This drought has been going on for years in California, and it’s getting worse. Most of the state’s farmers are getting very little water this year from the state’s reservoirs and canals because the rivers are low. But farming continues as usual.
Take a moment next time you pick up a bag of carrots or melons from California’s grocery store to think about the water that nourished them. As the world heats up, farmers are likely pumping water from subterranean aquifers at a rate that’s no longer sustainable
After years of drought, farmers are increasingly turning to groundwater to continue raising food as usual.
Josue Medellin-Azuara of the University of California, Merced predicts that California’s farmers will pump an additional six to seven million acre-feet of water from their wells this year beyond what they typically use.
As a result of California’s big groundwater grab, this year may be the beginning of the end. As a result, the state is prepared to gradually implement new limitations on groundwater pumping that would compel farmers to make difficult adjustments.
40 percent of the country’s fruit and vegetable output comes from California. It depends on a weak and uncertain water supply as the climate warms up.
During good years, a complex network of dams, aqueducts, and irrigation canal systems collects water from rivers and melting snow in the northern part of the state and transfers it to fields in the Central Valley, where most crops are cultivated. In addition, the system delivers water to coastal cities, although agriculture is still the major consumer of water in the United Kingdom.
There is less than half the normal amount of water in California’s largest reservoirs this year. Due to a lack of irrigation funds, farmers have been forced to rely on their own wells instead of government-funded irrigation systems. It’s up to the state’s Department of Water Resources to find a solution.
The state and municipal governments are currently setting groundwater usage limitations to attain this goal. A significant section of Central Valley, between Sacramento and Bakersfield, will have to reduce its groundwater pumping by 70 to 80 percent by 2040 compared to what it is doing now. Water restrictions are imposed on farmers in New Mexico during drought years. Many believe that groundwater is a “lifeline” for farmers, while there are others who believe that restrictions are essential. Satellites that can determine which crops are produced are being used to monitor water consumption.
There may be new restrictions on a water supply that farmers in the San Joaquin Valley will have to deal with. According to the report, an estimated million acres, or 20 percent of farmland, will be taken out of production. Farmers are likely to divert their limited water supply to their most valued crops to conserve water.
