From the Water Blueprint for the San Joaquin Valley
Following multiple wet years in California, you’d think the state’s most productive farmland would finally have received its fair share of water. Instead, San Joaquin Valley farmers continued to receive just a fraction of their normal supplies. This baffling and troubling reality threatens the region’s entire economic future.
Despite reservoirs brimming and the Sierra Nevada’s three straight years of average or above average snowpack, many San Joaquin Valley farmers reliant on the Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project (SWP) have only received roughly half of their contracted water supplies. In some districts, the allocations have been even lower.
This is more than a missed opportunity, it’s an abysmal failure of the state’s existing water supply infrastructure and failed environmental water policies. And the consequences are staggering.
According to the Public Policy Institute of California, without new water supplies the San Joaquin Valley could see 650,000 to 900,000 acres of farmland permanently fallowed. However, if the region were able to secure just one million additional acre-feet of water annually, that fallowed land could be significantly reduced to around 500,000 acres.
Much needed investments in updated infrastructure, better groundwater recharge, and flexible water trading would save hundreds of thousands of prime food-producing acres from being lost. Without action, widespread land fallowing will ripple through the region’s economy, leading to the loss of 42,000 farmworker jobs, closures of food processing plants and agricultural businesses causing $1.1 billion in losses to employee income, and a reduction of $242 million in local taxes that will hit local schools and public services hard.
Investing in water solutions isn’t just about crops, it’s about protecting entire San Joaquin Valley communities that depend on agriculture and water to survive.
The San Joaquin Valley needs comprehensive water reforms and investments that ensure sufficient supplies now and in the future.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Maven’s Notebook.
