North County farmers bracing for water cutbacks
By: QUINN EASTMAN - Staff Writer | ∞
NORTH COUNTY -- Farmers across North County and their water suppliers said Monday they are beginning to prepare for water cutbacks this coming winter, in what one water official said could be the beginning of a "long-term shift" in North County's water resources.
Local water officials said they were dusting off plans that could put month-by-month caps on agricultural customers' water use and penalties for exceeding the caps.
"We are doubling our prayer efforts for a wet winter," said Chuck Badger, a lemon and orange grower in the Encinitas/Rancho Santa Fe area and president of the San Diego County Farm Bureau.
Supply reductions of at least 30 percent, compared with a still-undetermined reference year, could go into effect in January, barring exceptional weather before then.
The official call for cuts from Southern California's main water supplier, the Metropolitan Water District, is not expected until August or September, local water officials said.
Water can be one of a San Diego County grower's largest expenses, including labor. Some North County operations have yearly bills of several hundred thousand dollars.
"If we have 30 percent less water, we'll have to cut our crop by 30 percent," said Donnie Dabbs, manager of Briggs Tree Company in Vista. "Less product means hiring fewer people, from field workers to salespeople."
The Metropolitan Water District told member agencies last week to make a "reduction plan" for agricultural customers, who pay less for their water in exchange for being first in line for cuts.
"These are our marching orders, but we still have to figure out many of the details," said Keith Lewinger, general manager of Fallbrook's Public Utility District.
According to a blueprint last followed in the early 1990s, local water districts would allot agricultural customers month-by-month a certain percentage -- 70 percent, for example -- of their water usage in a recent "base year."
But which base year is most appropriate for allotment calculations still needs to be worked out, Lewinger said.
The mood Monday among water officials was slightly brighter than last week because on Friday, a federal judge rejected a petition by two environmental legal groups to halt the pumps on the Sacramento-San Joaquin river delta to protect the delta smelt, an endangered fish.
"We dodged that bullet," said Gary Arant, general manager at Valley Center Municipal Water District, where about 80 percent of water goes for agricultural use.
But a meager Sierra snow pack and an ongoing drought on the Colorado River mean even if the ongoing legal issues surrounding the delta smelt are resolved, the water picture still looks bleak.
"This time around, we have more lead time (than in the 1990s)," Arant said. "But this could be the beginning of a long-term shift."
Avocado, citrus and ornamental tree growers around North County said they could respond to cutbacks this winter in a variety of ways, including planting fewer trees, accelerating when they pick fruit and reactivating unused wells.
They also said that landscaping takes up a sizable fraction of residential water use and that they thought agriculture shouldn't necessarily bear the pain alone.
Many avocado growers "stumped" fractions of their trees after this January's debilitating freeze, leading to the appearance of white skeletal groves along Interstate 15, North County's "Avocado Highway."
Stumped trees can still be regrafted, said Al Stehly, whose family's Stehly Grove Management cares for properties around the Valley Center area.
Stehly said he may reactivate some wells that were shut down years before because water coming from them had become too salty.
"Even for avocado trees, salty water may be better than none at all," he said.
Nursery operators say that, unlike fruit growers, less timing is involved in their all-year operations. Some don't take interruptible water supplies because of the higher value of their crops.
"We've had long-term plans in place to cut back water use anyway," said Janet Kister, who runs a commercial nursery in Fallbrook with her husband.
She said they are switching to more efficient drip irrigation, a investment that takes a few years to put in place but one that could reduce water use by about 30 percent.
-- Contact staff writer Quinn Eastman at (760) 740-5412 or qeastman@nctimes.com.
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Lester wrote on Jun 26, 2007 6:24 AM: The water supply to food stuff should be cut less than that to decorative plants such as flowers and shade trees. (As far as I am concerned the watering of palm trees could be discontinued all together.) At present the water from the Delta is being cut because of a delta fish. Now here is a case for the US Supreme Court. If it goes that far I will hold my breath and pray that none of the justices are lovers of the Delta Smelt - and I don't mean smelt on the plate, and plate on the table, and smelt under knife and fork, kind of love.
rocco wrote on Jun 26, 2007 6:47 AM:This is not fair. Urbanization expands and lawns remain green but the economic engine of ag is getting shut down. Great idea. Someone better tell the developers that we ran out of water.
Concerned-1 wrote on Jun 26, 2007 8:31 AM:First of all you didn't run out of water. You never had any. 95 Percent of SD water comes from Met and the majority of that from the Colorado River. The River is experiencing an eight year drought. The State Water project is an environmental and economical nuclear bomb that is about to explode. The Delta Smelt is just the tip of the ice berg for the Delta. We should have built the Peripheal Canal when we had the chance back in the '80s. Oh well. Hang on So Cal, we are in for The Perfect Drought.
Enough already wrote on Jun 26, 2007 9:12 AM:When is the average working, voting person going to stand up to the environmental whackos who put everything they can ahead of the betterment of mankind. This is nuts. We are worried about terrorists from other countries? In case you haven't noticed between the environmentalnuts and the ACLU common sense is being attacked on every front. Nobody elected these clowns. It is time to force our ELECTED representatives to say enough is enough.
ag's my bag wrote on Jun 26, 2007 9:18 AM:...and you can bet we as a nation will be depended on 3rd world countries for our food due to decisions like this one!!! good luck to us all
Waterwise wrote on Jun 26, 2007 10:29 AM:We live in a desert, plain and simple. The City of San Diego has twice in the past 10 years has scuttled plans to augment our local water supplies with super clean recaimed water, just like Orange County and Los Angeles have been doing for over 30 years. But our Mayor's have said it's yucky, so we haven't done anything to plan ahead for the inevitable drought. Don't pray for rain, that will only get us by for a day. Pray for intelligent elected leaders, that will help us get by for the dry decades to come.
BigLouie wrote on Jun 26, 2007 1:56 PM:Let them cutback the water to the farmers as long as my golf course stays green.
Concerned Conservative wrote on Jun 26, 2007 2:03 PM:Too bad that the water wasters in my neighborhood don't read the paper. We need to get out the word on TV. Stop wahing your cars in the driveway, Stop washing your driveway! That one kills me! Every week these idiots wash their car and then wash the driveway. The same idiots that water the lawn at Noon. Water your lawn at 5 AM people! Wash your car at the carwash where the water is recycled. And get out the broom or the blower for the driveway, please. Someone needs to inform the public on TV of this real concern that isnt't going away. Do it in English and in Spanish, please! I like eating locally grown Oranges and Avocados way more than I can if your car is clean every Thursday! Every resident needs to conserve water.
John wrote on Jun 26, 2007 2:25 PM:The federal government has been paying tax dollars in subsidies to midwestern farmers NOT to grow crops, and using federal taxdollars to supply the west with water so that they could grow the crops (and get rich) that the midewesterners were paid not to grow. I like the fact that you can get crops all winter in SoCal, but you can see how this is unsustainable economically. This has nothing to do with the smelt- even with that water there will come a day when it will not sustain the development. Now, the water is running low and your complaining? This is just reality catching up to North County. I guess those who feel entitled are the last to open their eyes.
Concerned-1 wrote on Jun 26, 2007 3:57 PM:Glad to see there are some people who are in the know. Spread the word and admonish those who waste.
HOA's part of problem wrote on Jun 26, 2007 4:05 PM:I agree with previous posters - this is really not about the smelt. We do live in a desert and are experiencing a drought. Yet, my HOA demands that we have a front lawn as part of the "green belt" look that everyone wants. Maybe we should all get that realistic fake lawn stuff that never needs to be watered - then we could have the greenbelt look and no wasted water. Then if ypour lawn gets a little yellow, you get cited for breaking the HOA codes. I say subsidize farmers to install drip irrigation, use super cleaned reclaimed water (probably cleaner than what we have now in reality) and cut back residential usage - a mandatory cutback. We cannot depend on the rains.
John wrote on Jun 26, 2007 8:34 PM:I have lived in Southern California for ten years. The weather is beautiful because it doesn't rain. If it doesn't rain it means we live in a desert. I think some people don't remember there is a positive and negative to everything . . . life is trade offs. Before the smelt controversy there was the Colorado Project, and before the Colorado was the Central Valley Project, and before the CVP was the Owen's Lake . . . read a history book or two; we live in a desert. It will not continue as it has for the past 75 years. If the lack of water doesn't slow agriculture down, the soil salinity will.
GFN wrote on Jun 26, 2007 10:10 PM:Con-1, 8:31, is right on, but Enough already needs to stop focusing on the "environmental whackos" who are trying to slow down the destruction of the "development whackos". Too much; too fast with too many greedy people.
Conserve water- wrote on Jun 26, 2007 10:22 PM:Too many new houses too many new people. Thirty years ago we realized that this was a desert and no new houses were permitted to be built. Water was only served in resturants, by request. There was a water shortage and people had to conserve. Now houses cover all the hills and the roads are full of cars--ah progress!!!!!!!
SMD wrote on Jun 27, 2007 11:59 AM:Well, it looks like we farmers are in for it! We need to start planning as much as we can NOW! Stump your trees, if you have been thinking of it, mulch, mulch, mulch, and improve your irrigation systems. Oh, and pray for rain and Colorado snow pack! As discussed, we all have probably been seeing this on the horizon so we shouldn't be complaining - it doesn't do any good anyway. We should, we must, get the entire community involved in this problem (and the solution) and stop being stupid with watering schedules and watering driveways. Penalize these people too! Let's wake up already! Act like we are a community - we are in this together no matter how you look at it.
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