Pray for rain’ signs can be seen across California’s Central Valley – in front yards that are full of dry plants and in the farmers’ brown fields. It is the third consecutive year that rain has almost eluded California. Meteorologists say it’s the worst drought since the late 1970s. The Central Valley, in the middle of the US state, is being hit especially hard, with summer temperatures having run up to 40 degrees Celsius.
The Central Valley is the food basket of the United States. Stretching 700 kilometres inland and parallel to the Pacific Ocean coast, it produces most of the fruits and vegetables consumed in the country and 80 per cent of the world’s almonds.
Produce from California - the ‘Golden State’ - generates over 40 billion dollars in revenue every year, thanks to the miracle of irrigation. But the water levels in reservoirs and lakes are falling.
”We are scared to death,” almond grower David Phippen told dpa. ”It’ll get really bad if it does not rain or snow the next year.” His almond farm measures about 550 hectares. The 64-year-old farmer sells about a third of his crop to Germany.
High prices and profits on almonds have spurred farmers to plant ever more trees.
But almonds are a thirsty crop. A single tree uses up to 300 litres of water on a single hot summer day. Phippen has been fortunate this year because his farm lies in a private irrigation district that has not yet rationed water. Most California farmers depend on state and federal water reservoirs and canal projects for their irrigation. But this year, water deliveries have been cut back to the minimum. As those supplies dry up, farmers have increasingly turned to the underground water table for their crops. This desperate need has triggered a boom for the boring well industry: water has replaced oil as the preferred liquid. ”Drillers of wells are up to eight months booked,” said Michael Cockrell, head of the office of emergency services in San Joaquin County. “We have to be concerned about this. Our groundwater levels are now sinking.” California is one of the few US states that does not regulate ground water use. This lack of regulation lets farmers drill for as much water as they please on their own land. ”The almond growers expect the biggest crop ever in this drought year! That’s the paradox,” said agricultural scientist Brent Holtz at the University of California at Davis. “This drought is a wake up call for the State.” Cockrell’s Task Force co-ordinates the planning, and the response preparation and recovery operations, to deal with catastrophes, and the drought is one of his highest priorities.
Scientists at the University of California at Irvine warn about the serious drop in ground water levels across the massive Colorado River basin. Using satellite data over the last 10 years, they have found that more than 75 per cent of water loss in the Basin occurred in the underground water table. Evidence of the massive water loss can be seen in the above-ground water sources. Surface-water depletion has left a white ‘bathtub ring’ of mineral deposits on Lake Mead, Nevada.
Lawmakers will have to take a decision on whether groundwater rights can remain in private hands. Drilling for water is not only unsustainable, it is also very expensive. Many farmers irrigate only parts of their farms, while the rest dries up. As a result, migrant farm workers, mostly from Latin America, have less work, and the prices for food are on the rise. Rural communities are suffering increasingly from ‘drought poverty’. ”I hardly buy any fresh produce. I eat everything in my fridge before I get new food. The prices are so high,” Maria Armstrong told dpa.
The 57-year-old immigrant from the Philippines stands in line every Wednesday at the community centre in the town of Tracy, for free ’drought boxes’ of food that have been made available since June. The California Human Services Agency plans to distribute more than 20,000 boxes of free food during the summer. ”Once supplies run out, I don’t know what comes next,” worried social worker Giovani Ayong.
Some action has started. Effective August, California water-wasters now face big fines. Practices such as allowing runoff from outdoor sprinklers, hosing down driveways and sidewalks and using drinking water in ornamental fountains that do not recirculate, are now banned. The ‘drought regulations’ give local agencies the authority to fine violators up to 500 dollars a day.
The goal is to cut water use by 20 per cent. California’s state capital, Sacramento, has already restricted outdoor watering to two days a week for some time.
Neighbours can call a ‘whistleblower water hotline’ to report on anyone who is over-watering or watering on the wrong days. ”We have seen a dramatic increase in the number of calls we are getting,” said Terrance Davis, the City’s drought and sustainability manager.
”This calendar year we are at over 10,000 calls; last year we had around 1,000,” he said. The City had to hire more helpers to distribute the warnings and to collect fines. The City has even started a campaign: ‘Gold is the new green’ - the intent is to help people see dried grass not as brown but as California Gold. The State government is leading the way. The grass in front of the white Capitol building stopped being green years ago: it is now gold.
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