Despite recent rain, Colusa County has been upended by devastating drought conditions | Opinion
The recent rains have brought needed relief to communities throughout California, reviving depleted reservoirs and rebuilding the Sierra snowpack. While we celebrate this reprieve from the worst drought conditions, we know that increased frequency and severity of drought will continue to hinder farming communities if key policy actions are not taken.
Prior to the most recent drought, Colusa County farmed 457,000 acres of crops in 2020, bringing in almost $927 million in revenues. This local farming industry supplied an increasingly permanent workforce on farms and highly technical value-added jobs in the drying, milling, processing, and export sectors. However, the onset of drought has brought severe and long-lasting effects to Colusa County and the region.
This past summer, farmers on the western side of the Sacramento Valley had to fallow 370,000 acres of farmland primarily in Colusa and Glenn counties. Additionally, Colusa County experienced massive cuts to our surface water supplies, crippling our economy and irreversibly altering the valley’s ecology.
Opinion
In a rural county like mine, where at least one in ten live below the poverty line, agricultural jobs are financial lifelines for families. The loss of these jobs has significant impacts on our residents and likely played a factor in the elevated unemployment rates Colusa County experienced last year. By December, Colusa County had the second-highest unemployment rate of any county in California.
While the effects of critically-low water allocations have been especially pronounced in the western portion of the valley, water supply remains a statewide crisis affecting every Californian. Statewide, it is estimated that 532,000 acres went fallow in 2022, a 112,000-acre increase from the year before.
When California’s farmers cannot grow the fruits, nuts, and grains that make us the world’s breadbasket, the price of food increases. With Californians already experiencing record inflation, a continued rise in the cost of staple foods risks forcing even more families into crippling food insecurity.
California’s farming communities are doing their part in adapting to climate change.
We understand that rising temperatures will increase the frequency and severity of drought conditions while reducing the reliability of the Sierra Nevada snowpack. To adjust to this reality, Central Valley farmers are adopting proven hydrology and crop science technologies. These include installing irrigation lines, choosing drought-resistant crops and seeds, and fallowing fields when all other options have been exhausted.
When we do have access to sufficient water resources, farmers put their water to use supporting natural ecosystems. In wintertime, farmers in Colusa County flood rice fields, providing food for migratory birds and salmonid species all while recharging local aquifers. These interventions have come a long way in stretching our water resources and supporting the ecosystems around us, but more help is needed.
We ask that the state do its part by taking critical actions, beginning with the completion of the Sites Reservoir.
Initially proposed in the 1980s, the Sites Reservoir will be a flexible water storage tool, providing key water reserves from storm runoff without impacting fish populations downstream. It is past time for legislators to move forward with Sites Reservoir and take water storage seriously in California.
Simultaneously, state and federal lawmakers must revise the formulas used to determine the amount of water released on a given day. This formula fails to adequately incorporate the needs of farmers, farming communities, and the ecosystems they support. These two interventions are key to moving forward on climate adaption while supporting farm communities.
A lack of sensible policies that permit environmentally friendly water storage infrastructure is decimating the central valley’s farming communities. While it is rare to find solutions that all stakeholders enthusiastically support, when legislating water issues, policymakers must take greater efforts to listen to farming communities and strive for greater balance.
In moving forward with water storage projects and addressing inequities in water distribution, farmers will be able to continue growing the crops that support their communities and feed the world.
Daurice Kalfsbeek Smith is a Colusa County supervisor and a delegate to the Rural Counties Representatives of California.
