Farmers in the fertile San Joaquin River Delta have agreed to a plan that will require them to cut their water usage by 25%.
Water is pumped into a field that will be planted with rice on May 8, 2015 in Biggs, California.
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As California's drought continues to grip the state, regulators and a group of farmers have agreed to rare voluntary water cutbacks.
The farmers are all located in the fertile San Joaquin River Delta and have agreed to a plan that will require them to either cut their water usage by 25%, or leave 25% of their land fallow. The plan was proposed by the farmers and accepted Friday by the State Water Resources Control Board.
Tim Moran, a spokesman for the board, told BuzzFeed News the plan affects those who have land that abuts rivers. Those landowners have the right to pull water directly out of those rivers — a concept known as "riparian rights" — and Moran said there are as many as 2,000 farms in the area who fall into that category. About half of those farmers are candidates for the program, Moran said.
"Part of their motivation is they want to demonstrate that they are participating and trying to help the drought situation," he added.
But the cuts represent a kind of imperfect solution for many farmers, some of whom believe the state has no right to cut their water usage in the first place.
A dust devil kicks up dirt as it forms over a field in Madera, California.
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Thomas McGurk is an elected board member of the Stockton East Water District and told BuzzFeed News the farmers in the region proposed the cuts in order to be proactive. McGurk farms outside the Delta, where he said there is currently sufficient water, but said nearby Delta farmers in his county are anxious as the state moves closer and closer to requiring cuts.
"That was to avoid a court fight," McGurk added of the voluntary cuts. "[State] lawyers were ready to go to court."
Lynn Miller's family has been farming in the region for 144 years, when her great grandfather arrived. Miller told BuzzFeed News her water rights are 114 years old and currently enable her to grow oats and alfalfa on nearly 200 acres. She described a meeting of hundreds of farmers Thursday to discuss the voluntary cutbacks as "intense" and said that reducing water use will mean significant loss of revenue.
"If somebody asked you, 'will you take a 25% hit on your income?' what would you think?" she asked.
Miller added that California's complex water rights system guarantees farmers with riparian rights priority access to the water, and attorneys representing the farmers have tended to agree that the state couldn't force cuts. Nevertheless, rather than face the State Water Resources Control Board in court, farmers will likely choose to participate in the voluntary cutback program.
"People are driving around asking each other, 'hey what are you going to do,'" Miller said. "There's a limited amount of water. We're willing to do our part if this is going to help."
Farmers wanting to participate have until June 1 to submit a plan explaining how they will make cuts. Regulators will then do spot checks to enforce the program.
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1AkEWKa
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