California’s Blueprint for Ag Growth Rooted in the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act

The atmospheric rivers that flowed over California in January dumped about a foot of rain — equal to an entire year’s average — in many parts of the state’s parched Central Valley, which encompasses only 1% of U.S. farmland but produces 40% of the nation’s table fruits, vegetables, and nuts. With February, ordinarily the second wettest month, still to be counted, talks of all the land that will have to fallowed as a result of the drought have quieted for now. But most Golden State growers have come to realize that droughts will simply be a part of farming going forward, and the safety net is gone.

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That safety net was groundwater pumping. For more than a half-century, farmers in the Central Valley, the multi-faceted state’s chief production area, have been pumping more water from aquifers than can be replenished, causing wells to be drilled deeper and deeper. Don Cameron, Vice President/General Manager of Terranova Ranch in Helm, CA, notes that when he started farming in 1981, the attitude at that time was growers just pumped what their crops needed.

“Back then, we used 75- and 100-horsepower wells to get the volume of water we needed,” he says. “Today, we run 200- to 250-horsepower motors to get the same amount of water out of the ground. And we’ve had wells go dry over the last 10 to 15 years.”

Over drafting the aquifers is a problem, and not just because it means the loss of a source of water that can be applied during a drought, but it can lead to subsidence. With no water below, there’s nothing there to hold the land in place. There are parts of Fresno County that have dropped 30 feet or more through years of unfettered pumping.

The situation got so bad during a drought last decade — the one before the current drought, which hopefully will end with winter rains — that in 2014 the state passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), which Californians refer to as “sigma.” SGMA requires local agencies to form groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) for the high- and medium-priority basins. GSAs develop and implement groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) to avoid undesirable results and mitigate overdraft within 20 years. The GSAs have until 2040 to reach sustainable levels, though a few submitted GSA plans have already been rejected by the state.

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Acreage Will Decline

SGMA will mean fewer irrigated farmed acres in the Central Valley. Larger growers can afford to buy land elsewhere that has water rights which means there will be fewer smaller growers. There will be less crop diversity in the Central Valley as growers will farm only the most profitable crops; they can’t afford to grow anything else.

For example, Almond Board of California President Richard Waycott says the future of the almond industry is inextricably tied to SGMA. California required the state’s Groundwater Management Areas (GMAs) to submit sustainability plans this year. However, several GMAs have found their respective regions have sustainable yields that are too low to provide adequate amounts for farming — largely because they simply don’t have enough access to water.

“California ag is all about the SGMA story — how much land will be fallowed when,” he says. “What will be grown on that [remaining] acreage? It remains to be seen what crops will be favored.”

Looking to Technology

Growers clearly need solutions, which means many will be looking to technology. However, Cameron, who farms grapes and nuts in addition to a wide range of vegetables, is showing the technology need not be new. He is employing water banking to help capture winter run-off by diverting excess river water into fallow fields or pastures to enhance groundwater recharge.

“We’re also putting up a berm or small levy around our fields to help hold the water in,” Cameron says. “And we’re creating little dams around the field, so we can hold more water when it comes. That allows us to then put it on the fields and recharge the groundwater.”

For more, continue reading the full article featured as part of our special Global Insight Series report on Water, Technology and Sustainability. In addition, check out the previous reports in Meister’s Global Insight Series covering a range of topics from Biological Crop Protection to Irrigation Innovations to Agricultural Technology.

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