“Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink,” wrote Samuel Taylor Coleridge in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. California’s farmers are feeling a similar sentiment this year with water allotments cut shorter than expected after a winter with abundant rain and snow.
California is the produce basket of the United States. More than a third of the fresh vegetables sold in the United States and almost three-quarters of the fresh fruit and nuts originate in California. Without proper water allotments to keep farms functioning, the rest of the U.S. could face a significant food shortage in the near- and long-terms.
In late June the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced an update to water allocations for portions of the Central Valley from 40 percent of normal to 50 percent. The water allocations for the region are also shared with fish which receive a guaranteed 800,000-acre feet of water without interruption. Some contract-holding water users in the region received none of their water allotment for the year, including some of those on the south side of the delta with “Class 2” contracts.
The north-south movement of water was hampered, in part, by a large number of Delta Smelt being present this spring. The endangered species curtailed the pumping of water from northern reservoirs south. That, in turn, curtailed water allotments to southern delta water contract holders. Historically, the solution for southern delta farmers has been to tap into the aquifer through wells for water but the wells have not recharged sufficiently for pumping to continue at previous rates, leaving farmers with few opportunities for replacement irrigation.
As cycles of water availability continue to be an issue in California, how water resources are managed and allocated will be an argument that continues to be had. The sharing of a finite resource is challenging but can be done when infrastructure and prioritization of water use is put in place to ensure water is getting to every pot that needs it.
Unlike some other Western states, California’s water code notes that use of water for “domestic purposes is the highest use” of water with “the next highest use” being irrigation.” This notation was written in the same year the water code was established – 1943 – and, while it has been expanded upon through additional entries, it has not been altered.
Finding a balance between the early acknowledgement that people and irrigators need to be prioritized and taking care of our unique species is important. The Endangered Species Act has become used more often as a bludgeon to keep land, water, and other resources locked up rather than being used for its true purpose – species recovery. Whether that is the case with Delta Smelt is yet to be seen.
Pam Lewison is the Director of Agriculture Research at the Washington Policy Center and a Pacific Research Institute fellow. She co-owns and operates a family farm in Eastern Washington state.
