LATEST DROUGHT NEWS: DUST BOWL COMPARISON, IMPACTS ON LOCAL GROWERS, AND WATER THEFT CONCERNS

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By Miriam Raftery

April 12, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – As California’s record-setting drought continues, the bad news just keeps piling on. Here are the latest twists making news around the state.

California's state climatologist Michael Anderson warned top state officials last week that the latest drought figures are “right on par with what was the Dust Bowl.” The statement came during a briefing organized by the Assn. of California Water Agencies, UT San Diego reports.

The state’s farmers have been hit hard.  John Laird, state secretary for natural resources, said the agricultural industry has faced a $1.5 billion loss, laying off 17,000 farm workers. Statewide, 400,000 acres are fallowed, meaning no crops were planted there.

Some San Diego water agencies and growers may be hit particularly hard by the Governor’s order to cut water use 25%. So the San Diego County Water Authority is asking state water officials to change proposed regulations that would punish those water agencies and individuals that have already been conserving water and investing in new water supplies.

Local agencies that receive water from the SDCWA would have to cut back 20 percent to 35 percent under the proposed restrictions, the Ramona Sentinel reports.

San Diego County is reportedly using 12 percent less water than in 1990, despite a population gain of 700,000 and an 80% increase in gross domestic product. The County Water Authority has invested in new water sources such as expanding the San Vicente Reservoir and building a desalination plant in Carlsbad.

The County Water Authority wants the state water board to give credit to local water agencies that invested in the desalination plant.

Among the hardest hit could be Valley Center farmers. The Valley Center Municipal Water District is classified as urban, even though 70 percent of its water is used for agriculture. If the rules are not changed, the district would have to cut water use 35 percent. That would force some growers to let avocado and citrus orchards die.

Garay Arant, general manager for the district, objects to the state treating agricultural use the same as ornamental landscaping.  He says, “Even though San Diego County agriculture is worth $1.85 billion farm gate value and is the 11th largest agricultural county in the state, our ag is still looked at as urban irrigation,” UT San Diego reports.

State water officials are slated to take action on conservation regulations May 5, with regulations set to go into effect on June 1st.

Meanwhile, law enforcement in some areas has sounded the alarm over water theft.  In Madera County, where some wells have run dry, KQED TV reports that thieves are targeting rural farms – stealing water hoses and pumps.  Residents are asked to report suspicious water pumping and well drilling.

Madera County’s District Attorney, David Linn, says “We want to stop the wholesale planned attempt by water drillers to essentially tap out entire neighborhoods of homes without proper legal authority.”

Meanwhile in the San Joaquin Delta, huge amounts of delta water have gone missing.  Federal water allocations for farmers in the area have fallen to zero, leading some to suspect that desperate farmers may be pumping out water from the delta – water that is allocated for other areas including southern California. Associated Press reports that the state is currently conducting an investigation into the missing water, after receiving complaints from two major water agencies.

 

 


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