When will madness end?

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Friday, 16 April 2010 10:35

Ag water users were on the receiving end of an announcement from the feds on tax day as the Interior Department announced an increase in water deliveries from the federal CVP.

Ag users north of the Delta received the biggest increase, from 50% to 100% of contract amounts. Ag water users south of the Delta saw their allocation climb from 25 percent to 30%, with the hope that other measures could add another 8-10%. Class 1 water to ag water users in the Friant Division remained at 100% but their Class 2 water nudged upward from 10% to 15%. Eastside Division contractors along the Stanislaus River and settlement contractors on the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers maintained their 100% allotments.

These new delivery numbers clearly demonstrate that the farmers who remain seriously handicapped with low water deliveries are those south of the Delta. If the water is there why are they not getting increased supplies? The simple answer are the restrictive policies that govern the pumping of water from the Delta.

It appears that farmers south of the Delta, all the way to San Diego County, will experience another year of low water deliveries that will cause large tracts of fallowed land to remain unplanted with little opportunity for those workers laid off last year regaining their jobs.

When will all this madness end?

userfoot1

What, exactly, is "corporate agriculture"? Is it a large, faceless entity with little regard for people or the environment? Not likely. Click Here or listen to the radio to meet one of California's "corporate" farmers.

userfoot2

Meet Kevin and Allison Hurd and learn how their family farm represents the thousands of "corporate" farms that make up the backbone of California agriculture.