Balaji Balasubramaniam: Farmers will turn to groundwater to keep up their yields

Re “We must challenge the state’s water grab” (Opinions, Jan. 25): I absolutely agree with you, water is an important commodity that should stay in the valley. It helps our agriculture-based economy tremendously and supplies water to the people, so we won’t go thirsty. But there is a flaw in the logic that farmers will pull another acre of trees because irrigation districts will likely deliver around 30 to 36 inches most years rather than typical 40 inches. What is stopping the farmers to use more well water? Farmers are most likely to use ground water when irrigation districts does not supply enough water, which leads to more draining groundwater, which will become dangerously low .

I see with my own eyes, that more and more fruit trees are replaced with cash crops like almonds. There are thousands and thousands of these nut trees being planted every year, which is going to use more groundwater. I wish there is some kind of moratorium on groundwater use for agriculture. Ground water is not a single person’s commodity but rather belongs to public.

Editor’s note: Much of the almond acreage planted in the past few years has taken place outside irrigation districts and will not be impacted by loss of water from the San Joaquin River tributaries. While additional pumping will undoubtedly occur if there are reductions for irrigation, new state regulations on groundwater pumping are likely to make that unteneable within a decade.

This story was originally published January 26, 2015 at 4:16 PM with the headline "Balaji Balasubramaniam: Farmers will turn to groundwater to keep up their yields."