{"id":1447818,"date":"2022-04-20T13:46:44","date_gmt":"2022-04-20T17:46:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1447818"},"modified":"2022-04-20T13:46:59","modified_gmt":"2022-04-20T17:46:59","slug":"environment-policies-are-leaving-california-farmers-within-the-dust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/environment-policies-are-leaving-california-farmers-within-the-dust\/","title":{"rendered":"Environment Policies Are Leaving California Farmers Within The Dust"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fenvironment-policies-are-leaving-california-farmers-within-the-dust%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1447818&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2022\/04\/Drought-scaled.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.3.0\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>Farming in California is about to change forever, as a severe drought continues to affect the state\u2019s farmers and communities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But instead of mitigating the devastating natural impact of the disaster, state and federal regulations seem to be making things worse.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>How the state handles this drought will have far reaching consequences. Most Americans don\u2019t realize that California agriculture \u2014 the state\u2019s leading industry \u2014 supplies two-thirds of the country\u2019s fruit and nuts, as well as one third of its vegetables.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But now, studies show just how dire the state of California agriculture has become. One study says this is the driest decade in more than a century, while another <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41558-022-01290-z.epdf?sharing_token=D6dNWNtgpdbia1My7owoYtRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0OkweMbawmVFM1UCLmLxuyBpGKtFJa1_BxzJ7UFQSQZ6IMIvVOmlNdweksOJ_Tb7J-sLpaVxBYZk2m5IVcrrvrKYaetU9hkTYt-0W5PDEiIG_94ATdcRPQe4Qw91j-DZdsGdSi7kiTwx9r7pHLKfhlCJCr_s8B1ATddflWvAonMHk6sFldykgLytZ9jObluTyQ%3D&#038;tracking_referrer=www.latimes.com\"><span>published<\/span><\/a><span> in Nature examined tree rings and suggests this could be the driest period in<\/span> <span>1,200<\/span> <span>years. According to a government drought monitor, more than 93% of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.drought.gov\/states\/california\"><span>state<\/span><\/a><span> is in a \u201csevere drought\u201d and around 40% is in \u201cextreme drought.\u201d A recent <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/water.ca.gov\/News\/News-Releases\/2022\/March-22\/March-2022-Snow-Survey\"><span>survey<\/span><\/a><span> from the Department of Water Resources found that the snowpack is down nearly 40%, and California\u2019s major water reservoirs are also <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/cdec.water.ca.gov\/cgi-progs\/products\/rescond.pdf?TSPD_101_R0=080a69e2f7ab20005ce2479b4a079fa54810c6b3fb7a9ffedb33bf5ddeeb7ef4953592d7d3a6a36908cb18db9c143000d55608aa55d48c568dfecbad26ee9550e331e374dd47a1492789add217fb8eae8796ef6a826a7a429b0f05def480f82a\"><span>below<\/span><\/a><span> their historical averages.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>I spoke to farmers and water leaders in the key agricultural region of the Central Valley, as well as those involved in state government, to understand how the drought is affecting these areas, and what can be done to mitigate its effects.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In response, some farmers are abandoning agriculture altogether and using their land for other purposes, while others have already shifted to more lucrative crops. Some are even leaving acres of their land uncultivated and empty, a process called \u201cfallowing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>All of this could possibly drive up the cost of food nationwide and lead to less variety in the produce aisle.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Justin Diener operates a farm in the Central Valley. His family has been growing the essentials of the American table for nearly a century and has a deep history of farming \u2013 and water innovation \u2013 in the area. His great uncle and aunt moved to Five Points, California, in 1930. Even then, they realized there was a serious need for water.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In 1952, Diener\u2019s great uncle and other landowners came together to create the Westlands Water District, the largest agricultural water district in the United States and a crucial supplier of water for local farms. The Westlands relies largely on water from the Central Valley Project (CVP), a network that sends the water to the contractors, but for the second year in a row, it hasn\u2019t gotten a drop.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Chief Operating Officer of Westlands Water District, Jose Guitierrez, told me, \u201cWe are a CVP contractor and we do receive our water from the Bureau of Reclamation. That said, this is our second year of a zero percent allocation and we are receiving no CVP water this year. And we didn\u2019t receive any CVP water last year, either.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Without water, some farmers may leave their land fallow. Guitierrez at Westlands noted the impact of that decision. \u201cIf you can imagine every time an acre of land is fallowed, somebody is losing a job and there\u2019s just less food being produced.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Jeanine Jones at the Department of Water Resources said the last couple of droughts have led to more than 500,000 acres of land being left fallow. If the current drought persists, that amount will likely double.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The mayor of San Joaquin, Julia Hernandez, said that fallowing affects more than just farmers: \u201cA large percentage of our community is agriculture workers\u2026so the direct impact on fallow land is the loss of jobs, the loss of green spaces, for our families and our children.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Guitierrez also said he\u2019s hearing that many landowners might choose to \u201cpush out\u201d more of their trees this year, which means that they uproot them and let them die.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Diener said his family is farming only 60% of the land they control this year due to the drought. Next year, they might end up farming only 40% of the land and leaving the rest fallow.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In addition to the dry environment, farmers are also facing challenges from the state. California has strict environmental rules mandating the use of water for certain ecological goals that are often at odds with getting water to farmland.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>One of the more controversial policies from the State Water Resources Control Board has been criticized as \u201cdumping water into the ocean.\u201d This is when the state releases water from upstream storage into the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. This is done in large part to protect endangered species of fish. Many farmers say that water should be going to them instead.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But it isn\u2019t just California policies causing issues. In 1992, Congress passed the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usbr.gov\/mp\/cvpia\/\"><span>Central Valley Project Improvement Act<\/span><\/a><span>, which mandates that 800,000 acre-feet of water must go to fish and wildlife each year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Unfortunately, according to Diener, some of these protected fish species are still declining despite the water policies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>While some farms adapt to the drought and low water delivery by utilizing groundwater from wells \u2013 like Diener\u2019s family \u2014 in order to pump the water they need, acquiring water is about to become even more complicated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>A new federal regulation ,the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ca.water.usgs.gov\/sustainable-groundwater-management\/\"><span>passed<\/span><\/a><span> in 2014, mandates that local agencies have to create and carry out plans for certain basins. Those plans have to become sustainable within 20 years. The result will be less water available to pump in the Central Valley, and it could change farming in the state forever.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The government isn\u2019t entirely to blame for the problem, or entirely helpless to fix it. There are some proposals that lean toward long-term solutions, and President Biden\u2019s budget <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usbr.gov\/newsroom\/#\/news-release\/4148\"><span>includes<\/span><\/a><span> money for water efforts, but is focused more on environmental issues than those impacting farmers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Farming complications in the Central Valley have nationwide \u2014 and global \u2014 implications. There is a national security side to drought response as well. If local farms aren\u2019t supported, Americans will be more reliant on foreign sources of food, which becomes a problem not only as supply chain issues arise, but also when basic food safety is in question.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Dr. Michael Shires, a researcher behind the Westlands study, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/mercuryllc.app.box.com\/s\/vg01tmlqsbk9fns50571cnoeste14c3u\"><span>discussed<\/span><\/a><span> the global aspect of the drought in a press conference.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIn the past, I would argue that growers and imports from other countries have been our flexibility that allow us to circumvent and to moderate the swings that are caused by the unpredictability of the water supply,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cbut that has to change.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The financial struggle of farming is just one reason Diener says their family farm in the Central Valley might be coming to an end. \u201cA lot of people have decided that they don\u2019t want any part of it because of the difficulty they\u2019ve seen their parents struggle with it,\u201d he said, noting there is the question of how people will continue and \u201cprovide a decent lifestyle and livelihood versus the perceived value that they could get for selling the land.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>He explained, \u201cthere are a number of farms for sale today in this area because they don\u2019t have heirs that want to take it on.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The struggles facing farmers don\u2019t only arise from poor policy decisions and natural circumstances, but are also evidence of a broader cultural trend.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Americans are not always on the side of the farmer or the local worker who carries out important, everyday jobs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Diener explained that many political leaders have misplaced their priorities. \u201cWe as a society in the United States of America have decided that, you know, protecting species, protecting the environment in that sense is very important. [It] comes at a higher value maybe than meeting the obligations we may have made earlier on in providing resources to people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cAnd so now we\u2019re kind of finding ourselves where we\u2019re at as a result of that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But Diener still maintains an optimistic outlook despite the struggles created by policies and the environment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Standing beneath the hot, California sun, in a field of crops, he spoke about his family and how he grew up in the region. He reflected, \u201cI think there\u2019s definitely a future here. We just have to be creative and invest in the future and try to make things better.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i>The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Farming in California is about to change forever, as a severe drought continues to affect the state\u2019s farmers and communities.\u00a0But instead of mitigating the devastating natural impact of the disaster,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":1447879,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1447818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1447818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1447818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1447818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1447879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1447818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1447818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1447818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}