Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Can the Valley Balance People, Water, Ag, and Environment?
GV-Wire-1
By gvwire
Published 6 years ago on
February 22, 2019

Share

The San Joaquin Valley can overcome big challenges facing agriculture, the environment, and rural public health if major stakeholders embrace creative solutions to relieve stress on its water system.
However, forging agreement on these solutions won’t be easy as they will involve significant changes in land use and water management.
And recharging the Valley’s overdrafted groundwater basins likely will require the retirement of at least 500,000 acres from farm production.
These are some of the conclusions of “Water and the Future of the San Joaquin Valley,” a report issued Wednesday by the Public Policy Institute of California.
To better understand the challenges and the potential solutions for the Valley, we recommend that you watch the PPIC video with this story.

Report Identifies Three Key Challenges

Here are the three biggest challenges identified in the report:
— Balancing water supplies and demands. To close the groundwater deficit, groundwater sustainability agencies in the valley’s overdrafted basins will have to augment supplies, reduce demands, or use some combination of these two approaches.
— Addressing groundwater quality challenges. Poor groundwater quality impairs drinking water supplies in disadvantaged rural communities, reduces long-term agricultural prosperity, and degrades ecosystems. Providing safe drinking water is an urgent priority. The necessary coordination will be challenging because the various programs addressing Valley water quality issues are carried out by numerous local and regional entities, whose lines of responsibility and geographic boundaries do not neatly align.
— Fostering beneficial water and land use transitions. Effectively addressing water scarcity and the resulting land use changes in the Valley offers opportunities to put lands coming out of production to good use—and gain “more pop per drop” from limited water resources.
 

DON'T MISS

The Deadly Truth: Record Number of Journalists Killed in 2024

DON'T MISS

CHP K-9 Seizes 50 Pounds of Illicit Mushrooms in Fresno County

DON'T MISS

Saint Agnes to Expand Teaching for Clovis Med School Students

DON'T MISS

Belarus Releases 3 People, Including an American and a Jailed Journalist

DON'T MISS

Need Down Payment Help? Fresno Housing Has $25K for First-Time Homebuyers

DON'T MISS

Pentagon’s New Media Rotation Program Boots NPR, NY Times, NBC News

DON'T MISS

Bredefeld Wants Less Scrutiny for Supervisors’ Discretionary Budget. Pacheco Calls It ‘Ironic.’

DON'T MISS

Senate Confirms Gabbard as Trump’s Director of National Intelligence

DON'T MISS

President Trump and Putin Have Agreed to Start Negotiations to End the Ukraine War

DON'T MISS

Google Calendar Users No Longer See Default Entries for Events Like Pride, Black History Month

UP NEXT

CHP K-9 Seizes 50 Pounds of Illicit Mushrooms in Fresno County

UP NEXT

Saint Agnes to Expand Teaching for Clovis Med School Students

UP NEXT

Belarus Releases 3 People, Including an American and a Jailed Journalist

UP NEXT

Need Down Payment Help? Fresno Housing Has $25K for First-Time Homebuyers

UP NEXT

Pentagon’s New Media Rotation Program Boots NPR, NY Times, NBC News

UP NEXT

Bredefeld Wants Less Scrutiny for Supervisors’ Discretionary Budget. Pacheco Calls It ‘Ironic.’

UP NEXT

Senate Confirms Gabbard as Trump’s Director of National Intelligence

UP NEXT

President Trump and Putin Have Agreed to Start Negotiations to End the Ukraine War

UP NEXT

Google Calendar Users No Longer See Default Entries for Events Like Pride, Black History Month

UP NEXT

Apple Changes Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America on Maps

Belarus Releases 3 People, Including an American and a Jailed Journalist

1 hour ago

Need Down Payment Help? Fresno Housing Has $25K for First-Time Homebuyers

1 hour ago

Pentagon’s New Media Rotation Program Boots NPR, NY Times, NBC News

2 hours ago

Bredefeld Wants Less Scrutiny for Supervisors’ Discretionary Budget. Pacheco Calls It ‘Ironic.’

2 hours ago

Senate Confirms Gabbard as Trump’s Director of National Intelligence

3 hours ago

President Trump and Putin Have Agreed to Start Negotiations to End the Ukraine War

4 hours ago

Google Calendar Users No Longer See Default Entries for Events Like Pride, Black History Month

4 hours ago

Apple Changes Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America on Maps

4 hours ago

Kevin Durant Becomes 8th in NBA History to Score 30,000 Points

4 hours ago

Too Few Tents Entering Gaza Threatens the Truce. Here’s What’s Happening

4 hours ago

The Deadly Truth: Record Number of Journalists Killed in 2024

Last year marked a grim milestone for journalists worldwide. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 2024 was the deadliest...

43 minutes ago

43 minutes ago

The Deadly Truth: Record Number of Journalists Killed in 2024

A CHP K-9 seized 50 pounds of illicit mushrooms worth $80,000 during a traffic stop on I-5 in Fresno County, leading to the arrest of Phillip Yoon, 35, of Hayward. (CHP)
1 hour ago

CHP K-9 Seizes 50 Pounds of Illicit Mushrooms in Fresno County

1 hour ago

Saint Agnes to Expand Teaching for Clovis Med School Students

1 hour ago

Belarus Releases 3 People, Including an American and a Jailed Journalist

1 hour ago

Need Down Payment Help? Fresno Housing Has $25K for First-Time Homebuyers

2 hours ago

Pentagon’s New Media Rotation Program Boots NPR, NY Times, NBC News

2 hours ago

Bredefeld Wants Less Scrutiny for Supervisors’ Discretionary Budget. Pacheco Calls It ‘Ironic.’

Tulsi Gabbard, President Donald Trump's choice to be the Director of National Intelligence, arrives to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee for her confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP/John McDonnell)
3 hours ago

Senate Confirms Gabbard as Trump’s Director of National Intelligence

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend