By Don A. Wright
The Family Farm Alliance was founded almost 30-years ago as an advocacy organization with a mission to fighting the serious threats to rural communities and the farmers and ranchers who live in and support those communities. The US Bureau of Reclamation was being challenged at every turn and its ability to do business was under assault. Irrigators
from 17-Western states joined together to make FFA a key player in federal Western water resource management. WaterWrights.net thanks FFA Executive Director Dan Keppen for allowing us to reprint the following.
Election Year Attention on the San Joaquin Valley
The 2024 election is well underway across the nation, state and California’s San Joaquin Valley, where one of the nation’s most closely watched Congressional races is unfolding.
Republican Rep. David Valadao and Democrat Rudy Salas are vying for California’s 22nd House District seat, which the Cook Political Report lists as one of its “Republican toss-up” races. The Democratic party has zeroed in on the race as one of the 17 priority districts it hopes to flip.
Central Valley Project (CVP) water is the lifeblood of the local agricultural economy, which includes several of the top farm-production counties in the nation. In the past month, water-related actions driven by national leaders from both political parties drew attention to the region.
Biden Administration Announces $81 Million for Drought Resilience
The Department of the Interior last month announced $81 million for water conservation and drought resilience south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in the San Joaquin Valley.
Acting Deputy Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis, Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Sarah Krakoff, and Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton joined federal and state leaders and CVP water agencies at the Stewart Lee Udall building to announce the funding and sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlining a new long-term drought plan for the region.
“Access to clean and reliable water is essential for feeding families, growing crops, sustaining wildlife and the environment and powering agricultural businesses. It also creates incredible potential for economic opportunity and job creation,” said Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Sarah Krakoff.
“This new drought plan will help provide critical water supplies to refuges and cities, save permanent crops from being fallowed in drought years, and keep water in the San Joaquin River in the worst of drought years.”
The MOU between Reclamation and the CVP South-of-Delta contractors – including the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority (SJRECWA) and Friant Water Authority (FWA) – identifies a framework, long-term drought plan, and a 2024 Pilot Program, including a “drought pool,” to build drought resiliency in the region.
This partnership establishes a program and advances projects that increase regional climate resilience in the San Joaquin Valley, and its implementation is being advanced through funding provided by the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (“IIJA”) and the Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”), which nearly doubled the annual funding provided to Reclamation over eight years.
Key components of the Framework include:
- The development and implementation of a Drought Plan that allows participating entities to voluntarily conserve and securely store or exchange a portion of their CVP south of Delta deliveries for use in future years with lower supplies, in addition to supporting the advancement of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program.
- Allocation of Costs for Large Extraordinary Maintenance (XM) Projects, including the Delta-Mendota Canal Subsidence Correction Project.
- Commitment by Reclamation and SJRECWA to develop processes to ensure that the San Joaquin River Restoration Program can provide specific flows past Sack Dam via the San Joaquin River to Mendota Pool.
- Resolution on the Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir Project by FWA and the SJRECWA to ensure it supports the objectives outlined in the Drought Plan.
“It is critical that we not only continue to invest in new infrastructure to capture and store water to prepare for future dry years, but that we work collaboratively to make the most of the resources we currently have,” said Chris White, SJRECWA Executive Director. “This agreement marks a new level of cooperation that will help to mitigate the impact of droughts on urban, agricultural, and environmental water users in our region, and to advance the goals of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program while maintaining water rights.”
40 Percent Allocation After a Wet Year
CVP water deliveries south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are dependent on Reclamation’s ability to pump water from the Delta, San Luis Reservoir water storage, and conveyance through Central Valley Project canals. In recent decades, operational flexibility has worsened, and regulatory uncertainty has increased for many CVP users, especially those with agricultural service contracts. These impacts are further exacerbated during drought years.
The last update from Reclamation increased the allocation for South of Delta agricultural contractors, including Westlands Water District, to 40 percent of the total water contract, despite a wet year that substantially boosted statewide reservoir and groundwater levels.
“This year’s low allocation after a wet year and a relatively good winter that filled the
state’s reservoirs, and the state officially out of drought conditions, demonstrates the critical and urgent need to improve water management transparency and accountability,” said Allison Febbo, Westlands GM.
Rep. Valadao Hosts Ag and Water Field Tour
Members of the GOP Congressional Western Caucus and their staff attended an agriculture and water field tour in Bakersfield last month.
The field tour was hosted by Rep. David Valadao (R-California), with participation from fellow California Republican Reps. Jay Obernolte and John Duarte, as well as Reps. Burgess Owens (Utah) and Russ Fulcher (Idaho).
Members and staff toured Tasteful Selections to learn more about their production agriculture operations in the Central Valley.
Immediately following the tour, Western Caucus Members saw firsthand the production facility of the world’s largest grower, producer, and shipper of carrots, Grimmway Farms.
To wrap up the field tour, the group was briefed by staff from the Friant Water Authority about water access, storage, and management in the Central Valley.
More Information
For more information about the Family Farm Alliance and how you and your organization
can join go to: https://www.familyfarmalliance.org/join-us/
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