California Farm Bureau President Paul Wenger referred to concerns expressed by many water managers during the winter about the amount of water released from reservoirs during storms.
“We’ll never know how much water might have been available this summer, if we had captured more of the water that flowed to sea at the height of the El Niño storm surges,” Wenger said. “That lost opportunity will haunt rural California throughout the summer.”
Wenger noted that farmers continue to squeeze more crop production from every gallon of water, but that the same efficiency standards aren’t required for water dedicated to fishery uses.
“In some ways, it’s appropriate that this announcement of continued water shortages came on April Fools’ Day,” he said. “We’re fooling ourselves if we think our current water system is adequate to meet all the demands on it, and we’re fooling ourselves if we don’t move quickly to address that inadequacy.”
California needs to add flexibility to its current water system, Wenger said, while acting to expand the system through additional water storage, water recycling, desalination and continued enhancement of water efficiency.
“One thing is clear: What’s happening now isn’t working for fish and it isn’t working for people,” he said. “We haven’t been able to operate our existing system to take best advantage of storms when they arrive, which leaves us even more vulnerable to the next dry year. Farm Bureau will continue to press for improved flexibility in both our water system and the regulations that govern it.”
The California Farm Bureau Federation works to protect family farms and ranches on behalf of more than 53,000 members statewide and as part of a nationwide network of more than 6.2 million Farm Bureau members.
Source: California Farm Bureau Federation
