Haves and Have-Nots

JWT drove the length of the San Joaquin Valley in early October and sent me his notes:

/begin report
There is some good news and some bad news. The good news first.

1. The California Aqueduct is full. (I knew that would relieve your mind.)
2. We still grow cotton in a desert, but not nearly as much.
3. There is snow on Mount Shasta.
4. There are a lot of new orchards being planted and every single one has drip irrigation installed.
5. We still irrigate apricots and pistachios, etc. by flooding the orchards.
6. There is lots and lots and lots of alfalfa cut, bundled and stacked.

But the bad news is...

1. Lots of mature orchards are dead because the water was shut off.
2. Lake Shasta is just about empty.
3. The San Luis Rey Reservoir is at 11% of capacity (see photo)
4. Thousands of acres have been fallowed, and some of it has been out for several years.
5. There is lots and lots and lots of alfalfa cut, bundled and stacked.
6. We still irrigate apricots and pistachios, etc. by flooding the orchards.

But the real conclusion is that there are two different Valleys and the demarcation is as sharp as if Winston Churchill sat down with a ruler and a pen and a map of Persia. Everything north of Sacramento, e.g. the Delta, is rich and prosperous. The fields are neatly harrowed for spring planting. The hedgerows are neat and clean. The houses and barns are painted and well maintained. The cars, trucks, tractors, etc. are relatively new and well maintained.

South of Sacramento everything is simply shabby. That is where all of the fallowed land and the deserted orchards are located.

Lessons Learned: Farmers north of the delta are NEVER going to agree to changing the way things work. Why should they? They have plenty of water for their crops and can sell surplus water which costs them next to nothing to cities for $500 AF or more.

The water moguls, Lester Snow, Jeff Kightlinger, et al. are never going to agree to change anything since solving the water problem would lessen the importance of their jobs and, most likely, their incomes.

The mayors of the cities, i.e., Los Angeles and San Diego, aren't interested in changing anything since that might cut off the campaign funds from developers.

Ordinary citizens are not remotely interested in the whole thing because the subject is too arcane and the real cost they pay is really tiny. Only a third of my $75 water bill is for water. The rest is for taxes and infrastructure.

The only constituency for pricing water sensibly that I can find are the greenies and farmers south of the Delta. That group has the potential to be very influential.

Here is my suggestion: Find the farm organizations located south of the Delta and get their membership lists. Write (email?) the individuals and tell them you feel their pain and, because pricing is the only way out of the problem, you have started a blog to give everyone a chance to discuss the problem.

Then do the same thing with the Sierra Club and all the Fish Folks, and anyone else that looks green.
/end report

[My] Bottom Line: Anyone south of the Delta who wants to their community to survive into the 21st century should start advocating water markets and water pricing, i.e., read this blog, learn the economics and then get your politicians to work.