Westlands just isn't getting that water. Farmers blame the area's blight on a "man-made drought" brought on by increasingly strict environmental regulations, but that is only the beginning of the story. She was born in Mendota, the daughter of a field worker who arrived there 38 years ago, worked the fields, and saved enough money to open up an auto shop. Is a new "normal" required? And the delta smelt, an endangered species of fish no bigger than an index finger, began disappearing as the massive pumps sucked up fish along with the water it was sending south. Most of the water that has irrigated these seemingly endless fields comes from northern California, diverted by an epic system of dams and canals born from New Deal funds. Perhaps one of the region’s greatest challenges is developing new cooperative approaches to seize these opportunities. by Amanda Fencl, Rich Pauloo, Alvar Escriva-Bou, Hervé Guillon During the 2012-2016 drought, the state received more than 2,500 domestic well failure reports, the majority of which were in the Central Valley (DWR 2018). Here we go again. To continue reading login or create an account. As farming continued to expand and California’s population surged, water use intensified. FIREBAUGH — With California entrenched in drought, San Joaquin Valley almond farmers are letting orchards dry up and in some cases making the tough call to have their trees torn out of the ground, leaving behind empty fields. Tulare County, where 65 percent of residents identify as Latino or Hispanic, is at the center of San Joaquin Valley’s drinking water crisis. By the time Borba took over his family's operation in the 1970s, the valley was already supplying 25 percent of the country's food. Since 1992, when Congress established new federal ecosystem standards, increasing amounts of water have been set aside for wildlife restoration. Agriculture is a leading economic driver and the predominant water user. In the meantime, some economic planners are eyeing the area as a potential clean energy source where almond farms could be transformed into solar farms. The San Joaquin Valley—California’s largest agricultural region and an important contributor to the nation’s food supply—is in a time of great change. Lottery. The San Joaquin Valley is particularly hard hit by nitrate: 63 percent of the state’s public water systems that report violations of health standards for the contaminant in 2015 were in the Valley. I was watching Sean Hannity tonight (9/17/2009), and have been following loosely the situation in the San Joaquin Valley of California with their water crisis over the small Delta Smelt minnow and its endangered species listing. The Friant-Kern Canal in the San Joaquin Valley is sinking as parts of the San Joaquin Valley floor collapse because of subsidence, the result of excessive groundwater pumping during the drought. Nearly all those who have lost their jobs are farm workers, who often straddle the poverty line even in boom times. Tulare County, where 65 percent of residents identify as Latino or Hispanic, is at the center of San Joaquin Valley’s drinking water crisis. The San Joaquin Valley is the fastest growing region in the state, and faces a wide range of challenges across its large expanse, from a drinking and groundwater crisis, destruction of working lands by sprawling developments, severe air pollution and extreme poverty alongside the ever-growing challenges faced by a high percentage of undocumented workers. Irrigation began in the San Joaquin Valley in the 1870s. Most eerily, around the outskirts of town, billboards and flags advertise the empty, unfinished development of single-family homes with bright green lawns, constant reminders that, on more than one front, foresight has been hard to come by in the valley. Full reservoirs and swollen rivers don't mean that much to people living in rural San Joaquin Valley, where about 1,000 people still have dry wells. It was complicated and costly, but for a long time, the system worked. SJV Water is an independent, nonprofit news site dedicated to covering water in the San Joaquin Valley. Why 'thousands' of cows are dying, sparking crisis in central San Joaquin Valley By Robert Rodriguez, The Fresno Bee 8/21/2020 Fauci worries Thanksgiving … ... people still survive on bottled water and big blue jugs in the primarily agricultural San Joaquin Valley. A 1977 photo from the San Joaquin Valley shows subsidence over time as a result of groundwater pumping. Large parts of the valley have become dependent on unsustainable pumping of groundwater. Central Valley Water Crisis Leaves Nearly 1.5 Million Without Clean Water. She's climbed the social ladder yet another rung, working at a program for immigrant families in the Firebaugh school system. Water scarcity in the San Joaquin valley: challenges and opportunities Farmers in one of America's most valuable farming regions are suffering but … Opponents, who beat back the idea in a 1982 referendum, see it as a destructive, expensive water grab by southern users. But the expenses—and the poor quality of the underground water—would drive the business into the ground in the long term. But that may be all that the Westlands district can hope for. Communities across the San Joaquin Valley lack clean, safe drinking water - in their homes, schools, and where they work. On February 23, 2014, in an Associated Press article by Scott Smith we learned that …. From there, giant dams and pumps suck the water southward through veinlike aqueducts to 25 million people and more than 5 million acres of farmland. "There's a reason some of the land in Westlands was the last land in California to be irrigated," says Nelson, the NRDC analyst. Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Emergency Water Delivery Act. Photograph: USGS Over the past century, groundwater levels … There's also the crushing confluence of political negligence, drought, and a century's worth of unbridled growth. All rights belong to Devin Nunes. Community Power. And it may be an inevitable thing.". In the San Joaquin Valley, nearly 80 percent of disadvantaged communities without potable water are less than one mile away from other communities with safe drinking water… The epicenter of the state’s drinking water catastrophe is in the San Joaquin Valley, where 200,000 people have struggled to obtain clean, safe water for decades. Put simply, a livable future in California depends on clean, reliable water, which is one of the main reasons why SGMA was passed. If that's the case, farmers should expect droughts more frequently, and Westlands may have to come around to the notion that they will never receive all the water that their contracts call for. For over 100 years, California has drained San Joaquin Valley rivers and Rather, he says, farm employment this year has actually gone up, making it one of the few success stories in a region pummeled by the mortgage crisis. This year, Westlands is down to nearly nothing, and its farmers are livid. Since then, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed how deeply public health, economic security, and clean water are intertwined. Cortez says he has worked just three days all year. Farms must also respond to a variety of related resource and environmental challenges. ... Dry year spells light initial water allocation for Valley farmers. Most people in the valley blame their water woes on those lawsuits and the fish. This summer, the town's only bank announced it was shutting down because of insufficient deposits. Mayor Robert Silva says the best bet is the federal prison under construction on the outskirts of town, a project he courted, thinking it will spark an economic revival as hotels and restaurants spring up to accommodate prison visitors.As the town waits to see if Silva's development predictions come true, residents face a crushing tide. Central Valley agriculture faces a looming existential water crisis from the interlocking problems of drought, climate change, and falling underground water tables. The water crisis in the San Joaquin Valley of California was explained in this March 2014 article by the Lemoore Chamber of Commerce. The San Joaquin Valley—California’s largest agricultural region and an important contributor to the nation’s food supply—is facing growing water stress and a number of related environmental and public health problems. “Nitrate is the most critical, the most immediate contaminant in the San Joaquin Valley,” Harter says. That figure will likely get worse once the water agencies begin implementing new rules this summer designed to protect other fish such as sturgeon, salmon, and steelhead trout. Over the last three decades, however, the valley's explosive growth has caused rivers to run dry, dead fish to accumulate near the water pumps, and chronic water shortages. A 1977 photo from the San Joaquin Valley shows subsidence over time as a result of groundwater pumping. The causation and effects of the central valley water crisis. Almond Farmers Are Uprooting Crops Prematurely Due To Skyrocketing Water Costs. ... Region’s first chaplain residency program starts during coronavirus crisis Community Medical Centers 1276. The result is a patchwork valley, where a Westlands farmer like Mark Borba is forced to fallow land while his neighbor has excess water that he can sell at a hefty profit. Page 4 The Struggle for Water Justice in California’s San Joaquin Valley - February 2018 Letter from the Director of the Center for Regional Change Dear Colleagues, We are honored to offer you this report, The Struggle for Water Justice in California’s San Joaquin Valley: … "There's a myth in the valley about the delta smelt, and it's really a tragedy," he says. Led by Congressmen David G. Valadao (CA-21), Kevin McCarthy (CA-23), and Devin Nunes (CA-22), H.R. But that may not be a bad thing in the long run. Now, nothing," says Luis Cortez, 52. Latecomers got junior rights, meaning they'd be the first to get cut in a dry. by Amanda Fencl, Rich Pauloo, Alvar Escriva-Bou, Hervé Guillon During the 2012-2016 drought, the state received more than 2,500 domestic well failure reports, the majority of which were in the Central Valley (DWR 2018). A drainage system could address the problem, but, again, nobody seems to want to pay for one. The soils, the climate, the crop variability. Since then, Westlands has received on average about half as much water as the 1.2 million acre-feet per year it ordered up in its contract, forcing farmers to rely on expensive pumps that suck up water from the aquefier and water transfers from their better-connected competitors to the east. Other critics, like Nelson, say the drop in water supply caused by climate change would render such mega-investments moot. Included in our submittal, as referenced, is an evolving participant list of organizations and individuals throughout the region that are You can't find that just anywhere," he says. Several broad strategies can help address the valley’s water imbalance and related problems: Valley farmers and residents have a history of creatively adapting to changing conditions. Others nod in agreement. Nowhere in California is the hospital crisis from COVID-19 worse than in the San Joaquin Valley, where intensive care bed capacity hit 0% this weekend. Special Report: Life in the nation’s economic ground zero. The surface water is diverted principally from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the San Joaquin, Kings, Kern and Feather Rivers. Lawsuits over the fish filed by environmental groups and water contractors multiplied, and court-imposed restrictions and regulations began siphoning off more and more of the 6 million acre-feet of water exported through the river basin each year. Grants This left thousands of people without a reliable source of drinking water for months and, in some cases, years. Sponsorships, Informing and improving public policy through independent, objective, nonpartisan research, All Contents © Public Policy Institute of California 2020 |, Water Stress and a Changing San Joaquin Valley. California’s San Joaquin Valley farmers grow 25 % of the Nation’s food supply. I don't think that's where America wants to go.". "I don't mean for a moment to suggest that those small communities on the west side aren't seeing impacts; they are. To at least a few teams of researchers, ending the conversation with a doomsday prediction for agriculture on the west side of the valley is insufficient. State officials recently announced they intend to start preliminary drilling for ground tests this month, while state lawmakers recently unveiled five new major water bills focused on the delta. Lottery. Most of these sub basins are located in the San Joaquin Valley. California legislators stepped up to try to curb groundwater use, passing the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) in 2014, the state's first attempt at regulating groundwater use. But if we don't stay here to make that change, then the change is never going to happen. The Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Emergency Water Delivery Act promotes water policies that facilitate the delivery of California’s abundant supply of water, as well as support the implementation of an economically feasible and environmentally sustainable river restoration on the San Joaquin River. The valley is home to a $20 billion crop industry; the San Joaquin region alone produces more in farm sales than any other individual state in the country. Even if that comes through, though, there's no guarantee all of Westlands would reap the benefits. Climate models by the U.S. Water & Drought. In the San Joaquin Valley, 95% of communities rely on groundwater as their main drinking water source. Like the farmers and engineers who, a century ago, looked at the desert and imagined farms, these teams, which pull together researchers at federal and state agencies, California universities, and think tanks into a planning group called the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP), say a good plan and some new hardware is all the valley needs to conquer its water challenge. It was one of the most ambitious water systems ever built, and the San Joaquin Valley became, in the words of historian Kevin Starr, "the most productive unnatural environment on Earth.". "Nitrate is the most critical, the most immediate contaminant in the San Joaquin Valley," Harter says. Put simply, a livable future in California depends on clean, reliable water, which is one of the main reasons why SGMA was passed. Even after three years of drought, the Central Valley Project (CVP) is still making half of its water deliveries to farms in the valley. The drought did kickstart a line of funding in 2014 via Proposition 1 , which allocated $7.5 billion for water projects, including $260 million specifically for drinking water. ", You have 4 free articles remaining this month, Sign-up to our daily newsletter for more articles like this + access to 5 extra articles. It looks like it snowed." The San Joaquin Valley in California has the highest rates of drinking water contamination and the highest amount of public water systems with maximum contaminant level violations in the state. Commentary: Cooperation Needed on San Joaquin Valley Water, Video: Water Stress in San Joaquin Valley, Donate Now It is middle of a Wednesday afternoon. As productive as the farms in the district have been, bad drainage underneath means the soil fills up with salt, boron, selenium, and other minerals—toxins that make plants shrivel just as quickly as a drought. Water scarcity in the San Joaquin valley: challenges and opportunities Farmers in one of America's most valuable farming regions are suffering but … delta smelt, an endangered species of fish no bigger than an index finger, Democrats and Liberals Must Get Back To Economic Basics, Democrats Must Emphasize Boldness, Not Moderation. Playing cards and a small wad of dollar bills sit on a pool table at Los Kiki, a dusty pool hall at the end of the main drag in Mendota, Calif. A breeze blows through a broken window, past six men hunched over the table, beer bottles in their hands. More than 50% of them – 140 systems – were in the San Joaquin Valley. See why nearly a quarter of a million subscribers begin their day with the Starting 5. Today, it is a green expanse of agricultural empires. Water is a complex, crucial topic for our valley and we strive to explain water topics in an engaging, understandable way. Their water sits underground in the nation's second-largest groundwater aquifer, which was mined and dramatically drawn down by farmers protecting the valley's $40 billion-a-year agriculture industry. Borba Farms started off with about 20 milk cows and 30 acres of land in 1910, at a time when farmers who had tapped an underground aquifer were kicking off a race to cultivate. The Valley economy depends on the farming industry and farmers depend on Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta water. Notable issues include nitrate contamination of groundwater—a special challenge in poor, rural communities—as well as accumulating salinity in soils, local air pollution, and the broad decline in aquatic, wetland, and terrestrial ecosystems. The Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Emergency Water Delivery Act is a bill that tries to address the severe California drought.The bill would change some environmental regulations and stop or delay a project designed to restore a dried up section of the San Joaquin River (a habitat for some salmon). Water & Drought. Nelson contends that the fish aren't the problem; it's the way the system is set up. about 3 years ago TURN YOUR WATER ON - LET THE WATER FLOW. 3964, the Sacramento–San Joaquin Valley Emergency Water Delivery Act bill was approved on February 5, 2014 by The House of Representatives enacting a comprehensive solution to the drought crisis plaguing California and has … As the public schools lose students, officials worry funding cuts will follow. The Farmers have water rights to that water. North of the valley, where the canal would be built, not everyone is so enthusiastic. And while Westlands has adopted some of the most water-efficient irrigation methods in the business, other farmers in the valley with senior water rights are under no pressure to conserve. Experts on three separate panels told the crowd that farmers, environmentalists and suppliers will have to team up to tackle the new groundwater regulations. Over 90% of the following US crops are grown in the San Joaquin Valley: cannery tomatoes, almonds & pistachios. In meeting today’s challenges, there are numerous opportunities to tackle problems cooperatively. Why 'thousands' of cows are dying, sparking crisis in central San Joaquin Valley By Robert Rodriguez, The Fresno Bee 8/21/2020 Fauci worries Thanksgiving … The BDCP has missed benchmarks, but there's evidence the governor's office is behind the idea. That towns like Mendota even exist reflects the extraordinary ambition that built the American West. Two droughts since 1975 have caused surface-water deliveries in the valley to be sharply curtailed, and demonstrated the valley’s vulnerability to continued land subsidence when ground-water pumpage is increased. They're seeing the impact of drought, and those impacts are real and they're hard." Clean Water Plan for Long-Suffering San Joaquin Valley Towns Derailed July 20, 2017 T is for Toxic: Danger Lurking in California School Drinking Fountains July 5, 2017 Systemic Failure: Why 1 Million Californians Lack Safe Drinking Water July 5, 2017 Living in California’s San Joaquin Valley May Harm Your Health July 5, 2017 Business ... the San Joaquin Valley region of 7 million people had 0.7% as of Thursday. In most years since the mid-1980s, groundwater has been used faster than it is being replenished (“groundwater overdraft”). "Before, it was good. While AGUA is a regional, grassroots coalition of impacted community residents, CWLN is composed of elected officials at water decision-making agencies. Those plans, too, are preliminary. A century ago, much of the San Joaquin Valley was an undeveloped dust bowl, its few small farming communities clustered around natural water sources. The San Joaquin Valley’s water crisis threatens the economic, social, and environmental health of the entire region; it is both unprecedented and continues to worsen. The authors presented their report “Water and the Future of the San Joaquin Valley” to a room full of valley farmers and water experts gathered at the Fresno State event on Friday. "No drought comes to you with a label that says, 'Brought to you by climate change,' " says Nelson. The San Joaquin Valley is particularly hard hit by nitrate: 63 percent of the state's public water systems that report violations of health standards for the contaminant in 2015 were in the Valley. ... Region’s first chaplain residency program starts during coronavirus crisis Community Medical Centers 1276. Experts on three separate panels told the crowd that farmers, environmentalists and suppliers will have to team up to tackle the new groundwater regulations. After three years of natural drought, she says, it's ruinous. A University of California, Berkeley analysis claims that the economic impact of the water reductions on the valley's agricultural production tops $48 million. The law identifies 127 medium- or high-priority basins that acco… But not all water consumers are created equally. Chavarria doesn't let her children out alone, and now her husband wants to leave, too. Central Valley Water Crisis Leaves Nearly 1.5 Million Without Clean Water. "So, yes, the valley's farm economy itself is probably going to shrink some. Much of the media and many politicians blame the San Joaquin Valley's water shortage on drought, but that is merely an aggravating factor. Instead, starting in 2000, Westlands and the Bureau of Reclamation negotiated a deal to permanently retire from farming 100,000 acres of land in the district in return for compensation from the federal government. Yet others, like the University of the Pacific's Jeffrey Michael, who does business forecasting, note that the issues facing Westlands are hardly valley-wide problems. Much of the media and many politicians blame the San Joaquin Valley's water shortage on drought, but that is merely an aggravating factor. We build community power by partnering directly with impacted residents in the San Joaquin Valley, uniting through the AGUA Coalition (Asociación de Gente Unida por el Agua) and the Community Water Leaders Network (CWLN). EPA is working with other agencies and local communities to address the unique environmental challenges in the valley, including some of the nation’s worst air quality, high rates of childhood asthma, and contaminated drinking water. But the valley also has a complex mix of entities and institutions managing water and land. As farming continued to expand and California’s population surged, water use intensified. Now, as residents wonder if normalcy will ever return, planners are forced to consider a far uglier question: should it? 559.924.1225 [email protected] Bressler & Company Certified Public Accountants In fact, access to the water is essentially based on a squatters' rights notion: "First in rights, first in time." Residents in small, low-income, predominately Latino towns regularly receive drinking water with nitrate, arsenic and other contaminants over legal health limits and struggle with old, dilapidated pipes. Westlands, which has a contract for water delivery with the federal government, is the most junior of the bunch. Legislative changes are required if the San Joaquin Valley is to have long-term, sustainable solutions to their drinking water crisis. In the 20th century, the federal Central Valley Project and State Water Project (about 30 percent of SWP water is used for irrigation) helped deliver water to the valley.