Tulare County's never-ending drought
June 30, 2021 7:47 AM Subscribe
From Julie Cart for Cal Matters: Severe drought is gripping most of California, but its misery isn’t spread equally. While most of the state compares today’s extreme conditions to previous droughts, people in Tulare County speak of drought — in the singular, as in a continuous state of being. ...The entire West is suffering from extreme dryness, heat and fire risk, and the small, rural towns of northern Tulare County, outside of Visalia, are caught in its vortex.
Early settlers in this region were Okies fleeing the 1930s Dust Bowl, pushed by drought into a valley that is now suffering its own insistent drought. For many, it’s a choice to live with elbow room, out of the reach of nosy neighbors or the government’s long arm. For others, it’s simply the place where they grew up and love. And some are here because they are trapped in a financial rut with barely enough money to stay and too little to move away.
Early settlers in this region were Okies fleeing the 1930s Dust Bowl, pushed by drought into a valley that is now suffering its own insistent drought. For many, it’s a choice to live with elbow room, out of the reach of nosy neighbors or the government’s long arm. For others, it’s simply the place where they grew up and love. And some are here because they are trapped in a financial rut with barely enough money to stay and too little to move away.
The Sierras have historically served as the perfect water catcher, storing the winter rains as snow and letting it melt off during late spring and summer for the growing season (this is great for the valley's cash crops since fruit trees and vineyards like sun more than rain)
The various dams put in last century assist in the ag water distribution; things are terribly complicated though since the west valley owners got their water claims in first in the late 19th century so they own most of the runoff water for stupid reasons, and we've compensated them for not honoring their riparian claims with moving N Cal water via the California Aqueduct to them instead.
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 8:47 AM on June 30, 2021 [3 favorites]
The various dams put in last century assist in the ag water distribution; things are terribly complicated though since the west valley owners got their water claims in first in the late 19th century so they own most of the runoff water for stupid reasons, and we've compensated them for not honoring their riparian claims with moving N Cal water via the California Aqueduct to them instead.
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 8:47 AM on June 30, 2021 [3 favorites]
I was born in the California's Great Central Valley and was dragged north as a pre-teen. At the time, I was angry but later I was grateful to my mother for taking me away from a tiny agricultural town that had almost nothing there apart from cotton and fruit trees. Was not surprised to read that some residents have "barely enough money to stay and too little to move away" because that is too true of many people in many places.
From the Governor's office in May: "Climate change-induced early warm temperatures and extremely dry soils have further depleted the expected runoff water from the Sierra-Cascade snowpack, resulting in historic and unanticipated reductions in the amount of water flowing to major reservoirs, especially in Klamath River, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Tulare Lake Watershed counties."
The water's gone: The farming life is going to disappear as well. As the Los Angeles Time Editorial Board put it: There is no drought. "If ‘drought’ means a period of dry years followed by a return to the norm, California is not in drought. The current climate is the norm." Somehow we must recognize that and act accordingly.
posted by Bella Donna at 8:57 AM on June 30, 2021 [22 favorites]
From the Governor's office in May: "Climate change-induced early warm temperatures and extremely dry soils have further depleted the expected runoff water from the Sierra-Cascade snowpack, resulting in historic and unanticipated reductions in the amount of water flowing to major reservoirs, especially in Klamath River, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Tulare Lake Watershed counties."
The water's gone: The farming life is going to disappear as well. As the Los Angeles Time Editorial Board put it: There is no drought. "If ‘drought’ means a period of dry years followed by a return to the norm, California is not in drought. The current climate is the norm." Somehow we must recognize that and act accordingly.
posted by Bella Donna at 8:57 AM on June 30, 2021 [22 favorites]
The future is here already, it's just not evenly distributed. -William Gibson
posted by Superilla at 9:00 AM on June 30, 2021 [12 favorites]
posted by Superilla at 9:00 AM on June 30, 2021 [12 favorites]
We in Canada need to watch this carefully too. Much of our produce on the West Coast comes from California. Thankfully a long-ago socialist rabble created the agricultural land reserve so that when push comes to shove, we'll have a few acres to grow lettuce (if developers don't succeed in turning it all into golf courses, McMansions and construction waste dumps).
It won't be long though until we're in the same boat as California.
posted by klanawa at 9:35 AM on June 30, 2021 [4 favorites]
It won't be long though until we're in the same boat as California.
posted by klanawa at 9:35 AM on June 30, 2021 [4 favorites]
At what point does it stop being a drought, and start being called a desert?
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 9:50 AM on June 30, 2021 [9 favorites]
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 9:50 AM on June 30, 2021 [9 favorites]
Desertification, not a drought. But I'm sure it's fake news 'cuz Fox and the Epoch Times told me so.
posted by lon_star at 10:22 AM on June 30, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by lon_star at 10:22 AM on June 30, 2021 [2 favorites]
Yeah the snowpack this year was pitiful even compared to previous years. I went camping in Sequoia National Park in 2019, and there was still snow near the top in late July. This year the snow has almost all melted by by mid-June, except for small spots in the shade under crags.
Not to say that this isn't an issue every year, especially in the small towns of the valley.
My parents live just west of the San Joaquin Valley and the "blue valve" non-potable water allotment from the California Aqueduct gets smaller every year. They are lucky enough to have a shared local well for potable water, but several neighbors continue to use that against the rules to water lawns and landscaping. I worry that will dry up soon at this rate.
posted by JauntyFedora at 10:58 AM on June 30, 2021 [5 favorites]
Not to say that this isn't an issue every year, especially in the small towns of the valley.
My parents live just west of the San Joaquin Valley and the "blue valve" non-potable water allotment from the California Aqueduct gets smaller every year. They are lucky enough to have a shared local well for potable water, but several neighbors continue to use that against the rules to water lawns and landscaping. I worry that will dry up soon at this rate.
posted by JauntyFedora at 10:58 AM on June 30, 2021 [5 favorites]
Being able to farm in the Central Valley is a historical anomaly that was always going to be temporary, particularly since it's relied on huge reserve of groundwater that's all been pumped out and won't be replaced for at least 50 years if we just left it alone now.
All the hemming and hawing about "congress created dust bowls" on signs up and down I5 won't bring any water back.
Fortunately the US is in a position that we way overproduce food and it happens to be distributed extremely badly.
I'm all for supporting farmers in finding other means to support themselves with public money, but it's simply a lifestyle that can't exist anymore in its current location. It's time to move on.
posted by mikesch at 11:43 AM on June 30, 2021 [6 favorites]
All the hemming and hawing about "congress created dust bowls" on signs up and down I5 won't bring any water back.
Fortunately the US is in a position that we way overproduce food and it happens to be distributed extremely badly.
I'm all for supporting farmers in finding other means to support themselves with public money, but it's simply a lifestyle that can't exist anymore in its current location. It's time to move on.
posted by mikesch at 11:43 AM on June 30, 2021 [6 favorites]
Adding some context as I was was raised on a dairy farm in the Central Valley (abeit Stockton area where there is better access to water and wet weather)
The backbone of many Central Valley communities were weakened once Reagan took office in 1980
Devin Nunes and Kevin McCarthy represent the areas referred to in the article.
Since I've left my families farm in 1989, I have always said that the people that are able to help farmers the most are those they are most ideologically against: the hippies and the liberals.
This prevents people settling in many of these towns. While farmers organization/lobbyist smacking down UFWA for decades, Stockton was the base for the California Nazi Party in the Seventies. and The Posse Comitatus have also been evident in the Central and Southern Valley for years.
A bottom line for farmers is to increase their yields. This requires many of them to expand whether they want to or not. Big Farma has a lot to do with this current situation.
The probability is very high that many of these farms are heavily subsidized.
Another question to be asked is how much of these issue are due to heavy fertilization and nutrient depletion of soil?
Greed also contributes. Ken Burns talks about two dust bowls in the Midwest and South during the Great Depression in an excellent documentary FDR and New Deal agents threw tons of s**t against the wall to see what sticks. They landed on a solution around 1937 where they were able establish programs that brought the land back. The second "Dust Bowl" that few know about took place in the 1950's. After the New Deal programs brought the land back, as profits increased in the late 1940's, many farmers resorted to the old ways that contributed to the original DB in the first place. This second depletion resulted in the second DB
New Deal programs and and waterway systems developed through democrat leadership gave many of these farmer their livelihoods and increased their ability to expand both farm and community. Many farmers remain dependent on these systems and refuse to acknowledge the "why" of the policy and the influence behind these waterways.
A truism to one who knows California history is "the politics of the state is the politics of water" The north half has it. The south half doesn't. Even with the current drought, this still holds true. Maintainance of these systems are current challenges and the political influence and bureaucracy behind finding a balance between the two is a mess.
And there have 3-4 large 4 to 5 year droughts over the past 50 years. To many farmer's rigid mindset, this past shows that this current drought is temporary. This prevents them from seeing this drought as a result of global warming. When my brother was questioned about global warming, he responded that "California is a dry state" I was told that his was something he read. This boggles my mind as he has a lifetime of experience being shown otherwise.
Lastly, re: the several Central Valley cities are the least supportive of the California High Speed Rail System that will travel through the valley in spite of the revenues that they will bring to these towns.
I am deeply respectful of farmers. I know how these communities have been gutted over time. AND the gate swings both ways here. They are also somewhat accountable for the issues stated in the article. Shed some tears, but only enough as necessary.
posted by goalyeehah at 11:58 AM on June 30, 2021 [17 favorites]
The backbone of many Central Valley communities were weakened once Reagan took office in 1980
Devin Nunes and Kevin McCarthy represent the areas referred to in the article.
Since I've left my families farm in 1989, I have always said that the people that are able to help farmers the most are those they are most ideologically against: the hippies and the liberals.
This prevents people settling in many of these towns. While farmers organization/lobbyist smacking down UFWA for decades, Stockton was the base for the California Nazi Party in the Seventies. and The Posse Comitatus have also been evident in the Central and Southern Valley for years.
A bottom line for farmers is to increase their yields. This requires many of them to expand whether they want to or not. Big Farma has a lot to do with this current situation.
The probability is very high that many of these farms are heavily subsidized.
Another question to be asked is how much of these issue are due to heavy fertilization and nutrient depletion of soil?
Greed also contributes. Ken Burns talks about two dust bowls in the Midwest and South during the Great Depression in an excellent documentary FDR and New Deal agents threw tons of s**t against the wall to see what sticks. They landed on a solution around 1937 where they were able establish programs that brought the land back. The second "Dust Bowl" that few know about took place in the 1950's. After the New Deal programs brought the land back, as profits increased in the late 1940's, many farmers resorted to the old ways that contributed to the original DB in the first place. This second depletion resulted in the second DB
New Deal programs and and waterway systems developed through democrat leadership gave many of these farmer their livelihoods and increased their ability to expand both farm and community. Many farmers remain dependent on these systems and refuse to acknowledge the "why" of the policy and the influence behind these waterways.
A truism to one who knows California history is "the politics of the state is the politics of water" The north half has it. The south half doesn't. Even with the current drought, this still holds true. Maintainance of these systems are current challenges and the political influence and bureaucracy behind finding a balance between the two is a mess.
And there have 3-4 large 4 to 5 year droughts over the past 50 years. To many farmer's rigid mindset, this past shows that this current drought is temporary. This prevents them from seeing this drought as a result of global warming. When my brother was questioned about global warming, he responded that "California is a dry state" I was told that his was something he read. This boggles my mind as he has a lifetime of experience being shown otherwise.
Lastly, re: the several Central Valley cities are the least supportive of the California High Speed Rail System that will travel through the valley in spite of the revenues that they will bring to these towns.
I am deeply respectful of farmers. I know how these communities have been gutted over time. AND the gate swings both ways here. They are also somewhat accountable for the issues stated in the article. Shed some tears, but only enough as necessary.
posted by goalyeehah at 11:58 AM on June 30, 2021 [17 favorites]
Mark Severeid, the city water quality superintendent, says temperatures have been higher and water levels lower than most people can remember. “That’s why we are experiencing the earlier onset of this problem, a problem the city has been telling folks about for years,” he says.
The situation prompted the city to issue a statement that the water was safe to drink, and recommending that residents chill the water or add a little lemon to mask the muskiness.
Welcome to the climate crisis.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 12:47 PM on June 30, 2021 [1 favorite]
The situation prompted the city to issue a statement that the water was safe to drink, and recommending that residents chill the water or add a little lemon to mask the muskiness.
Welcome to the climate crisis.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 12:47 PM on June 30, 2021 [1 favorite]
add a little lemon to mask the muskiness.
I wonder how much water it takes to grow a lemon.
posted by Floydd at 2:07 PM on June 30, 2021 [3 favorites]
I wonder how much water it takes to grow a lemon.
posted by Floydd at 2:07 PM on June 30, 2021 [3 favorites]
Water table is like 5' down where the citrus orchards are, near the Kings River's exit from the foothills.
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 3:38 PM on June 30, 2021
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 3:38 PM on June 30, 2021
Though the "Halo" brand oranges are grown next to the California Aqueduct
Mark Arax's book talks about that
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 3:40 PM on June 30, 2021 [3 favorites]
Mark Arax's book talks about that
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 3:40 PM on June 30, 2021 [3 favorites]
“Drought implies a dry spell that ends with a wet spell. And climate change is fundamentally changing things… The landscape is drying out, the headwaters are drying out. It’s just a different world now with less water and warmer temperatures.” npr
posted by theora55 at 5:11 PM on June 30, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by theora55 at 5:11 PM on June 30, 2021 [2 favorites]
I wonder how much water it takes to grow a lemon.
Lemons and oranges are both plants that don't really take much water to grow a healthy plant. If the hybrids could do better with colder temperatures (arctic frost variety of oranges is still a misnomer - can't survive below about 25F) they would make great crops in dry spots across most of the US.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:20 AM on July 1, 2021
Lemons and oranges are both plants that don't really take much water to grow a healthy plant. If the hybrids could do better with colder temperatures (arctic frost variety of oranges is still a misnomer - can't survive below about 25F) they would make great crops in dry spots across most of the US.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:20 AM on July 1, 2021
My backyard lemon tree survives fine without irrigation and we only get around 15 inches of rain a year here in San Jose. We'll probably give it supplemental water in the drought, but they are a crop well suited for fairly dry conditions.
posted by tavella at 11:04 AM on July 1, 2021
posted by tavella at 11:04 AM on July 1, 2021
I grew up in Fresno with family in Reedley. My grandpa told me that there are no houses with basements in the area because when Europeans moved to the area if you dug down ten feet it would fill in with water. The family farm's well was down past 400 feet last I asked, which was 10-15 years ago.
Such a dry place, and yet the major industries in Tulare and Kern counties are dairy (cows and alfalfa to feed them) and almonds, the two most water-hungry line-items. It is incredibly short-sighted and wasteful. Outside of the Central Valley, over 50% of all the water in the Colorado River basin is used to support beef and dairy cattle.
If we as a society weren't so addicted to those products we'd have an easier time. If we had the political will we could do something about it. As individuals we can decide not to drink cow's milk or almond milk or eat beef, or at least treat these products as a luxury, a sometime thing.
posted by technodelic at 10:15 PM on July 1, 2021 [3 favorites]
Such a dry place, and yet the major industries in Tulare and Kern counties are dairy (cows and alfalfa to feed them) and almonds, the two most water-hungry line-items. It is incredibly short-sighted and wasteful. Outside of the Central Valley, over 50% of all the water in the Colorado River basin is used to support beef and dairy cattle.
If we as a society weren't so addicted to those products we'd have an easier time. If we had the political will we could do something about it. As individuals we can decide not to drink cow's milk or almond milk or eat beef, or at least treat these products as a luxury, a sometime thing.
posted by technodelic at 10:15 PM on July 1, 2021 [3 favorites]
« Older Unparalleled in living memory and unmatched in the... | “We Sing This Song For You, Wuhan!”: A Short... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
My inlaws (the early settlers from Oklahoma) are from right down the road in Pixley. They speak of it as a hard life even 50+ years ago and bailed to southern CA by the time they were in late middle school.
I feel for them - hopefully some rain falls soon, or they come up with an alternate plan for how to live in such a place.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:22 AM on June 30, 2021 [3 favorites]