20 www.CaliforniaFarmer.com - September 2008
Land Management
Water crisis spurs ag groups to act
By LEN RICHARDSON
Key Points
EVERAL agriculture support organizations are calling for producers
and policymakers to recognize
agricultural water stewardship as a key
element of a strategy to better manage
California’s dwindling water resources
and reduce farmers’ reliance on insecure inputs.
S
■ Farm groups promote agricultural water
stewardship solutions.
■ Aim is a water policies dialogue that
builds alliances.
■ Groups say water reallocation must avoid
unsustainable sprawl or farming.
A report, “Water Stewardship:
Ensuring a Secure Future for California
Agriculture,” was released by the
Agriculture and Land-Based Training
Association, the California Institute for
Rural Studies, the Community Alliance
with Family Farmers, the Ecological
Farming Association, the Polaris
Institute, and the WATER (Watershed
Advocacy, Training, Education and
Research) Institute of the Occidental
Arts and Ecology Center.
Water stewardship practices that
reduce water use and other inputs are
key to sustainability.
“Water stewardship is about optimizing water management and reducing
inputs through on-farm practices that
better capture, retain and distribute
water, reduce consumptive use, enhance
efficiency, and recycle water,” says Craig
Ficenec, a spokesman for ALBA, a coauthor of the report.
Drought, a decline in the Sierra snowpack, recent court orders cutting back
water transfers to protect endangered
fish species, and other factors have
combined to restrict the water available
for producing the nation’s food.
“In California today, we are facing unprecedented economic, social, and environmental problems and diminishing
resources with which to cope,” says
Brock Dolman, director of the OAEC
WATER Institute. “Agricultural water
stewardship is one of those tools we
have available in our toolbox that affords
multiple benefits at once — for example,
an economic buffer for producers, improved food security, enhanced wildlife
habitat and better water quality.”
The report’s authors consulted with
dozens of experts. “Water Stewardship”
was launched to spark dialogue and
action toward water policies and practices that build collaboration rather
than fuel competition.
Sustainability with stewardship
PHOTO COURTESY DWR
According to the University of California
Sustainable Agriculture Research and
Education Program: “Sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals — environmental health, economic profitability,
and social and economic equity.”
A systems perspective is essential
to understanding sustainability. The
system is envisioned in its broadest
sense, from the individual farm, to the
local ecosystem, to communities affected by this farming system.
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DIFFERING NEEDS: Water stewardship
initiatives must be adapted to California’s
diverse agriculture and regional
requirements, from surplus supply to
groundwater pumping, shown here.