According to the Associated Press, two almond farmers’ wells in the central valley have dried up this summer.
The Moore family is currently drawing water from a new well they drilled after the old one ran dry last year. This will even supply water to a neighbor in the same situation – the old well has dried up.
“Last year it was very dry. Because there was little rain, there was no accumulation of snowsaid Ms. Moore, standing next to a dry well on the property’s Chowchilla, California property. “Everyone is very careful with the water they have.”
In the wake of a super drought raging in the western United States, many rural areas are losing access to groundwater as overpumping depletes aquifers that aren’t replenished by rain and snow.
More than 1,200 wells have dried up statewide this year, nearly 50% more than the same period last year, according to the California Department of Water Resources.
The groundwater crisis is most acute in the San Joaquin Valley, California’s agricultural center that exports fruits, vegetables and nuts around the world.
Shrinking groundwater supplies reflect the severity of California’s drought, which is now in its fourth year. More than 94% of states are experiencing severe, extreme, or unusual droughts, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
California just experienced its driest three years on record, and the state water agency said Tuesday it was bracing for another dry year as a weather phenomenon known as La Nina is expected for the third year in a row.
With the state’s reservoirs depleted, farmers are pumping more groundwater to irrigate their crops. That caused groundwater levels throughout California to drop. State data shows that 64% of wells have water levels below normal.
Water shortages have reduced agricultural production in the region as farmers are forced to abandon their fields and orchards to wilt. According to the US Department of Agriculture, an estimated 215,000 acres of farmland will be uncultivated this year due to a lack of irrigation water.
With climate change leading to higher temperatures and more severe droughts, cities around the world are facing water shortages as lakes and rivers dry up. Many areas are pumping up more groundwater, leading to the depletion of aquifers at an alarming rate.
“This is a major challenge not only for California, but also for other communities to adapt to climate changesaid Andrew Ayres, a water researcher at the Public Policy Institute in California.
In Sonoma County, north of San Francisco, authorities approved a six-month moratorium on drilling new groundwater wells on Oct. 4.
Madera County, north of Fresno, has been particularly hard hit because it relies heavily on groundwater. The province reports about 430 dry wells so far this year.
In recent years, the district has seen an increasing acreage of almond and pistachio orchards irrigated by agricultural springs whose geysers are deeper than dry, inland springs.
Americans are very short of water
However, not everyone gets help.
Thomas Chairez, a local resident, said the house he rents out to a family of eight often uses water from a neighbor’s well. But due to the drought that has hit his home for the past two years, his tenants have also lost running water.
Chairez is trying to get the county to provide storage tanks and water supplies. Currently, his tenants have to drive to the houses of acquaintances to ask for water.
“They try to survive” he said.
Demand for well drilling is high due to water pump failures in the San Joaquin Valley.
Ethan Bowles and his colleagues were recently drilling a new well on a ranch in the Madera Ranchos area, where many wells have dried up this year.
“It’s almost non-stop calling because the groundwater level continues to fall. Most people’s wells suddenly stop flowing,” Bowles said.
Bowles’ company currently needs to drill 152 to 183 meters deep to find stable groundwater for customers, much deeper than the old wells.
“The wells must go deeper than thatBowles says. “You have to dig to another aquifer and place the drill in different parts of the aquifer so that they can actually supply fresh water to your house“.
In March, Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order to slow the rampant well drilling in recent years. The interim measure is to prohibit local authorities from issuing permits for new wells that could damage nearby wells or structures.
The California Institute of Public Policy estimates that about 202,000 acres of farmland, about 10 percent of the total acreage at present, will have to stop production over the next two decades due to drought.
Isaya Kisekka, a groundwater expert at the University of California Davis, said:These communities will be affected by the water supply and as a result they will lose their jobs. There are many migrations when the country enters deserted“.
Farmers and residents in the California Valley are hoping for help. “Hopefully it will rain more‘ said the chairman. “We have a great need: Water. We need water, water, water.”
Source: Cafebiz
