers throughout the
San Joaquin Valley are actively advocating for policies that
provide greater flexibility in water allocation, enhance local
groundwater management, and upgraded mixed use flood control
infrastructure. Recent executive orders and updated regulations
have already begun to reduce administrative burdens, providing
farmer with greater confidence and an enhanced sense of
certainty with making critical planting and investment
decisions. –Written by William Bourdeau, executive vice president of
Harris Farms, owner of Bourdeau Farms, director of the
Westlands Water District, director of American Pistachio
Growers, Family Farm Alliance, and chairman of the Valley
Future Foundation.
President Donald Trump’s trade wars are putting California
farmers and ranchers, happy with his promises to deliver more
water, back into financial — and political — limbo. … The
California Almond Alliance told Agriculture Secretary Brooke
Rollins and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in a March
letter that retaliatory tariffs would hurt American profits and
cede more market share to competitors, like Australia. Its main
ask: a smooth government bailout if retaliatory tariffs can’t
be avoided. … Almonds do have a few things going for them. They
have an ally on the inside: Trump last month named former
Almond Alliance president Aubrey Bettencourt to lead the
Natural Resource Conservation Service, a USDA agency focused on
soils.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration finally finalized its
regulatory approach for how farms will be required to manage
the food safety risk posed by preharvest water applications
that contact fruit. The compliance dates for the new rule,
which is part of the Food Safety Modernization Act’s Produce
Safety Rule, take effect for large farms this month and for
small farms next year. The final rule replaced the initial
approach that included water testing criteria with an annual
risk assessment approach specific to each farm. This
change makes the regulation both more flexible and more
complicated, according to experts who have been on the speaking
circuit at industry meetings this past fall and winter.
As Earth heats up, the growing frequency and intensity of
disasters like catastrophic storms and heat waves are becoming
a mounting problem for the people who grow the planet’s food.
Warming is no longer solely eroding agricultural productivity
and food security in distant nations or arid climates. It’s
throttling production in the United States. Farmers and
ranchers across the country lost at least $20.3 billion in
crops and rangeland to extreme weather last year, according to
a new Farm Bureau report that crowned the 2024 hurricane season
“one of the most destructive in U.S. history” and outlined a
long list of other climate-fueled impacts. … California
endured nearly all the same weather challenges as the
south-central U.S. and the upper Midwest, costing its
agricultural sector $1.4 billion.
The California dairy industry, renowned for its significant
contributions to agriculture, is navigating a series of
challenges that demand substantial adaptation to ensure future
success. Water scarcity, stringent labor laws and complex
permitting regulations top the list of challenges in the Golden
State, the nation’s largest milk producer and home to 1.71
million milk cows. Karen Ross, secretary of the California
Department of Food and Agriculture, emphasizes the need to
support the state’s farmers during these challenging
times. “What we would like to do is focus on smart
incentives because, over the years, the cumulative effect of so
many regulatory agencies is adding to the complexity … as well
as the cost of compliance,” Ross said in a one-on-one interview
with Farm Journal during the California Dairy Sustainability
Summit.
The Inland Empire Resource Conservation District (IERCD) has
announced the opening of its California Underserved Small
Producer (CUSP) Program, supported by funding from the
California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). This
initiative aims to support small and underserved farmers and
ranchers who have experienced economic hardship due to extreme
weather. The program offers reimbursement grants ranging from
$2,500-$20,000 for lost revenue and increased costs due
to drought, flooding, wildfire, pest quarantine, severe
windstorms, and extreme cold. Eligible farmers can
seek reimbursement for allowable expenses such as crop and
livestock loss, debris removal, pest quarantines,
infrastructure and equipment damage, and increased utility
costs.
Utah is launching a plan to pay farmers to leave some of their
irrigation water in the Colorado River system. The Colorado
River Authority of Utah board has approved the first round of
applicants for the state’s new Demand Management Pilot Program.
It includes more than a dozen projects along Colorado River
tributaries in eastern and southeastern Utah. The program will
use up to $4.2 million of state money to compensate farmers who
temporarily forgo using some of their water in 2025 and 2026. …
Utah leaders hope quantifying the water those projects save
will help the state avoid mandatory cutbacks as it looks toward
a renegotiated Colorado River agreement in 2026.
Seeking to prevent the California State Water Resources Control
Board from stepping in to regulate groundwater in critically
overdrafted subbasins, local agencies are working to correct
deficiencies in their plans to protect groundwater. With
groundwater sustainability agencies formed and groundwater
sustainability plans evaluated, the state water board has moved
to implement the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act,
or SGMA. … Under probation, groundwater extractors in
the Tulare Lake subbasin face annual fees of $300 per well and
$20 per acre-foot pumped, plus a late reporting fee of 25%.
SGMA also requires well owners to file annual groundwater
extraction reports.
Catastrophic weather events wreaked havoc on U.S. agriculture
last year, causing nearly $22 billion in crop and rangeland
losses, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
California accounted for $1.14 billion of that figure,
including nearly $880 million in damages from severe storms and
flooding. The figures represent a significant shift from
previous years, when drought and wildfires were California’s
biggest challenges. Since then, atmospheric rivers, Tropical
Storm Hilary and other weather events battered our farming
communities. - Written by Matthew Viohl, director of federal
policy for the California Farm Bureau
This tour explored the lower Colorado River firsthand where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to some 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.
Hilton Garden Inn Las Vegas Strip South
7830 S Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89123
Water, the essence of life, is an indispensable resource
intricately woven into the fabric of our daily existence. From
the food on our plates to the gadgets in our hands, water
silently plays a pivotal role in the creation of almost
everything we encounter. In a world where water scarcity is a
looming concern, it is essential to explore the profound impact
of water in the production of goods and services that shape our
lives as well as the food we feed our families. -Written by Mike Wade, executive director of the
California Farm Water Coalition
This tour explored the Sacramento River and its tributaries through a scenic landscape while learning about the issues associated with a key source for the state’s water supply.
All together, the river and its tributaries supply 35 percent of California’s water and feed into two major projects: the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project.
Water Education Foundation
2151 River Plaza Drive, Suite 205
Sacramento, CA 95833
The 3ʳᵈ International Conference, Toward Sustainable Groundwater in Agriculture: Linking Science & Policy took place from June 18 – 20. Organized by the Water Education Foundation and the UC Davis Robert M. Hagan Endowed Chair, the conference provided scientists, policymakers, agricultural and environmental interest group representatives, government officials and consultants with the latest scientific, management, legal and policy advances for sustaining our groundwater resources in agricultural regions around the world.
The conference keynote address was provided by Mark Arax, an award-winning journalist and author of books chronicling agriculture and water issues in California’s Central Valley. Arax comes from a family of Central Valley farmers and is praised for writing books that are deeply profound, heartfelt and nuanced including The Dreamt Land, West of the West and The King of California. He did a reading from his latest book The Dreamt Land and commented on the future of groundwater in the Valley during his keynote lunch talk on June 18.
Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport
1333 Bayshore Hwy
Burlingame, CA 94010
This tour explored the lower Colorado River firsthand where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to some 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.
Hilton Garden Inn Las Vegas Strip South
7830 S Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89123
This special Foundation water tour journeyed along the Eastern Sierra from the Truckee River to Mono Lake, through the Owens Valley and into the Mojave Desert to explore a major source of water for Southern California, this year’s snowpack and challenges for towns, farms and the environment.
This tour explored the Sacramento River and its tributaries through a scenic landscape while learning about the issues associated with a key source for the state’s water supply.
All together, the river and its tributaries supply 35 percent of California’s water and feed into two major projects: the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project.
Water Education Foundation
2151 River Plaza Drive, Suite 205
Sacramento, CA 95833
This tour explored the Sacramento River and its tributaries
through a scenic landscape while learning about the issues
associated with a key source for the state’s water supply.
All together, the river and its tributaries supply 35 percent of
California’s water and feed into two major projects: the State
Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project.
Water Education Foundation
2151 River Plaza Drive, Suite 205
Sacramento, CA 95833
This tour traveled along the San Joaquin River to learn firsthand
about one of the nation’s largest and most expensive river
restoration projects.
The San Joaquin River was the focus of one of the most
contentious legal battles in California water history,
ending in a 2006 settlement between the federal government,
Friant Water Users Authority and a coalition of environmental
groups.
Hampton Inn & Suites Fresno
327 E Fir Ave
Fresno, CA 93720
This tour explored the lower Colorado River firsthand where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to some 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.
Hyatt Place Las Vegas At Silverton Village
8380 Dean Martin Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89139
This tour ventured through California’s Central Valley, known as the nation’s breadbasket thanks to an imported supply of surface water and local groundwater. Covering about 20,000 square miles through the heart of the state, the valley provides 25 percent of the nation’s food, including 40 percent of all fruits, nuts and vegetables consumed throughout the country.
The lower Colorado River has virtually every drop allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.
Hyatt Place Las Vegas At Silverton Village
8380 Dean Martin Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89139
This tour guided participants on a virtual exploration of the Sacramento River and its tributaries and learn about the issues associated with a key source for the state’s water supply.
All together, the river and its tributaries supply 35 percent of California’s water and feed into two major projects: the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project.
This tour guided participants on a virtual journey deep into California’s most crucial water and ecological resource – the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The 720,000-acre network of islands and canals support the state’s two major water systems – the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project. The Delta and the connecting San Francisco Bay form the largest freshwater tidal estuary of its kind on the West coast.
This event explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.
This tour explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs is the focus of this tour.
Silverton Hotel
3333 Blue Diamond Road
Las Vegas, NV 89139
This 2-day, 1-night tour offered participants the opportunity to
learn about water issues affecting California’s scenic Central
Coast and efforts to solve some of the challenges of a region
struggling to be sustainable with limited local supplies that
have potential applications statewide.
This tour explored the Sacramento River and its tributaries
through a scenic landscape as participants learned about the
issues associated with a key source for the state’s water supply.
All together, the river and its tributaries supply 35 percent of
California’s water and feed into two major projects: the State
Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project. Tour
participants got an on-site update of Oroville Dam spillway
repairs.
We explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop
of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad
sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and
climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in
the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin
states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this
water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial
needs was the focus of this tour.
Hampton Inn Tropicana
4975 Dean Martin Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89118
This three-day, two-night tour explored the lower Colorado River
where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand
is growing from myriad sources — increasing population,
declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in
the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin
states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this
water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial
needs is the focus of this tour.
Best Western McCarran Inn
4970 Paradise Road
Las Vegas, NV 89119
This tour explored the Sacramento River and its tributaries
through a scenic landscape as participants learned about the
issues associated with a key source for the state’s water supply.
All together, the river and its tributaries supply 35 percent of
California’s water and feed into two major projects: the State
Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project. Tour
participants got an on-site update of repair efforts on the
Oroville Dam spillway.
Participants of this tour snaked along the San Joaquin River to
learn firsthand about one of the nation’s largest and most
expensive river restoration projects.
The San Joaquin River was the focus of one of the most
contentious legal battles in California water history,
ending in a 2006 settlement between the federal government,
Friant Water Users Authority and a coalition of environmental
groups.
Groundwater replenishment happens
through direct recharge and in-lieu recharge. Water used for
direct recharge most often comes from flood flows, water
conservation, recycled water, desalination and water
transfers.
Water is expensive – and securing enough money to ensure
reliability and efficiency of the state’s water systems and
ecosystems is a constant challenge.
In 2014, California voters approved Proposition 1, authorizing a
$7.5 billion bond to fund water projects throughout the state.
This included investments in water storage, watershed protection
and restoration, groundwater sustainability and drinking water
protection.
California agriculture is going to have to learn to live with the
impacts of climate change and work toward reducing its
contributions of greenhouse gas emissions, a Yolo County walnut
grower said at the Jan. 26 California Climate Change Symposium in
Sacramento.
“I don’t believe we are going to be able to adapt our way out of
climate change,” said Russ Lester, co-owner of Dixon Ridge Farms
in Winters. “We need to mitigate for it. It won’t solve the
problem but it can slow it down.”
From the Greek “xeros” and Middle Dutch “scap,”
xeriscape was coined
in 1978 and literally translates to “dry scene.”
Xeriscaping, by extension, is making an environment which can
tolerate dryness. This involves installing drought-resistant and
slow-growing plants to reduce water use.
Irrigation is the artificial supply
of water to grow crops or plants. Obtained from either surface or groundwater, it optimizes
agricultural production when the amount of rain and where it
falls is insufficient. Different irrigation
systems are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but in
practical use are often combined. Much of the agriculture in
California and the West relies on irrigation.
Excess salinity poses a growing
threat to food production, drinking water quality and public
health. Salts increase the cost of urban drinking water and
wastewater treatment, which are paid for by residents and
businesses. Increasing salinity is likely the largest long-term
chronic water quality impairment to surface and groundwater in California’s Central
Valley.
California’s severe drought has put its water rights system under
scrutiny, raising the question whether a complete overhaul is
necessary to better allocate water use.
(Read the excerpt below from the July/August 2015 issue along
with the editor’s note. Click here
to subscribe to Western Water and get full access.)
Introduction
California’s severe drought has put its water rights system under
scrutiny, raising the question whether a complete overhaul is
necessary to better allocate water use.
This issue looks at remote sensing applications and how satellite
information enables analysts to get a better understanding of
snowpack, how much water a plant actually uses, groundwater
levels, levee stability and more.
This 3-day, 2-night tour, which we do every spring,
travels the length of the San Joaquin Valley, giving participants
a clear understanding of the State Water Project and Central
Valley Project.
Friant Dam, located just north of
Fresno, is a part of the federal Central Valley
Project and captures the upper
San Joaquin River’s flow in Millerton Lake. The 319-foot high
concrete gravity dam diverts water into the 152-mile
Friant-Kern Canal,
which delivers water south to Bakersfield, and the Madera Canal,
which runs 36 miles to the north.
This printed issue of Western Water examines
agricultural water use – its successes, the planned state
regulation to quantify its efficiency and the potential for
greater savings.
This Western Water looks at proposed new measures to deal with
the century-old problem of salinity with a special focus on San
Joaquin Valley farms and cities.
The Reclamation Act of 1902, which could arguably be described as
a progression of the credo, Manifest Destiny, transformed the
West. This issue of Western Water provides a glimpse of the past
100 years of the Reclamation Act, from the early visionaries who
sought to turn the arid West into productive farmland, to the
modern day task of providing a limited amount of water to homes,
farms and the environment. Included are discussions of various
Bureau projects and what the next century may bring in terms of
challenges and success.
30-minute DVD that traces the history of the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation and its role in the development of the West. Includes
extensive historic footage of farming and the construction of
dams and other water projects, and discusses historic and modern
day issues.
A new look for our most popular product! And it’s the perfect
gift for the water wonk in your life.
Our 24×36-inch California Water Map is widely known for being the
definitive poster that shows the integral role water plays in the
state. On this updated version, it is easier to see California’s
natural waterways and man-made reservoirs and aqueducts
– including federally, state and locally funded
projects – the wild and scenic rivers system, and
natural lakes. The map features beautiful photos of
California’s natural environment, rivers, water projects,
wildlife, and urban and agricultural uses and the
text focuses on key issues: water supply, water use, water
projects, the Delta, wild and scenic rivers and the Colorado
River.
This beautiful 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, features
a map of the San Joaquin River. The map text focuses on the San
Joaquin River Restoration Program, which aims to restore flows
and populations of Chinook salmon to the river below Friant Dam
to its confluence with the Merced River. The text discusses the
history of the program, its goals and ongoing challenges with
implementation.
This beautiful 24×36-inch poster, suitable for framing, displays
the rivers, lakes and reservoirs, irrigated farmland, urban areas
and Indian reservations within the Klamath River Watershed. The
map text explains the many issues facing this vast,
15,000-square-mile watershed, including fish restoration;
agricultural water use; and wetlands. Also included are
descriptions of the separate, but linked, Klamath Basin
Restoration Agreement and the Klamath Hydroelectric Agreement,
and the next steps associated with those agreements. Development
of the map was funded by a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
This beautiful 24×36-inch poster, suitable for framing, displays
the rivers, lakes and reservoirs, irrigated farmland, urban areas
and Indian reservations within the Truckee River Basin, including
the Newlands Project, Pyramid Lake and Lake Tahoe. Map text
explains the issues surrounding the use of the Truckee-Carson
rivers, Lake Tahoe water quality improvement efforts, fishery
restoration and the effort to reach compromise solutions to many
of these issues.
This 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, illustrates the
water resources available for Nevada cities, agriculture and the
environment. It features natural and manmade water resources
throughout the state, including the Truckee and Carson rivers,
Lake Tahoe, Pyramid Lake and the course of the Colorado River
that forms the state’s eastern boundary.
Water as a renewable resource is depicted in this 18×24 inch
poster. Water is renewed again and again by the natural
hydrologic cycle where water evaporates, transpires from plants,
rises to form clouds, and returns to the earth as precipitation.
Excellent for elementary school classroom use.
With irrigation projects that import water, farmers have
transformed millions of acres of land into highly productive
fields and orchards. But the dry climate that provides an almost
year-round farming season can hasten salt build up in soils. The
build-up of salts in poorly drained soils can decrease crop
productivity, and there are links between drainage water from
irrigated fields and harmful impacts on fish and wildlife.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the Central Valley Project
explores the history and development of the federal Central
Valley Project (CVP), California’s largest surface water delivery
system. In addition to the project’s history, the guide describes
the various facilities, operations and benefits the water
project brings to the state along with the CVP
Improvement Act (CVPIA).
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the State Water Project provides
an overview of the California-funded and constructed State Water
Project.
The State Water Project is best known for the 444-mile-long
aqueduct that provides water from the Delta to San Joaquin Valley
agriculture and southern California cities. The guide contains
information about the project’s history and facilities.
The 28-page Layperson’s Guide to Groundwater is an in-depth,
easy-to-understand publication that provides background and
perspective on groundwater. The guide explains what groundwater
is – not an underground network of rivers and lakes! – and the
history of its use in California.
The 28-page Layperson’s Guide to Water Rights Law, recognized as
the most thorough explanation of California water rights law
available to non-lawyers, traces the authority for water flowing
in a stream or reservoir, from a faucet or into an irrigation
ditch through the complex web of California water rights.
The 20-page Layperson’s Guide to Water Marketing provides
background information on water rights, types of transfers and
critical policy issues surrounding this topic. First published in
1996, the 2005 version offers expanded information on
groundwater banking and conjunctive use, Colorado River
transfers and the role of private companies in California’s
developing water market.
Order in bulk (25 or more copies of the same guide) for a reduced
fee. Contact the Foundation, 916-444-6240, for details.
The Water Education Foundation’s second edition of
the Layperson’s Guide to The Klamath River Basin is
hot off the press and available for purchase.
Updated and redesigned, the easy-to-read overview covers the
history of the region’s tribal, agricultural and environmental
relationships with one of the West’s largest rivers — and a
vast watershed that hosts one of the nation’s oldest and
largest reclamation projects.
There are two constants regarding agricultural water use –
growers will continue to come up with ever more efficient and
innovative ways to use water and they will always be pressed to
do more.
It’s safe to say the matter will not be settled anytime soon,
given all the complexities that are a part of the water use
picture today. While officials and stakeholders grapple to find a
lasting solution to California’s water problems that balances
environmental and economic needs, those who grow food and fiber
for a living do so amid a host of challenges.
Land retirement is a practice that takes agricultural lands out
of production due to poor drainage and soils containing high
levels of salt and selenium (a mineral found in soil).
Typically, landowners are paid to retire land. The purchaser,
often a local water district, then places a deed restriction on
the land to prevent growing crops with irrigation water (a source
of salt). Growers in some cases may continue to farm using rain
water, a method known as dry farming.
Evaporation ponds contain agricultural drainage water and are
used when agricultural growers do not have access to rivers for
drainage disposal.
Drainage water is the only source of water in many of these
ponds, resulting in extremely high concentrations of salts.
Concentrations of other trace elements such as selenium are also
elevated in evaporation basins, with a wide degree of variability
among basins.
Such ponds resemble wetland areas that birds use for nesting and
feeding grounds and may pose risks to waterfowl and shorebirds.
The Coachella Valley in Southern California’s Inland Empire is
one of several valleys throughout the state with a water district
established to support agriculture.
Like the others, the Coachella Valley Water District in Riverside
County delivers water to arid agricultural lands and constructs,
operates and maintains a regional agricultural drainage system.
These systems collect drainage water from individual farm drain
outlets and convey the water to a point of reuse, disposal or
dilution.
