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| Farmers ponder ways to conserve water |
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| Written by Jonathan Partridge / Patterson Irrigator | |
| Wednesday, 13 February 2008 | |
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WESTLEY — For many local farmers, water conservation is not just a nice idea; it may be a matter of survival this year. Local irrigation district officials predict tough times, following a federal decision last year to curtail water pumping to help preserve a small fish found in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.  Water could be in short supply this year. More than a dozen people showed up to a workshop last week to find out what they can do if drought regulations and pumping restrictions make the wet stuff even harder to come by than normal. Photo by Elias Funez / Patterson Irrigator Close to 15 people showed up to a drought workshop at the Westley Fire Station on Feb. 6 to learn more about the water situation and what they can do to conserve every drop they can in case of a regulatory drought. “It’s not about having water anymore, it’s about smelt,” said Kathryn Charlton, assistant executive director of the Agricultural Water Management Council, after the workshop. The nonprofit consulting group hosted the event. The Delta smelt is a threatened fish found in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that environmentalists say is a major indicator of the Delta’s health. Judge Oliver Wanger last summer rejected a federal wildlife “biological opinion” that had previously allowed increased pumping in state and federal water conveyance systems for contractors south of the Delta, based on the belief that the pumping did not harm the smelt. Wanger came up with a series of recommendations on how to prevent smelt from getting killed by the pumps during the interim period while a new biological opinion was being developed. Those included curtailing pumping during times of the year when the smelt are close to the pumps. Federal officials are working on a new biological opinion. Anthea Hansen, assistant manager of the Del Puerto Water District, which provides water for an area stretching from Santa Nella to Vernalis, predicted that water restrictions would continue to be tight once the biological opinion is complete. “I don’t think this is a temporary situation,” she said. “I believe the temporary orders will end up being in a revised operating plan.” In the meantime, farming interests are working with state and federal officials and environmentalists on a habitat conservation plan that would help irrigation districts and environmental groups get on the same page with habitat issues, hopefully curtailing future conflicts and litigation. Hansen said she believed larger Delta-related issues must be addressed to reach a long-term solution. Meanwhile, the federal Bureau of Reclamation predicted last month that farm water users south of the Delta could receive 55 to 65 percent of their normal allocations at most, though those predictions will be revised Friday. Despite those predictions, Hansen said the Del Puerto district initially only expects to see 30 to 35 percent commitment. District officials hope to get at least 50 to 55 percent of normal allocations, but expect that would happen over a period of a few months. “I hope I’m wrong,” Hansen said. She said after the meeting that the district might have to buy excess water from other districts, which will likely charge a high price for it. Last year, district members had to pay $55 to $150 per acre-foot of excess water, and this year prices could jump to $200 to $250 per acre-foot, she said.  The water supply has been low in part to help the endangered Delta smelt that live in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Photo by Elias Funez / Patterson Irrigator In addition, excess water would still be subject to curtailment because of the restrictions on federal pumping and would be of lower priority for the Bureau of Reclamation than regular allocations for other districts. In addition to Hansen’s talk on water supply issues, a couple of farm advisors discussed what growers can do to help conserve water. Terry Prichard, an adviser with the University of California cooperative extension, discussed ways that farmers could cut down on water use. Those include irrigating at night, reducing evaporation and transpiration — or evaporation of water from the plant itself. Prichard went into detail about the latter method, talking about equipment that could be used to measure a plant’s “stem water potential” and monitor ground moisture among other things to determine when to irrigate. He said severe water cutbacks would impact the quality of crops but gave recommendations on how to go about it if necessary. Blaine Hanson, an irrigation and drainage specialist from the University of California, Davis, described measures that could be done to preserve water quality, noting that regulations on quality have increased. He said a substance called polyacrylamide — also known as PAM — is useful in eliminating pesticide-related sediment, though scientists have found that an oil-based version has been deemed toxic in studies. Sediment traps or ponds are effective in capturing coarser material but ineffective in capturing fine particles, such as those found in pesticides, he said. As for preventing runoff, drip irrigation systems are highly efficient, but can be plagued with maintenance problems, while flood irrigation is the most difficult to get high efficiency. Sprinkler systems are the easiest irrigation systems to use, he said. Attendees said they found last week’s workshop useful. Crows Landing farmer Richard Bettencourt, who grows alfalfa, corn and oats, said it was helpful to hear different ideas about how farmers can cut back on water. Still, he noted “any cutback will hurt the crop.” Greg Garro, who grows almonds near Patterson, said the likely cost for excess water made the workshop’s information particularly relevant. “(The potential increase in cost) is so big, you need to conserve every bit you can,” he said. To reach Jonathan Partridge at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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