Water creates the connection between farms and our families

Maybe it was a tomato, head of lettuce or a chunk of cheddar. Chances are, the Central Valley farmers our firm has financed through loans or lines of credit have grown something that has reached your dinner table.

We have a farm-to-fork connection. Today, the challenging part of that connection is water.

Rural and urban California have done a great job following state directives to lower rural and residential water use during the historic five-year drought. The actual savings varies throughout California, from 100 to 200 gallons per person each day around the home. That’s a very significant savings.

But consider the water it takes to grow the food one person consumes in a day. The typical daily diet requires approximately 900 gallons of water to produce our vegetables, fruit, pasta, dairy and meat. Water conservation is a job for all of us, yet our greatest water use isn’t what we use in our homes – this is only about 10 percent of the state’s supply.

More than 50 percent of California’s water is used to enhance the environment. The balance, about 40 percent, is the water that grows the food we eat and creates the jobs that we depend on to feed our families.

Our challenge at Yosemite Farm Credit during these difficult times is to finance those who grow our food, which requires water. This challenge goes far beyond having too little snow and rain. It confronts us as we seek a balance between the water demands of people and the environment.

The Central Valley is the food basket of the nation. Its highly productive land grows more than half of all U.S.-produced fruits, nuts and vegetables. Some farmers grow annual crops such as tomatoes and lettuce. Others grow permanent crops, including grapes, walnuts and almonds. It takes money to buy the land, install elaborate drip irrigation systems or purchase new, lower-emission tractors and harvesters.

We provide that money to farmers who face many challenges, including water availability and ongoing state regulations.

Having reliable groundwater when surface supplies are insufficient is an emerging challenge. In 2014, California passed legislation to limit groundwater use to sustainable levels. Achieving this goal will reduce available groundwater, meaning less water can be pumped from underground.

Another challenge is the state’s management of our surface water supplies. The two pumping facilities that sustain many south-of-the-Delta farms are located near Tracy, on the edge of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Pumping has been restricted at times even when water flows are at their highest in an effort to protect endangered Delta smelt and migrating juvenile salmon. Despite the vast amount of water allowed to pass through the Delta in an effort to help these threatened species, their populations continue to decline.

Pumping restrictions increase while additional science-based habitat improvements are not adopted. This leads to even less water.

The greatest challenge now lies with the State Water Resources Control Board. The board recently released a new proposal to increase how much water will flow from our rivers through the Delta to the Pacific Ocean. They want to leave us with only 60 percent of the runoff for drinking water and food. That is much less water than our irrigation districts have been allowed to store in the past.

The 3,500-page proposal states the watersheds on the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers do not produce enough water to meet the needs of both humans and fish. Their proposed solution is to reduce the amount of surface water used by humans. If the state’s plan – contained in its Substitute Environmental Document – had been in effect the past two years, there would have been zero water available for farmers in 2014 and 2015.

Less water for people will have personal and economic consequences. Without water, food doesn’t grow and jobs go away.

The state water board needs to hear your concerns about how its proposal will be harmful to your family and community. For contact information, go to worthyourfight.org and look under the Take Action tab.

You also have the opportunity to comment at public hearings in Sacramento on Nov. 2 and Nov. 10 or in Modesto on Nov. 4.

This story was originally published October 4, 2016 at 11:58 AM with the headline "Water creates the connection between farms and our families."