Saturday, Mar. 07, 2009

Growers are trying to survive

West Side checks irrigation options

Kenneth Shackel is feeling more like an emergency room doctor than an agricultural researcher these days as he helps farmers cope with little to no irrigation water this season.

"It's like triage," said Shackel, a University of California at Davis pomologist and plant science professor. "For some, this isn't about controlling diseases or yields. It's about survival."

This year, farmers in much of the western San Joaquin Valley will get no federal water, unless drought conditions improve dramatically.

Among the crops being watched closely are almonds. Researchers are taking a harder look at growing practices, including reducing a tree's leaf area to cut the demand for water.

"This is one of those things that is really untried with almonds," Shackel said. "But we are looking at lots of things right now."

The affected areas include the Del Puerto Water District, a 45,000-acre strip next to Interstate 5 in Merced, Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties.

General Manager Bill Harrison said that if the 2009 federal allotment stays at zero, growers will have to get by with wells, if they have them, and a small amount of 2008 federal water stored in San Luis Reservoir.

Many almond growers could be forced to use only enough water to keep the trees alive. That would mean no nut crop to pay the bills.

"We just don't have enough water to provide the trees with production amounts," Harrison said. "We're in survival mode."

Growers of annual field crops could leave their land fallow if the federal water is gone and they do not have access to groundwater.

West Side growers are dealing with not just drought, but also with strict rules to protect fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, where the water is diverted.

Growers are taking drastic action to cope with the shortage — from bulldozing older trees to spraying chemicals to prevent nuts from developing.

"I'm telling people that if you don't have enough water to set a crop, don't spend $150 a hive to pollinate your trees," said Brent Holtz, a UC Cooperative Extension farm adviser.

Growers who pump groundwater may be better off, but it can be high in salinity and boron.

Dan Munk, an extension farm adviser, said almond trees, unlike pistachios, are not highly salt-tolerant. Too much salt and boron can stunt new growth and cause leaf burn.

"And you could have some situations where the water is so bad that you may not want to irrigate your crop at all," Munk said. "This is a tough situation."

Water agencies with their own rights to rivers — such as the Modesto, Turlock, Oakdale and South San Joaquin irrigation districts — are not under such tight rules. Still, they have to make some releases for fish, and they have to deal with a third straight year of drought.

The MID board on Tuesday will consider the rare step of capping Tuolumne River water at 3.5 acre-feet per acre this year. An acre-foot covers one acre one foot deep. The district would provide water from its own wells above the cap with special approval.

About 90 percent of MID growers could meet their crops' needs without exceeding the cap, said Walt Ward, assistant general manager for water operations, at a meeting with growers Wednesday.

That means that almonds and other tree crops would get most or all of what they need from river water. The cap could have an effect, though, on land that uses a lot of water, including field crops that have multiple harvests in a year.

The TID had a 3.5 acre-foot cap last year. It has not set its 2009 rules.

Bee staff writer John Holland can be reached at jholland@modbee.com or 578-2385.