California drought: Farmers cut back sharply, affecting jobs and food supply (CS Monitor)

[pinto]

California drought: Farmers cut back sharply, affecting jobs and food supply

With drought limiting water deliveries from northern California and the price of irrigation skyrocketing, farmers' fields lie fallow and the politicized debate over solutions rages.

By Daniel B. Wood, Staff writer / February 19, 2014



Los Banos, Calif.

Besides the bulb-lit freeway signs every 10 miles along California Interstate 5 (“Serious drought, help save water”), there are printed placards posted in sparsely blooming almond and cherry groves, asparagus fields, and mile-upon-mile of empty dry-cracked or tilled earth:

“No water = No food”

“No water = No jobs”

“No water = No future”

On the scruffy shoulder of Joe Del Bosque’s 2,000-acre patchwork of asparagus, almond, tomato, cherry, and cantaloupe fields just outside the Central Valley town of Los Banos, some 60 miles northwest of Fresno, is his own, more specific, sign:

FARM WATER CUT

50% cut 2010

60% cut 2009

65% cut 2008

= HIGHER FOOD COST!

His sign doesn't even mention the latest draconian measures affecting farmers here. In late January, California officials, for the first time in the 54-year history of the State Water Project, announced they were cutting off the flow of water from the northern part of the state to the south, affecting both farms and cities, starting this spring. This as California’s Central Valley, producer of half of America’s fruits, vegetables, and nuts, is experiencing its worst drought on record. Unsurprisingly, on a swing through the farming region, the only topic of discussion is the growing number of widely divergent plans to deal with it.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2014/0219/California-drought-Farmers-cut-back-sharply-affecting-jobs-and-food-supply

© The Christian Science Monitor. All Rights Reserved.

[TeamPooka]

1. K&R!

[Auggie]

2. No Shock Doctrine, now … let's stay smart, rational and think long-term

[pinto]

3. Yeah, it's a long term situation. There'll have to be short term action, but long term is the key.

[Auggie]

4. I can't imagine the short term action ...

subsidies to keep farms and businesses operational? No interest loans? Extended unemployment insurance?

And how much help, if any, can be expected from this do-nothing repuke congress?

It's about as bad as it can be.

[plantwomyn]

5. Unfortunately the farmers have known this was coming and very few did anything about it.

I lived in the Bay area through the 80s and the water wars were in full tilt even then. Since then, California farmers haven't seemed to make the moves that they need to in order to deal with the drying conditions. Seriously, after studying Permaculture for a year now, I have no idea why it isn't spreading all over California. If farmers had been using Permaculture for the last 3 years, the effects of the drought could have been deal with without the hardship and the landscape in California could have been altered permanently and for the better. I can't fault NorCal for keeping the water to themselves. There are areas of Southern Cal that have an abundance of water and instead of helping the valley ranchers, they ship feed to China. It's capitalism. There really are entire cities in California that aren't sustainable anymore, if they ever were.