Farmers say they’re getting a bad rap over water
Despite better a winter that is shaping up to be wetter than average in some parts of California, experts say it’s far from enough to put much of a dent in the four years of drought that preceded it.
As such, the controversy on how to allocate water and what restrictions to put on communities, farms and other businesses is unlikely to get a reprieve any time soon.
But for some farmers attending this week’s World Ag Expo in Tulare, concerns about how farmers are being portrayed in the battle over water is a concern, as some say they’re being painted as the bad guys in all of this.
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Certainly, farmers have been vocal in their opposition of federal court rulings that result in large amounts of surface water from Northern California being directed away from farms and communities to preserve populations of delta smelt, Chinook salmon and other fish in waterways.
But Charlie Pitigliano, a Pixley grower of pistachios and citrus who also is chairman of this year’s Ag Expo, said that makes no sense to him.
“Why would you take water away from farmers who are feeding millions and million of people,” he asked in an interview after Tuesday’s opening ceremony for the Expo.
Unfortunately, he said, the farmers’ side of this isn’t getting enough attention, so political decisions are being made on water issues in which the needs of the agricultural industry aren’t being given enough weight.
Making matters worse is that farmers are getting a “hard rap” in all this, portrayed as being wasteful with water.
Among the claims that have circulated is that farmers are using 80 percent California’s water, but many farmers and politicians challenge that claim, as well some academics.
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The truth is that about 50 percent of California’s water goes toward environmental purposes, including keeping enough water in the state’s waterways to keep them flow going — which also prevents salt water from permeating into the San Joaquin Delta — and to maintain fish populations, said Glenda Humiston, vice president over agriculture and natural resources for the University of California’s Office of the President.
Part of that water also is absorbed into the soil, feeding wells, she said.
As for the rest of the water, about 10 percent goes to “urban” uses — for homes and most businesses — and 40 percent is used by commercial agriculture.
“And I would argue that 40 percent is for urban, because it’s for food,” said Humiston, who was at the Ag Expo Tuesday.
Besides being victims of the “numbers game,” farmers also are being accused of using more water than they need, said California Assemblyman Frank Bigelow, R-Madera.
“I feel that they’re blaming us for not using water wisely when they’re flushing their water out into the ocean” to preserve fish populations, Pitigliano added.
As for why, he said, “There are a lot of people in the state that don’t support agriculture. That agriculture isn’t needed. That we can get what we need somewhere else. And that somewhere else is out of this country — where people work in substandard conditions at pennies on the dollar compared to American workers.”
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And politicians and residents in urban areas — who tend to carry more political clout than those in rural areas — are buying enough into the claims about farmers wasting that Pitigliano and others are concerned it could affect water policies in the state that end up hurting farmers.
Among those concerns are that these attitudes could affect rules being developed that will require California farmers for the first time to meter the amount of water they pump from their wells — and likely will include restrictions on how much they can use.
“The public needs to be informed of what’s really happening,” said Ruben Llamas, an alfalfa farmer from Chino, who made the trip south to Tulare for the Expo’s opening day.
He said he has heard on the radio claims of farmers — particularly nut growers — using too much water, but Llamas said he and most every farmer he knows, “We use the least amount of water possible and not waste it.”
And considering how much water costs — particularly in the current drought — “Farmers have a financial incentive to [conserve],” Llamas said.
Most households aren’t as efficient in their water use as farmers, who use research and technology to find out how much water their crops need and try to apply no more, he said.
In comparison, people who water their lawns for 20 minutes a day don’t realize that they don’t need to use that much water, Llamas said.
Danny Weins, a vineyard superintendent from Temecula, said complaints from homeowners in Riverside County that farmers were paying less for water than residential users prompted boosts in water rates for farms there based on use.
And in some cases, farmers are paying more than residential customers, which has significantly added to their production costs, he said.
“It’s been very difficult for the gentleman farmer,” with a small farm who can’t easily afford the higher rates, Weins said.
Part of the controversy in Riverside County stems from the fact that “When the homeowner drives by a field and sees the water running, they see a small picture of what’s happening,” he said.
“They just see a six-inch pipe pumping water into a field,” but they don’t realize the amount of water needed to keep grape vines and other crops alive and productive, Weins said, adding that a person taking a shower typically uses as much water as is needed keep to a grape vine alive and healthy for a month, Weins said.
“They don’t see the amount of water it takes to make that quality plant.”
But if growers had to cut back their water use to the degree some are suggesting, they would see the the quality and sizes of fruits and vegetables in their grocery stores decline, as would the amount of available produce, as production would certainly decline as a result, Weins said.
And the prices of those fruits and vegetables would go up significantly due to production losses, added Kyle Washburn, a citrus and avocado farmer from Hemet.
“The politicians, to me, are the worst ones” in the water debate, he said. “Because they don’t go out in the fields and see we grow food for people. If we don’t grow food, we’ll have to buy it from foreign countries.”
And if that happens, he said, “You’re going to pay $5 for an avocado,” Washburn said.