Another drought, another threat to California farming. Gov. Newsom, are you listening?

One of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s favorite expressions is “real time,” as in something actually happening at the moment. Well, as a second dry winter has occurred and precious little rain and snow fell, the drought is suddenly real time for Central Valley growers. They face the prospect of not having enough water deliveries for their crops.

That is exactly why Newsom should issue an emergency declaration. The crisis Valley farmers face is real, as is the threat to the farm-based economy of California’s heartland.

Newsom can help by declaring an emergency exists. By doing so, he could mandate conservation, relax environmental requirements for water projects and make transfers of supplies from one area to another more feasible. But when asked recently if he would do so, Newsom was hesitant.

“As it relates to the specific declaration of emergency, which has all kinds of component parts, we are not prepared to do that at this moment,” he said.

Valley growers and ranchers want him to get prepared, and fast. It is a grim picture in farm country.

Severe water cuts

It is most dire in the central San Joaquin Valley and south. Growers in the Westlands Water District, along the west side of Fresno and Kings counties, are only going to get 5% of their annual allocation from the federal Central Valley Project, the massive system that moves water from Shasta Lake in Northern California and sends it south to the Valley. The project also draws supplies from rivers — the San Joaquin, Sacramento, Trinity, American and Stanislaus.

Last month, news broke that delivery of that small amount to Westlands has been frozen for an undetermined time.

Farmers on the east side of the Valley and Madera County will do a bit better. Depending on their contract, some will get 20% of their supplies. Others, however, will get nothing.

In the Fresno Irrigation District, which delivers water from the Kings River to growers, supplies won’t start flowing until June. “Historically, we run five months a year,” said Ryan Jacobsen, district board president and CEO of the Fresno County Farm Bureau. “This year, we don’t know if we have more than a month’s supply.”

Fresno has received only 6.44 inches of rain this season, which is about four inches below normal.

Modesto-area growers have it better, being farther north where more rain and snow fell and where reservoirs had more “carry over” water from previous years. Irrigation districts in Modesto and Turlock will have about 80% of typical supplies to work with.

Central Valley Project users north of the Delta will only get 5% of their contract supply, and State Water Project contractors will receive just 5% allocations as well.

To put it another way, the California Farm Water Coalition notes that 2 million acres of irrigated farmland in the state — one of every four acres — has had supplies cut by 95%.

The coalition likens this year’s situation to 2015, when 540,000 acres were left unplanted, 21,000 jobs were lost and the state experienced an economic loss of $2.7 billion, according to UC Davis.

Drought declaration sought

On April 1 state officials said their latest snow survey of the season had found the snowpack’s water equivalent just 59% of normal.

Eleven state legislators — nine from the Valley and two from Salinas — wrote Newsom earlier this month requesting he make the emergency declaration. Among those signing the letter were Sen. Andreas Borgeas and Assemblyman Jim Patterson, both Republicans from Fresno. Borgeas chairs the Agricultural Committee in the Senate and helped lead the effort.

The lawmakers asked Newsom to meet with them, and act so water transfers can be made quickly, as well as financial assistance given to food producers.

The governor has had more than a year of dealing with the COVID pandemic, and the last thing he needs is another emergency.

But unfortunately, the drought is a real-time reality. Newsom would do well to meet with the legislators and act on their concerns. He should issue the emergency declaration to help farmers. And, like it or not, he needs to get the attention of all Californians that, indeed, here we go again.

This story was originally published April 16, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Another drought, another threat to California farming. Gov. Newsom, are you listening?."