Tag Archives: El Nino

Workers and Markets Follow the Water

sedge-628370_640The lack of water caused by the California drought affects our food supply in more ways than just the ability to grow crops. It has had deep impact on the workers in this industry and the businesses that employ them. When the cost of water for a 10-acre farm parcel goes from $3,200 to $33,000 in one year, you’ve got a business problem. In 2013, the California agriculture industry employed about 349,000 people.

Currently, the San Joaquin valley is considered the salad bowl of the country. It provides one third of the fruit, nuts and produce we consume in the U.S. With more than 10 years of drought tendency, water has become so scarce and so expensive, landowners are considering what to do next. If the predicted El Nino doesn’t do enough to alleviate the drought situation, workers may have to leave California to follow the water to Washington State. Idaho or Oregon.

Farmers are also learning to become more adaptable and are learning about foreign markets – to maximize their investment in crops by exporting to other countries. China, a large importer of American produce, has become a factor in which crops live or die, because farmers need to consider how to squeeze the most profit out of their products.

“The overseas market is extremely important,” says Jesus Ramos, a farmer who owns 140 acres of mostly citrus trees in Terra Bella in Tulare County. “That dictates whether you can keep a crop going or not.”

California wasteland: Drought-sick farmers hope for relief

California has been experiencing drought conditions since 1999. The lack of rainfall and snowpack in the recent years has pushed farmers in the Central Valley to the edge. Farmers spend millions of their own savings to purchase emergency water to save crops, hoping the coming winter will bring rain to relieve the situation.

Read more at CNBC, How China is Changing Your Dinner Plate.

Will El Nino Bring Drought Relief?

downpour-61916_640California may think it’ll finally see some relief from the extreme drought that has gripped the region for several years because this year’s El Nino is predicted to be massive, bringing heavy rains – and with that the potential of mudslides and flooding in southern California.

CBS/AP reports: “Weather models this year show a 60 percent chance of above-average rainfall in Southern California, but that figure declines farther north…”

There’s a downside. Northern portions of California and parts of Nevada are only looking at between a 50% chance, down to 33% as you head north. Unfortunately, most of the state’s reservoirs are located in the northern portion of California, meaning heavy rains in southern California won’t do much to alleviate drought conditions as its infrastructure is designed to channel rainwater away from homes to prevent flooding – and water is washed out to sea.

The Pacific Northwest is expected to continue being very dry and drought conditions will persist mostly due to warm weather causing reduced snowpack across much of the Cascades Range and Olympic Mountains in Washington. So, while residents and businesses are being diligent about reducing water usage, there is certainly more that can be done on a municipal, county, federal and individual level.

Ben Franklin

“When the well is dry we know the value of water”, Benjamin Franklin

El Nino Affects Snowpack and Water Supplies

cascades_amo_2015123Forecasts indicate that the El Nino weather pattern is expected to continue bringing wetter, warmer forecasts for the winter, and continued dryer weather for next summer for the west coast. It is expected that we will see the same weather this next year as we did this year. Less snowpack in the Cascades will mean once again a limited amount of water for municipal water supplies. A warmer and wetter winter will fill reservoirs, but Seattle’s experience this year showed that without that snowpack to replenish stored levels, supplies fall short as summer stretches on. Many small water districts in the Pacific Northwest found themselves running extremely low, while Seattle Public Utilities is continuing to ask its customers to scale back usage.

There has been an increase in interest in rainwater collection for single-family residences in Seattle and other areas of Western Washington this summer for potable and non-potable systems. Non-potable systems are being sought primarily for irrigation, but the real increase is in whole house potable demand. As our population in the Seattle area has increased dramatically and drier conditions in the summer are causing higher demands, many are preparing in advance for next summer.

A well-designed and installed rainwater catchment system can provide water to a single-family household year-round or supplement city water use during the summer. A non-potable system can ease the demand on city water by using collected rainwater for irrigation during those dry periods. Many of RainBank’s customers are commenting once again “that this is the right thing to do” – a message that I used to hear often before the recession. Folks want to do the right thing for the environment regardless of a crisis.

We must take population growth and protection of our natural resources seriously. Water is the one thing we cannot do without.