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Conservation biologists are working with rice farmers in California to help establish temporary wetland habitat for waterfowl and shorebird species migrating along the Pacific Flyway.
9 May 2021
Most of the state of California is suddenly in “extreme” drought, as the snowmelt from winter storms has melted without reaching the state’s reservoirs.
Much of it has seeped into dry soils, or simply evaporated, according to the
Sacramento Bee:
The miserly output from the Sierra Nevada helps explain why the U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly hydrological analysis by the federal government, shows 93% of California in either “severe,” “extreme” or “exceptional” drought. A month ago, only about two-thirds of the state was facing those conditions.
…
Many farmers in the Sacramento Valley had been counting on getting a 5% allocation this year from the federal government’s Central Valley Project. On Wednesday, the Bureau of Reclamation put that meager shipment on hold,explaining that the melting snow wasn’t contributing much to the reservoirs.
California rice growers worry about ripple effect
Growing rice is a multi-billion dollar industry that supports 25,00 jobs.
“Farmers are eternal optimists to risk so much with so many things out of your control,” said Fritz Durst.
Durst is trying to keep his spirits up in a down year.
“Normally I would sprinkle my crops in four-hour sets. This year, I put them on 12-hour sets and within a week it was as if I didn’t even put any water on them,” he said.
This year, a third of normal rainfall combined with hot weather and drying winds have him pumping more groundwater than usual and fallowing half his rice fields – meaning Durst won’t plant, and he’s not alone.