Not all farmland in the San Joaquin Valley will survive in a post-SGMA world. Estimates are that the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act will force between 500,000 and 1 million acres of farmland out of production to save groundwater. Which lands and what will become of those lands are major question...
Proposed Agreement Could Boost Funds To Fix Friant-Kern Canal
In what was hailed as a “landmark agreement,” farmers in an area of southern Tulare County blamed for sinking the Friant-Kern Canal from excessive groundwater pumping will chip in a hefty amount to help pay for a fix. How hefty could be decided by their payment choice. A longer-term payment...
California Farming Country Buckles Under COVID-19. Will Pandemic Make or Break the Valley?
By Dale Kalser, Manuela Tobias, and Tony Bizjak She was afraid of catching the coronavirus – so fearful, in fact, that she switched jobs to pack tomatoes for an employer who seemed to be taking the right precautions. But Maria Claudia Garcia got sick anyway. A farmworker from Venezuela living in the San...
Could ‘Angel Investors’ Buy a Piece of Friant-Kern Canal?
An investor funding proposal that could substantially increase the Friant-Kern Canal’s historic flow capacity is gaining interest among the Friant Water Authority’s member districts. In theory, that investor money could bump the amount of water that has historically flowed down the canal on the Central Valley’s eastern flank by up...
Temperance Flat Dam Put on the Shelf Indefinitely
An investment analysis that looked at how much it would cost water users to build and operate the proposed Temperance Flat Dam northeast of Fresno without government funding was finished earlier this year and quietly passed among water districts, which just as quietly asked the federal government to shelve work...
How Many Valley Drinking Water Wells Will Go Dry in 20 Years?
If all goes according to plan — actually 26 groundwater sustainability plans — between 46,000 and nearly 130,000 Central Valley residents could be out of water by 2040, according to a new report released by the Water Foundation. Those sustainability plans are supposed to bring the Valley’s depleted aquifers into...
Ag Giants Boswell, Vidovich Sling Mud at Each Other
Two giant Central Valley farming companies are slinging serious mud at one another over groundwater. And, in a rare break with tradition, they’re doing it in public. The fight has spilled out in public comments on the Tulare Lake Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plan, which covers most of Kings County. The...
It’s Farmers vs. Farmers in Giant Game of SGMA Dodgeball
There is no tougher playground than California’s water world. Just take a look at the zingers flying back and forth between water districts on one another’s groundwater sustainability plans posted on the Department of Water Resources’ website. “It’s like a giant game of dodgeball,” said Dana Munn, General Manager of...
Groundwater Might Be Newest Cash Crop for Valley Farmers
San Joaquin Valley farmers may soon have another crop to sell along with almonds, tomatoes, and peppers — the groundwater beneath their land. Proposed groundwater markets have popped up in just about every groundwater sustainability plan (GSP) filed with the state Jan. 31. One such market is about to launch its...
Without Collaboration, SGMA Could Fallow 1 Million Farm Acres
If agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley is going to survive, water leaders need to get cozy with new ideas and new allies. And, yes, that means environmentalists. “Historically, water supplies have been developed in a vacuum,” said Eric Averett, general manager of Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District, at the...