Central Valley Agricultural Issues Water

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Central Valley Agricultural IssuesWater

• The Lifeblood of Agriculture and the San Joaquin
  Valley.
• If people think the energy crisis was a crisis,
  wait until we start having problems with water.
• Management of our water resources is crucial
  because jobs are closely linked to water in the
  local economy.

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California Agriculture and Its Use of Water

• The Water Fact Book
• Produced by the California Water Coalition

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California Farmers and Water Allocation

• Agriculture is Californias most reliable
  industry
• Agriculture is the No. 1 renewable resource
  industry.
• An acre of farmland can use approximately the
  same amount of water each year as an acre of
  single family homes.

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• Average annual rainfall statewide produces 200
  million acre-feet only 35 or 71 million
  acre-feet runoff and not all of it can be
  developed for urban or agricultural use.
• In an average year, about 30 of Californias
  urban and agricultural applied water is provided
  by groundwater extraction.

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Water Use in California
Urban 11
Urban 15
Environment 46
Environment 46
Agriculture 43
Agriculture 39
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Sample Daily Menu

• Dinner
• Lasagna
• Pasta (4 oz.) 71.8
• Tomato sauce (6 oz.) 38.7
• Cheese (3 oz.) 168.0
• Ground beef (3 oz.) 82.5
• Garlic bread
• Bread (1 slice) 10.6
• Butter, 1 pat (.36 oz.) 45.7
• Salad
• Lettuce (1/2 cup) 1.5
• Tomato (2 oz.) 3.8
• Milk (8 fl. Oz.) 48.3
• Dinner Total 470.9

Breakfast Orange juice (8 fl. oz.)
49.1 One egg 62.7 One
toast and butter 56.3 1/4
cantaloupe 40.0 Breakfast Total
208.1
Lunch BBQ chicken sandwich
Chicken (4 oz.) 115.1 Wheat Bread
(2 slices) 21.2 Cheese (1
slice) 56.0 Tomato (1 oz.)
1.9 Lettuce (1/4 cup)
.7 BBQ sauce Catsup (1/2
oz.) 1.6 White sugar
4.7 Orange (4.6 oz.) 13.8
Water (12 fl. oz.) .2 Lunch Total
215.1
Gallons of water to produce Breakfast 208.1 Lunch
215.1 Dinner 470.9 Daily Total 894.1
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Irrigation Efficiency

• Runoff and percolation into groundwater make
  water available for other uses.
• Farmers use water-efficient and cost effective
  irrigation management practices
  (SurfaceSprinklerMicro-irrigation)

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• Water saving (conservation) through irrigation
  improvements and crop selection cannot be
  expanded indefinitely. Eventually, reductions in
  agricultural water use can come about only by
  reducing irrigated acreage.

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Cost of Water

• Water is essential for all economic development.
• Many industries use public water facilities.
• State tax revenues result from access to water
  facilities.
• Cities incur water costs unique to their systems.

10

• Agricultural water is the first to be cut in
  times of shortageCity water users have priority.
• Increasing the cost of farmers water increases
  food and fiber prices while putting some out of
  business.

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Water Transfers

• Water transfers have been taking place for many
  years.
• Transfers and water conservation alone cannot
  meet Californias growing water needs.
• Transfers are a solution to a short-term shortage
  of water.

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• Large-scale transfers of water from agriculture
  could potentially devastate the economics of
  agriculture-based communities.
• Proposed Westside Land Retirementto take water
  for other uses.
• Transfers require a source of water. The lack of
  adequate water supplies to meet all needs is
  still the primary issue with transfer proposals.

13
Crop Choices

• Farm crops represent over one-third of all State
  agricultural outputCotton, Rice, along with
  Alfalfa and Irrigated Pasture which support the
  dairy industry.
• Consumer demand, market value, soil and weather
  factors are the best determinants of crop choices.

14

• Some crops considered low value meet important
  needsi.e. Grains, Rice, Irrigated Pasture,
  Cotton Corn Silage.
• Californias livestock and poultry industries
  need more feed than California farmers can
  provide.

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Agriculture Californias Economy

• California is the nations No. 1 Agricultural
  exporter, exporting over 20 of what is produced
  in the state.
• California agricultural exports were valued at
  over 6.6 billion in 2000.

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• The 27.3 billion contributed by Agriculture to
  Californias economy is only the actual value of
  all farm products generated by farming
  activities.
• San Joaquin Valley counties 2000 gross
  agricultural revenue equaled 14.42 billion.

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• Agriculture has an overall economic impact of
  over 100 billion by creating jobs for products
  and services. Provides 1 out of every 10 jobs in
  the State.
• Approximately 30 of the land in California is
  agricultural, heavily concentrated in rural
  countiesSan Joaquin Valley

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• Loss of water to agriculture would dry up the
  economics of these countiesa plentiful water
  supply is economically important.

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What percentage of total employmentcomes from
agriculture labor andindustry employment?

• Colusa 28.0
• Glenn 18.2
• Kern 17.8
• Merced 13.6
• San Benito 11.0
• Santa Cruz 6.8
• Sutter/Yuba 12.1

• Fresno/Madera 17.1
• Imperial 34.3
• Kings 21.2
• Monterey 15.8
• San Joaquin 7.0
• Stanislaus 8.4
• Tulare 25.2

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Increasing Water Supply

• California must develop a more expansive water
  storage system.
• Expand reservoirs and develop new water
  facilitiesLast major dam built in 1979 was New
  Melones on the Stanislaus River.

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• Increase off-stream storage and water recharge.
• Obtain FundingFederal, State, Water Bond, other
  sources to move forward with increasing the
  usable water supply in California and San Joaquin
  Valley

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Summary

• Farming is a capital-intensive business,
  requiring large investments in land and
  equipment.
• To obtain credit necessary to finance these
  inputs, farmers must ensure they have a crop to
  sell every year.
• Resources, like a dependable water supply, are
  essential to this endeavor.

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• Declining water supply reliability for
  Agriculture is a critical concern.
• Declining water supply reliability for
  Agriculture is a critical concern.
• Without waterwe will not survive as an industry,
  economy or population.
• Agriculture ranks among the most crucial of our
  State, County and Nations industries and yet,
  its reliability and productivity are often taken
  for granted.