MORE than 100 farmers in California have submitted plans to achieve voluntary water conservation targets by planting less water-intensive crops and leaving some fields unplanted amid the Golden State’s continuing drought, officials said.
Farmers in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta created plans and filed them Monday, June 1, as part of a deal agreed upon in May that would prevent them from being subject to more severe cuts in the future.
Under the agreement, their plans had to outline measures to reduce water use by 25 percent, fallow 25 percent of their land, or other ways to meet the required water savings.
The delta farmers who proposed the voluntary savings have never previously had water restrictions imposed on them, according to Associated Press.
“These are serious, well-conceived plans that will result in some significant conservation,” said Michael George, delta water master for the State Water Resources Board and who is responsible for calculating how much water the changes will save, the news agency reported.
The submission of farmers’ plans comes in the same week that Gov. Jerry Brown’s order for communities to slash water use by up to 36 percent compared to 2013 levels take effect. The move to mandate water saving followed poor voluntary state savings, which posted at 3 percent in February, 4 percent in March and 14 percent in April.
State officials also ordered cuts this year on thousands of farmers, with the exception of senior water rights holders, who claimed them before 1914, and property owners whose land lies along rivers or streams.
John Kisst, who farms 900 acres in the delta, told Associated Press he will irrigate some of his alfalfa once per month instead of two times and will leave some fields unplanted. Other farmers may resort to growing safflower, a crop that only needs to be watered once; they may also plant types of beans or corn that become ripe in three months instead of four, so as to cut back on irrigation.
“This is not a science,” Kisst said, according to the Associated Press. “But we’re expected to make our best effort.”
The news of the plans also comes amid the announcement of a 10-day reduction in water released from Lake Shasta as a protective measure for an endangered species of salmon.
While farmers say the 10-day cut will not result in any significant dent in their water supplies, they voiced concern at a water board hearing on Tuesday, June 2, that the cutbacks could become harsher and last longer.
“This is the part of the season that means the most for the crop,” said Chris White, general manager of the Central California Irrigation District, located south of the Delta, according to The Sacramento Bee. “Any further cuts, if they’re significant, [mean] jeopardy to our growers.” (With reports from The Associated Press and The Sacramento Bee)
