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Kings County: UC Drought Study/San Luis Filling Back Up/ More


Drought maps 2016-08-27 at 5.51.02 PMUC Study:Tulare Lake Basin Hardest Hit by Drought In State

The California drought has not hit all parts of the state or the Valley the same. It’s worse – much worse here says a new UC Davis report.
Almost all fallowed land due to drought this year is projected to be on the west side of the San Joaquin Basin which relies heavily on water imports.
The report says almost all the acreage statewide fallowed by the drought in 2016 has been in the Tulare Lake Basin that includes Tulare /Kings counties and western Fresno and Kern. Of 80,000 acres fallowed due to the drought in California this year some 77,000 are in the Tulare Lake area.
Likewise the financial losses are concentrated here. Crop losses total almost $223 million here vs about $21 million for the rest of the state says the report.Meanwhile farmers locally face most of the groundwater pumping costs. Finally ag job losses are worse here due to the drought. Statewide 1785 direct full and part job losses are identified for 2016 of which 1366 job losses are based here.
The report notes that things could have been worse considering that new trees planted in recent years do not require large water commitments for now. From 2010 to 2015 nonbearing almond acreage went from 85,000 acres to 220,000 acres.Once the trees get full size they will require much more and these recent water savings “wont be available in future drought years.“
The study concludes that farmers in the state fared better in 2016 than previous years but that“persistent drought conditions will likely result in surface water supply losses of about 2.6 MAF, of which 1.9 MAF will be replaced with additional groundwater pumping.” In addition “Drought effects to agriculture in 2016 were driven largely by low water availability south of the Delta and restrictions on ability to move water across the Delta.”
One more note from the report – “Kings River operators report challenges managing water quality in the watershed scarred by the devastation of the Rough Fire in 2015.”

San Luis Reservoir Filling Back Up

San Luis Reservior AMSan Luis Reservoir near Los Banos hit a 27-year low a few weeks ago but as of September 1 will have gained about 100,000AF of water pumped from north of the Delta. The water level at the key reservoir that feeds the California Aqueduct is now over 300,000AF and rising storing Northern California water for users south of the Delta over the next season. As of mid August the lake was just 10% full. But the federal and state pumps are running now in an effort to balance the needs of fish and farmers.Regulators also point to the need for water that would have gone to San Luis Reservoir, instead passing through the Delta to keep rising ocean tides from San Francisco Bay from getting into the state’s river system. The lake has not filled since 2011 with the state now in the fifth year of drought. Some farmers blame regulators for protecting fish vs humans.

California & Kings County Cotton Comeback

Both California and Kings County are witnessing a rebound in cotton acreage this year according to the state Pink Bollworm program

Kings County is still king in cotton plantings even though the crop is nothing like what it was in these parts. Both the ongoing drought and the trend toward planting more valuable trees and vines on converted field crop land have helped drive down the state’s cotton acres to 150,000 in 2015 – the lowest since 1932. That contrasts with the fact that California once grew cotton on 1.6 million acres – much of that in the Central Valley.

In 2015 Kings County had just under 70,000 acres of the two varieties – Acala or upland cotton on a record low 4727 acres and Pima cotton with 65,015 acres.

This year the CDFA’s Bollworm program recently released final crop figures for what is in the ground to be harvested this fall.Kings County cotton acreage is up this year at 83,120 – tops in the state. That breaks down to 8710 acres of Alcala and 74,410 acres of Pima.

That Kings County total compares to around 70,000 in 2015, 75,000 acres in 2014, 103,000 acres in 2013, 133,000 in 2011 and just about fence-row-to-fence-row at 287,000 acres planted back in 1979.

This years statewide numbers are up as well totaling 218,713 acres with 152,360 of Pima and 66,353 acres of Alcala.

In nearby Tulare County – Alcala acres this year are 10,630, highest statewide, as some farmers who have pushed their trees due to lack of long term water supply are reversing the usual trend planting one-year field crops based on the uncertainty of a stable water supply says Ag Commissioner Marilyn Kinoshita

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