By David Mas Masumoto

In this drought year, it’s my only hope. Yet I can’t see it, hear it or feel it. It lies hidden deep beneath my farm. Without it, my farm and my neighbors go thirsty. All my senses focus on groundwater.

With a depleted snowpack in the Sierra and record low reservoirs, thousands of Central Valley farms will depend on water extracted from wells to keep their plants alive and to grow food. Hundreds of pumps in Valley cities and towns also supply water to tens of thousands of thirsty households. Farmers and city folks will pray our machines will continue to suck water from aquifers below our lands.

We are forced to visualize a new landscape. We will desperately learn how to read maps to determine groundwater depths under our homes and farms, and make educated guesses of how much longer our wells will provide us with the life-giving elixir.

Like an explorer of uncharted seas, I’ve spread out hydrology maps of groundwater levels on my kitchen counter, trying to make sense of the curving lines cutting across our Valley floor. It’s a topography chart of the unseen and concealed treasure under my feet. I run my fingers over the lines, hoping to acquire a feel of this unknown landscape. I have to learn how to read this new terrain and see the invisible.

Location. Location. Location. Real estate with a twist: where a farm or city lies and their water deposits (or lack of) will determine survival or death.

My farm is just south of Fresno and happens to be in a good water zone. I think I’m lucky – this is all unexplored territory. My water table sits about 50 feet beneath the ground’s surface. I have two wells, each dropping 200 feet, and good pumps. In the last 15 years, my water table has dropped 20 to 30 feet. I’m lucky. I thank my father who happened to buy this farm with unknown buried treasures of liquid gold.

Yet in the last few years, the water table has receded at a much quicker pace due to a lack of rainfall to recharge the underground aquifers and to farmers who were forced to tap underground pools because of very limited supplies of surface water. How long will our groundwater last? Who regulates this hidden asset? Who owns this fortune? These questions will haunt me for the future and will have an impact on my children’s dreams of farming.

In California, groundwater operates with very little regulation. The next great debate will challenge private property rights vs. government regulation. I believe we must first explore monitoring systems and create local districts to establish protocols for reasonable and sustainable groundwater use. This will force cities and farms to adopt a regional approach to groundwater management – we all contribute to a liquid savings account.

Yet a challenge will arise – must regions cooperate with each other? Perhaps then a water marketing structure will be established with dollars as the determining factor. That troubles me, because then my worth as a farmer may be determined only by the price of water. Will I then become a prospector and miner, part of a modern-day film “There Will Be Blood”?

Twenty miles to the west, farms sit on a cliff. Literally. The aquifer crashes downward to 200 to 220 feet below ground level. The underground terrain radically shifts and aquifers collapse. Those farmers will struggle, forced to employ deeper wells with huge pumps and for very, very expensive water. Some of that water has high mineral accumulation and is not the best for irrigation. The landscape beneath those farms is not kind.

Yet in other parts of our Valley, like the Sacramento area, it is like living on another planet. Water tables are higher than in the San Joaquin Valley and have not collapsed with this drought. It’s the luck of geography and planning, more rainfall and rivers that recharge the land, a land where two rivers, the Sacramento and San Joaquin, converge to form the Delta.

These aquifers are different, fed for eons by different flows of water. I can’t read their maps – they don’t make sense to an “arid” farmer in the south with my coarse soils. Groundwater acquires a different meaning for them. They are on Mars while I live on Venus.

We reside and farm in a groundwater oasis; the Central Valley Aquifer system blesses our lands. An aquifer is not a river but more like pools of water squeezed between layers of rock and earth. They are fed by rain, seepage from rivers and reservoirs, and snowmelt – also by irrigation. We forget that not all the water I apply to my fields is taken up by plants. In fact, when we furrow irrigate, the majority of the water is not lost but percolates into the earth and recharges the aquifer.

Just as surface water feeds our aquifer, the opposite is true: Pumping can deplete groundwater supplies. Overdrafting means more water is taken than given, and like a bank, we will pay for it in the long run. We think of this drought being a few years old, and quickly ignore decades-long droughts that are part of our history.

We live in a geography of hope. Hope for adequate rain and snow, hope for a short-term drought, hope our groundwater will last long enough to weather this thirst. At times, optimism blinds us; already I anxiously read long-range weather reports and the potential for El Niño next year – which can mean rain.

But the hidden landscape beneath us will quickly become visible, dividing our lands and landowners into the haves and have nots. Water will gradually be depleted – not just on farms but also in small towns and cities. When we turn on our taps and pumps and only a trickle flows, the curse of limited groundwater will be felt.

We are not dinosaurs who blindly faced a changing climate and environment. We can learn to read maps and see the future. We can begin to address this crisis with planning, policy and sacrifice. On our farm, we’ve retired 20 percent of the land and are experimenting with fallowing some of our perennial crops. We may all have to share in this solution. And the dreaded “C” word escapes from our dry lips and parched throats: compromise.

LINK TO ARTICLE

Secretary Ross with Imagine This…prize-winning student authors.

CDFA Secretary Karen Ross joined six California student authors recognized for their prize-winning stories about agriculture in the Imagine This…story writing contest. On Wednesday, March 19, the students and their teachers were honored during a ceremony at the California State Capitol in the Governor’s Council Room. Secretary Ross participated along with members of the legislature and staff.

The prize-winning authors received medals, e-readers, books, artwork, and resources for their teachers from California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom (CFAITC).
The students were selected from more than 8,000 entrants for their creativity, writing skills, and positive interpretation of California’s agriculture industry:

• Rose Velasquez, 3rd grade, McSwain Elementary School (Merced County) for her story, The Pink Shirt
• Evan Johns, 4th grade, Gratton Elementary School (Stanislaus County) for his story, The Incident
• Jake Martin, 5th grade, Sacred Heart Catholic School (Stanislaus County) for his story, Luigi’s Pride
• Creed Newton, 6th grade, Scott Valley Jr. High School (Siskiyou County) for his story, Branding Day on Our Ranch
• Allyson Wei, 7th grade, San Gabriel Christian School (Los Angeles County) for her story, Strawberry Troublemakers
• Morgan Hicks, 8th grade, Gratton Elementary School (Stanislaus County) for her story, Raineo and Dropulete

Hundreds of California teachers participate in this annual contest by assigning their students the task of researching an aspect of agriculture and challenging them to incorporate these facts into their own creative story. The success of this contest is bolstered by meeting state English-language arts teaching requirements and by providing an opportunity for students to explore topics of which they previously had limited knowledge.

“We are excited to recognize these students for their writing achievements and their better understanding of farming through the Imagine this… Story Writing Contest. We encourage the students to continue learning about the vital role agriculture plays in our daily lives,” said CFAITC executive director, Judy Culbertson.

The contest’s purpose is to promote reading, writing, and the arts while furthering the public’s understanding of agriculture.

Link to the news release

Left to right, Growing California Chair Kasey Cronquist, Visit California CEO Caroline Beteta, Governor Brown and CDFA Secretary Karen Ross.

Driven by the farm-to-fork movement and a growing interest among travelers for culinary experiences, Visit California is partnering with California Grown to launch a new marketing campaign, “California, Always in Season.”

The two entities announced their partnership at the campaign launch during California Agriculture Day 2014 at the State Capitol.

Tourists in California spent $28.5 billion on food and beverages in 2012, making it the largest segment in the state’s tourism economy. The “California, Always in Season” program is designed to market California’s agricultural abundance and pioneering and innovative spirit of the state’s chefs, farmers and ranchers.

“This partnership further defines California as the premier destination for culinary travelers,” said Caroline Beteta, president & CEO of Visit California. “Today’s travelers seek culinary experiences from farm tours and farm-to-fork dinners, to artisan purveyors, wine festivals and culinary tours. When it comes to travel, food and agriculture – California is always in season.”

“We are excited about all of the opportunities, benefits and attention that this newly formed relationship with Visit California will bring California agriculture,” explains California Grown Chair Kasey Cronquist. “Our ‘California, Always in Season’ campaign is just the first example of this new vision highlighting the valuable cultural and economic influence our farmers and ranchers have on the Golden State.”

The cornerstone of this campaign is a $1 million media buy with Food & Wine magazine, which will deliver more than 58 million impressions through print spreads, videos, custom media rich content, targeted digital media and a co-branded landing page on Food & Wine’s website. Much of the content in the magazine will focus on the relationship between California farmers and their collaboration with local chefs, the diversity and abundance of specialty crops throughout the state as well as stories that demonstrate that California’s culinary pioneers are part of the fabric that makes the state an iconic destination.

The Golden State grows more than 400 commodities and produces 90 percent of the wine and half of the fruit, nuts and vegetables grown in the United States. The state’s commitment to agriculture and agritourism is demonstrated by California’s passionate farmers, ranchers, chefs and winemakers 365 days a year.

“Ranchers and farmers are developing their own cult status and becoming the next rock stars of the culinary scene,” Beteta said. “They are the ones that help California deliver on its promise of being the ultimate dreamland. It’s these passionate people who make this state’s culinary scene the best in the world.”

The first issue of Food & Wine featuring the “California, Always in Season” content is on newsstands now. For a look at the campaign, visit www.FoodandWine.com/California. For more information on culinary experiences in California, visit www.VisitCalifornia.com.

This project is possible with funding from the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.

Visit California (formerly known as the California Travel & Tourism Commission) is a non-profit organization with a mission to develop and maintain marketing programs – in partnership with the state’s travel industry – that keep California top-of-mind as a premier travel destination. According to Visit California, travel and tourism expenditures total $112 billion annually in California, support jobs for 917,000 Californians and generate $6.6 billion in state and local tax revenues. For more information about Visit California and for a free California Official State Visitor’s Guide, go to www.visitcalifornia.com. For story ideas, media information, downloadable images and more, go to media.visitcalifornia.com.

California Grown (also known as the Buy California Marketing Agreement, BCMA) is a joint effort of agricultural industry groups representing the products of California’s farms, ranches, forests and fisheries. Working as an advisory board to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, BCMA brings together industry and government resources to increase the awareness, consumption and value of California agricultural products, helping the state’s consumers enjoy the best of the California lifestyle. California Grown is funded through public and private contributions by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, and California agricultural organizations. For more information, visitwww.californiagrown.org.

Link to news release

The annual California Ag Day has been scheduled for March 19 at the west steps of the State Capitol. Ag Day is one of a series of events scheduled that week to celebrate farming and ranching in our state and across the nation.

Ag Day is presented by CDFA and its co-sponsors, California Women for Agriculture, and the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom, which is planning several activities that week to promote agriculture.