A warming planet is worsening drought in California. After the driest January and February in documented state history, “Californians should plan for a third year of drought conditions,” said Dept. of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth in a statement. “A significantly below-average snowpack combined with already low reservoir levels make it critical that all Californians step up and conserve water every day to help the state meet the challenges of severe drought.”
Because of the Golden State drought, the US Bureau of Reclamation has cut 2022 water supply allocations for Central Valley Project contractors. “We began the 2022 water year with low CVP reservoir storage and some weather whiplash, starting with a record day of Sacramento rainfall in October and snow-packed December storms to a very dry January and February, which are on pace to be the driest on record,” said Regional Director Ernest Conan, in a prepared statement. “Further, the December storms disproportionately played out this year in the headwaters—heavy in the American River Basin and unfortunately light in the upper Sacramento River Basin, which feeds into Shasta Reservoir, the cornerstone of the CVP.”
Contractors north and south of the Delta will receive 0% of their contract total, according to the BOR. Meanwhile, contractors north of the Delta will receive necessary water allocation for public health and safety needs, the BOR reports.
Tony Azevedo is farm manager of the Stone Land Company, a 7,000-acre family enterprise in King’s County in the Central Valley. Tomatoes, onions, pistachios, almonds and cotton grow at this fourth-generation farm.
As a farmer in the Westland Water District, Azevedo is dealing with the reductions of CVP water allocations on different levels. First, he plans to idle about 1,500 acres of his acreage. Azevedo will also pump more groundwater to compensate for the cut to CVP water allocation from decreased precipitation. Last, he will have to reduce the hours of his labor force, 71 full-time employees, according to him.
Golden State growers know that a lack of rainfall is what appears to be the new weather normal. Alexandra Nagy is the California director of Food & Water Watch. She takes a different view of the way forward for water use during the Golden State’s drought. “The only way for California to truly tackle this mega-drought is to curtail the outsize water allocations of profiteering corporate interests,” she said. “Governor Gavin Newsom can safeguard our water resources by immediately halting the expansion of water intensive industries, like factory farms, almond and pistachio operations, and fossil fuel development, while implementing groundwater withdrawal regulations. Addressing corporate water abuse and protecting our groundwater supplies will codify the human right to water of every Californian.”
Speaking of climate change and water use, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that the United Nations convened called in part for an end to building new fossil fuel infrastructure as a way to cut the carbon emissions that are in part driving droughts stateside and abroad. The 2022 IPCC report, released on Feb. 28, urges elected officials and policymakers to act swiftly as a window to avoid climate change’s worsening impacts is closing fast.
Seth Sandronsky lives and writes in Sacramento, Calif., and is a member of the Pacific Media Workers Guild. Email sethsandronsky@gmail.com.
From The Progressive Populist, April 15, 2022
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