Who should California give water to during the drought? Farmers or Fishermen?

Photo by Bert Kaufmann

Currently in North Carolina, we are battling flooding from an excessive amount of rainfall from Hurricane Joaquin, while states in the west are suffering from very small amounts of rainfall. There actually has been a drought in California for the last 10 years that has caused a huge impact on the state government, local residents, and companies. The drought has also affected Americans, through unemployment and high produce prices, and officials are debating the long-term plans to solve it through putting water in the deltas or providing water to farmers. They are arguing each plan through the effects of providing water to both sources, extinction of smelt, and farming supply cuts. These officials must make the choice to either put water in the deltas to prevent the delta smelt from going extinct or to give water to the farmers who need it to grow and produce their crops. The outcome of this debate affects all Americans, because the prices of produce and seafood are increasing greatly due to the decreased supply of these resources. Therefore, I disagree with official’s opinions that they should have to choose which source they provide water to, and think that they should find a system that provides water to both the deltas and farmers because of essential needs for water from both sources and the major effects that could happen if they do not get the needed water.

The drought has been affecting many Americans and even has caused a very important species, the hypomesus transpacificus, to become endangered and could eventually make it extinct. Within the many Americans being affected in this drought are farmers, fishermen, and other local citizens. The water managers of California have decided on two different plans to fix the drought in the state which include providing water to the deltas or giving the water to the farmers. The government has asked everyone to limit their use of water and local residents have had to reduce their own personal uses of water because of the drought to conserve water for nutritional purposes. Farmers have likewise been asked to use less water and are having to compensate for this shortage by using a system called irrigation. Although scientists are hoping for El Niña, which is a rainy winter, to fix all of their problems, it is not guaranteed and these scientists are going to have to come up with a long-term plan that will preserve the water that the state has and keep the state debt low. (Parched California)

Delta Smelt by Pacific Southwest Region

The first plan they created is to add water to the local deltas. By providing this water to the deltas, the delta smelt, or hypomesus transpacificus, will increase in number and not become extinct. (Parched California) If you’re like me, you’re asking “Who cares if the delta smelt becomes extinct?” Unfortunately, the smelt plays a huge role in the ecosystem it lives in. Delta smelts are an extremely important species in California, because they are listed as an indicator species, which is a species that indicates how the health of the environment is doing, as a whole. By looking at the health and population of this species, scientists can determine how the health of every species, plants and animals, are doing. Michael Bean, head of wildlife programs at Environmental Defense stated, “If the only species at risk was the Delta smelt, then the question of ‘so what’ would have more impact, but the Delta smelt is just the tip of the iceberg…the reality is these species are sentinels for the ecosystem.” (Taugher) Since this water resource drains 40 percent of the state of California, the health of this watershed is in fact very important. Not only will adding water to the deltas benefit the smelt but it will also help the economic state of the citizens and decrease the unemployment rates of fishermen. Since the delta smelt will have a better chance of staying alive, fishermen will have to get their jobs back and the unemployment rate in California will decline. (Johnson) With a whole industry down, the unemployment is very high and there are more people hunting for jobs. Since these people have significantly less money now, they are spending less on everyday things. Therefore, the state is getting less money every year and they are becoming further and further in debt.

After just a couple of years of California being in a drought, they were already in a $24 billion budget deficit and this number has only increased since the drought has continued. Not only is the state government in debt but also the fishermen and farmers. Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Association said that “Salmon fishermen have been out of work for two years now because of the total closure of the fishery.” (Johnson) Grader stated this in 2009 and since then has appointed David J. Hayes with $160 million to go toward Recovery Funds for these fishermen.

Photo by Gabriel Millos

On the other side of the debate, Farmers have been given significantly less water since the drought to grow their crops and they are still being forced by the government to use the least amount possible of the water they are given. These farmers have started using an old method called irrigation, which uses much less water and is still efficient. (Parched California) These supply cuts have caused some farmers to permanently end their crop season or have made them buy water from other sources. If the farmers choose to buy more water from other supply sources they are being charge 10 times the amount that the government was charging the farmers. This has been one of the leading causes of the many farmers in debt. (Wade) Rick Gilmore, a general manager of a California district, complains about the water cutoff by saying, “This is happening right in the middle of growing season...so it couldn’t come at a worse time.” (Carlton) Over 17,000 farmers have had no choice but to stop farming because of the amount of money that it’s costing them and now they are out of a jobs as well. The drought has caused many farmers to go into debt, as well as the whole state. (Johnson) A study done in May of 2015 by the University of California, Davis, calculated that an average of 18,600 agriculture-related jobs and $2.7 billion would be loss just this year from the drought. (Carlton) Even though they are fighting over the water supply, farmers are struggling just as much as the fishermen are and they are both desperate for a solution.

The water supply in California has been argued and debated over to who is more likely and needy of the water that the California government has reserved. Farmers, fishermen, and local residents have realized that “...the water supplies aren’t as permanent as they thought,” (Carlton) Although, officials and managers are debating to give water to farmers or fishermen, I think that both resources need to be given water. If water is not given to farmers, they will have to stop their produce and the nation will have a huge shortage and the prices of crops will go up drastically. If water is not provided in the deltas, the delta smelt will become extinct, which could harm the entire ecosystem, and fishermen will be unemployed. Without fishermen, there will be a significantly less amount of seafood in the food industry, also causing an increase of prices. Therefore, it is obvious that there needs to be a system that combines giving water to both the farmers and fishermen, which provides a different aspect than in the Nature Article Parched California. If managers and officials could come up with a way to efficiently and effectively provide water to both the farming industries as well as put water into the deltas, Americans would be saving tons of money. Also, when California finally gets out of the drought, scientists will know how to overcome these problems next time they occur.

We, as Americans should take interest in this debate on how to conserve the water in California, because it plays a big role in our everyday lives. Many crops that are sold across the nation are grown in California. So, if these farmers are not able to produce these specific crops, then we will have a shortage of food and the food that is available will be at a much higher price. Also California is a main contributor to nationwide seafood sales. Therefore, the same goes with seafood, if the fishermen are not able to catch the fish, the price of seafood will increase because of the shortage of the amount of the item. The largest connection to this problem is that the prices of taxes will go up because of this drought. The reason for this is the government is having to spend a lot of money to overcome the drought and they are paying for the solutions with tax payer’s money. When the money runs out, the government will need more and they will charge Americans all over the world. Regardless that this drought is occurring on the other side of the country, it is still affecting us here in North Carolina, as well as other parts of the United States. We are having to pay more money for products, like fish and crops, since there is a decreased amount available. We are also having to pay taxes to the government and a portion of these taxes are going to California to pay for the debt that has occurred.

Even though we are currently having huge flooding on the east coast, the west coast is suffering from a pro-longed drought. Scientists are having to decide whether they give water supplies to the deltas or to farmers for an effective long-term plan. Wherever this water goes, it is affecting American’s everywhere through increased product prices, unemployment, and even the population of the delta smelt species. If scientist could create a plan that would provide water to both the farmers and the deltas, they would be able to decrease the unemployment rates, decrease the amount of produce prices, and even save the delta smelt from becoming extinct. The Nature article “Parched California” states the debate between the farmers and fishermen/delta smelt, but it is evident that water is essential for both places for America to survive.




Resources:
"Parched California." Nature.com. Nature Publishing Group, 2 Sept. 2015. Web. 25 Sept. 2015. <http://www.nature.com/news/parched-california-1.18270>.

Carlton, Jim, and Ian Brat. "California Drought Leaves Few Farmers Unscathed." WSJ. N.p., 13 July 2015. Web. 07 Oct. 2015. <http://www.wsj.com/articles/california-drought-leaves-few-farmers-unscathed-1436809802>.

Johnson, Christina S. "California Farmers and Salmon Fishermen Fight for Water." National Fisherman 90.5 (2009): 13.ProQuest. Web. 28 Sep. 2015.<http://search.proquest.com/docview/211489113?pq-origsite=summon>.

Taugher, Mike. "Why Not Let Inconvenient Delta Smelt Just Go Extinct?"InsideBayArea.com. N.p., 04 June 2007. Web. 07 Oct. 2015.

Wade, Mike. "California Farmers Already Under Drought Emergency." Western Farm Press (2015)ProQuest. Web. 28 Sep. 2015.<seach.proquest.com/docview/1664905332?p1-origsite=summon>.