California’s rich agricultural productivity comes with a price.
The dry climate that provides the almost year-round growing
season also can require heavily irrigated soils. But such
irrigation can also degrade the local water quality.
Two of the state’s most productive farming areas in particular,
the west side of the San Joaquin Valley and parts of the Imperial
Valley in southern California, have poorly drained and naturally
saline soils.
More than a decade after California became the first state in
the nation to declare that access to clean, safe and affordable
drinking water was a human right, about a million residents
remain connected to failing water systems — many of which may
increase their risk of cancer, liver and kidney problems, or
other serious health issues. The number of failed water systems
has jumped about 25% since 2021, an increase driven partly by
the collection of more data. … The crisis has cast
a harsh light on the state’s ability to provide clean and
affordable drinking water to all its residents, particularly
those in the Central Valley, where widespread contaminants
afflict communities with substandard infrastructure and where
the heavy use of agricultural fertilizers and fumigants, as
well as the overpumping of aquifers, has worsened water
quality.
Jesus Campanero Jr. was a teenager when he noticed there was
something in the water. He once found a rash all over his body
after a swim in nearby Clear Lake, the largest freshwater lake
in California. During summertime, an unbearable smell would
waft through the air. Then, in 2017, came the headlines, after
hundreds of fish washed up dead on the shore. “That’s when it
really started to click in my head that there’s a real issue
here,” says Campanero, now a tribal council member for the
Robinson Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians of California, whose
ancestors have called the lake home for thousands of years. The
culprit? Harmful algal blooms (HABs).
The California Department of Water Resources awarded
multimillion-dollar grants to two groundwater subbasins in
Butte County. DWR announced that the Vina subbasin, which
includes Chico and Durham, and the Wyandotte Creek subbasin,
which covers the Oroville area, are among 32 subbasins that
will receive a total of $187 million to “help support local
sustainable groundwater management.” Vina and Wyandotte Creek
each received $5.5 million. The county’s third subbasin, Butte,
did not get a grant in the funding announced this week. Tod
Kimmelshue, chair of the Butte County Board of Supervisors and
a member of the Vina subbasin board, praised the state for
supporting local efforts.
While large tracts of farmland were underwater this spring,
prices for Valley crops are on the rise as California soil and
growers prove to be resilient once again. California’s tomato
processors reported they have or will have contracts for 12.7
million tons of processing tomatoes for 2023, the highest
number of contracted planted acres since 2016. This production
estimate is 2.4% higher than the January intentions forecast of
12.4 million tons, and 21.4% above the final contracted
production total in 2022. The May contracted acreage of 254,000
is 2.4% above the January intentions forecast of 248,000 acres
and 24,000 acres more than last year’s final contracted
acreage.
So far, 2023 has been a wild year for weather. Flooding,
drought and hail have all made their way into the headlines -
not to mention the extreme high and low temperatures seen
throughout the seasons. While weather patterns have been
anything but predictable this year, Eric Snodgrass, Principal
Atmospheric Scientist for Nutrien Ag Solutions, says America’s
heartland may start to see wetter weather conditions just in
time for fall. … Back in early June, scientists at the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA)
Climate Prediction Center issued an El Niño
advisory, noting that El Niño conditions were present and
would likely strengthen into the fall and winter months.
… El Niño winters also bring better chances for
warmer-than-average temperatures across the northern tier of
the country.
If you’ve got a cotton hoodie or pair of leggings you’d
describe as “buttery soft,” chances are it’s made of pima
cotton. And according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture the
largest pima producer in the country is Kings County. “Not too
many places can grow it like we do,” said Roger Isom, president
and CEO of the California Cotton Ginners and Growers
Association. This year, however, most of the land that would
have been planted with pima cotton was underwater, among the
170 square miles submerged when Tulare Lake refilled. Too much
water this year, plus too little water before that, is having
ripple effects throughout the industry and community. Isom says
at least two cotton processors, known as gins, have had to
close their doors in the Valley this year, leaving fewer than
two dozen statewide.
Power system manufacturer FuelCell Energy and carmaker Toyota
have deployed the world’s first “tri-gen” system that turns
methane-rich waste gas into electricity, clean hydrogen and
water that the auto giant will use at its Southern California
port facility for the next 20 years. … The companies
said Thursday the energy platform at Toyota’s main U.S.
logistics facility at the Port of Long Beach, proposed in
2017 and built in stages, is fully complete and operating.
It’s designed to convert a stream of biogas, sourced from
agricultural waste and sludge, into 2.3 megawatts of
electricity, 1,200 kilograms of hydrogen and 1,400 gallons of
water per day, FuelCell Energy CEO Jason Few told Forbes.
It cost about $35 million to build and only takes up as much
space as three basketball courts.
Watermelon season has been a tough one this year after a late
start due to the weather. VP of Crops and Soils at Van
Groningen & Sons Incorporated, Bryan Van Groningen said their
planting was delayed about three weeks back in Spring.
Plantings usually go in around the middle of March, but this
year the earliest plantings did not start until the first week
of April. “At one time we had almost one million
transplants sitting in greenhouses in the last couple weeks of
March that were ready to be planted and we had no place to
plant them because the fields were too wet,” Van Groningen.
Chemical pesticides are produced synthetically and applied as a
main method for pest removal, especially in agriculture. In
2020, pesticide consumption was 2.66 million metric tons, with
the United States being the largest pesticide-consuming country
worldwide with 407.8 thousand metric tons of pesticides used,
and Brazil coming in second with 377.2 thousand tons consumed.
From 1990 to 2010, the global consumption of pesticides
increased by more than 50%. According to Soloneski et al., more
than 99.9% of pesticides applied to crops worldwide become
toxic residues in the environment, never reaching their
specific targets. These compounds are usually toxic and persist
in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
The Central Valley of California only contains 1% of U.S.
farmland, but generates 8% of the country’s agricultural output
and produces a quarter of the nation’s food. Much of this
astounding production comes from the 8,500 square kilometers of
farmland in the Sacramento River watershed, which covers the
northern portion of the Central Valley. This extensive farmland
means that the watershed is exposed to a significant amount of
compounds commonly used in farming, including pesticides. As
water flows over the land to streams and rivers, it carries
these contaminants along with it, ultimately dumping them in
waterways and floodplains, where they often make their way into
the food web. Consequently, juvenile Chinook salmon
(Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) feeding and rearing within the
watershed can be exposed to these harmful compounds.
California health officials are warning of a potential
increased risk of valley fever, a respiratory disease caused by
fungus that grows in soil across many parts of the state. This
winter’s heavy rains may have caused an increase in the growth
of the Coccidioides fungus, which causes valley fever, the
California Department of Public Health announced in a press
release. Valley fever occurs when dust containing the fungus is
inhaled, leading to respiratory symptoms that can turn severe
or even fatal. Periods of heavy rain can cause
the Coccidioides fungus to become more active, according
to research conducted by the University of California,
Berkeley and CDPH. That means valley fever cases could spike in
the coming months, as spores that grew during this year’s
record rainfall dry out and become airborne in dust.
Today, the bumblebee is among more than 200 endangered species
whose existence is threatened by the nation’s most widely used
insecticides (one classification of pesticides), according to a
recent analysis by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The endangered species range from Attwater’s greater
prairie chicken to the Alabama cave shrimp, from the American
burying beetle to the slackwater darter. And the star cactus
and four-petal pawpaw are among the 160-plus at-risk plants.
The three neonicotinoids — thiamethoxam, clothianidin and
imidacloprid — are applied as seed coatings on some 150 million
acres of crops each year, including corn, soybeans and other
major crops. Neonicotinoids are a group of neurotoxic
insecticides similar to nicotine and used widely on farms and
in urban landscapes.
The red tide that gave East Bay waters a light brown sheen
earlier this month is likely over, declared the environmental
watchdog group San Francisco Baykeeper Monday. “I would say
this bloom is done for now,” said the group’s staff scientist
Ian Wren on a boat under the eastern half of the Bay Bridge,
where the water was olive green instead of a murky tea color
brought on by the bloom. … Even though the red tide has
dissipated, Eileen White, executive officer of the San
Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, is hesitant
“to declare victory.” … Last year the red tide —
literally billions of tiny algae called Heterosigma
akashiwo — killed an immeasurable amount of fish. This
year, the algae killed fewer than 100, according to a
state-run citizen science project. Sitings of important Bay
Area species, including sturgeons, bat rays and crabs, were
among the dead.
A pilot program in the Salinas Valley run remotely out of Los Angeles is offering a test case for how California could provide clean drinking water for isolated rural communities plagued by contaminated groundwater that lack the financial means or expertise to connect to a larger water system.
For decades, cannabis has been grown
in California – hidden away in forested groves or surreptitiously
harvested under the glare of high-intensity indoor lamps in
suburban tract homes.
In the past 20 years, however, cannabis — known more widely as
marijuana – has been moving from being a criminal activity to
gaining legitimacy as one of the hundreds of cash crops in the
state’s $46 billion-dollar agriculture industry, first legalized
for medicinal purposes and this year for recreational use.
As part of the historic Colorado
River Delta, the Salton Sea regularly filled and dried for
thousands of years due to its elevation of 237 feet below
sea level.
Salt. In a small amount, it’s a gift from nature. But any doctor
will tell you, if you take in too much salt, you’ll start to have
health problems. The same negative effect is happening to land in
the Central Valley. The problem scientists call “salinity” poses
a growing threat to our food supply, our drinking water quality
and our way of life. The problem of salt buildup and potential –
but costly – solutions are highlighted in this 2008 public
television documentary narrated by comedian Paul Rodriguez.
A 20-minute version of the 2008 public television documentary
Salt of the Earth: Salinity in California’s Central Valley. This
DVD is ideal for showing at community forums and speaking
engagements to help the public understand the complex issues
surrounding the problem of salt build up in the Central Valley
potential – but costly – solutions. Narrated by comedian Paul
Rodriquez.
This Western Water looks at proposed new measures to deal with
the century-old problem of salinity with a special focus on San
Joaquin Valley farms and cities.
This issue of Western Water examines that process. Much
of the information is drawn from discussions that occurred at the
November 2005 Selenium Summit sponsored by the Foundation and the
California Department of Water Resources. At that summit, a
variety of experts presented findings and the latest activities
from areas where selenium is of primary interest.
With irrigation projects that import water, farmers have
transformed millions of acres of land into highly productive
fields and orchards. But the dry climate that provides an almost
year-round farming season can hasten salt build up in soils. The
build-up of salts in poorly drained soils can decrease crop
productivity, and there are links between drainage water from
irrigated fields and harmful impacts on fish and wildlife.
30-minute DVD that traces the history of the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation and its role in the development of the West. Includes
extensive historic footage of farming and the construction of
dams and other water projects, and discusses historic and modern
day issues.
Water truly has shaped California into the great state it is
today. And if it is water that made California great, it’s the
fight over – and with – water that also makes it so critically
important. In efforts to remap California’s circulatory system,
there have been some critical events that had a profound impact
on California’s water history. These turning points not only
forced a re-evaluation of water, but continue to impact the lives
of every Californian. This 2005 PBS documentary offers a
historical and current look at the major water issues that shaped
the state we know today. Includes a 12-page viewer’s guide with
background information, historic timeline and a teacher’s lesson.
This beautiful 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, features
a map of the San Joaquin River. The map text focuses on the San
Joaquin River Restoration Program, which aims to restore flows
and populations of Chinook salmon to the river below Friant Dam
to its confluence with the Merced River. The text discusses the
history of the program, its goals and ongoing challenges with
implementation.
A companion to the Truckee River Basin Map poster, this 24×36
inch poster, suitable for framing, explores the Carson River, and
its link to the Truckee River. The map includes Lahontan Dam and
Reservoir, the Carson Sink, and the farming areas in the basin.
Map text discusses the region’s hydrology and geography, the
Newlands Project, land and water use within the basin and
wetlands. Development of the map was funded by a grant from the
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Mid-Pacific Region, Lahontan Basin
Area Office.
Southern California’s Imperial Valley is home to California’s
earliest agricultural
drainage success story, one that converted a desert landscape
to an agricultural one, but at the same time created far reaching
consequences.
Evaporation ponds contain agricultural drainage water and are
used when agricultural growers do not have access to rivers for
drainage disposal.
Drainage water is the only source of water in many of these
ponds, resulting in extremely high concentrations of salts.
Concentrations of other trace elements such as selenium are also
elevated in evaporation basins, with a wide degree of variability
among basins.
Such ponds resemble wetland areas that birds use for nesting and
feeding grounds and may pose risks to waterfowl and shorebirds.
Agriculture drainage issues date back to the earliest farming. In
ancient times, farmers let fields stay fallow hoping rain would
flush out salt.
Today, salt and other contaminants continue to cause agricultural
drainage problems, particularly in California. Whether a field is
adequately drained, or saturated with water, the water still has
to be removed.
The disposal of this often-contaminated water continues to be a
challenge in California, with the environmental effects of
selenium and other drainage-related elements changing the course
of drainage planning.
Few regions are as important to California water as the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta, where the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers converge
to discharge into San Francisco Bay.
California’s rich agricultural productivity comes with a price.
The dry climate that provides the almost year-round growing
season also can require heavily irrigated soils. But such
irrigation can degrade the local water quality.
Two of the state’s most productive farming areas in particular,
the west side of the San
Joaquin Valley and parts of the Imperial Valley in Southern
California, have poorly drained and naturally saline soils.
