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.

California Agriculture and Its Use of Water

• The Water Fact Book

• Produced by the California Water Coalition

California Farmers and Water Allocation

• Agriculture is California’s 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.

• 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 California’s urban and agricultural applied water is provided by groundwater extraction.

Water Use in California

1995 2020

Environment46%

Environment46%

Urban11%

Urban15%

Agriculture43%

Agriculture39%

Sample Daily MenuDinner

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 produceBreakfast 208.1Lunch 215.1Dinner 470.9

Daily Total 894.1

Irrigation Efficiency

• Runoff and percolation into groundwater make water available for other uses.

• Farmers use water-efficient and cost effective irrigation management practices (Surface—Sprinkler—Micro-irrigation)

• 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.

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.

• Agricultural water is the first to be cut in times of shortage—City water users have priority.

• Increasing the cost of farmer’s water increases food and fiber prices while putting some out of business.

Water Transfers

• Water transfers have been taking place for many years.

• Transfers and water conservation alone cannot meet California’s growing water needs.

• Transfers are a solution to a short-term shortage of water.

• Large-scale transfers of water from agriculture could potentially devastate the economics of agriculture-based communities.

• Proposed Westside Land Retirement—to 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.

Crop Choices• Farm crops represent over one-third

of all State agricultural output—Cotton, 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.

• Some crops considered “low value” meet important needs—i.e. Grains, Rice, Irrigated Pasture, Cotton Corn Silage.

• California’s livestock and poultry industries need more feed than California farmers can provide.

Agriculture California’s Economy

• California is the nation’s 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.

• The $27.3 billion contributed by Agriculture to California’s 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.

• 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 counties—San Joaquin Valley

• Loss of water to agriculture would “dry” up the economics of these counties—a plentiful water supply is economically important.

What percentage of total employmentcomes from agriculture labor and

industry 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

Increasing Water Supply

• California must develop a more expansive water storage system.

• Expand reservoirs and develop new water facilities—Last major dam built in 1979 was New Melones on the Stanislaus River.

• Increase off-stream storage and water recharge.

• Obtain Funding—Federal, State, Water Bond, other sources to move forward with increasing the usable water supply in California and San Joaquin Valley

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.

• Declining water supply reliability for Agriculture is a critical concern.

• Declining water supply reliability for Agriculture is a critical concern.

• Without water—we will not survive as an industry, economy or population.

• Agriculture ranks among the most crucial of our State, County and Nation’s industries; and yet, its reliability and productivity are often taken for granted.