Allocating Water During Drought

Upon reading your editorial “Agriculture’s Big Thirst Is No Longer a Sacred Cow” (Jan. 16), one might draw the conclusion that agriculture has been dragged, kicking and complaining, into the discussion over how cities and farms share water resources in times of drought. That is unfair and inaccurate.

The reader might also, after reading your editorial, conclude that farmers are getting all the water they want while city dwellers face mandatory rationing. The truth is that many farms in California are getting less than 50% of their normal allotment of water this year, and if the drought continues, may be entirely cut off from state and federal supplies.

When it comes to water, everyone in California is suffering, including farmers. The solution, however, does not lie in taking farm land out of production. That is a destructive approach that hurts people without solving the problem.

The real solution includes conjunctive use in which farmers agree to share water during droughts in exchange for assurances that they will be allowed to take more water to put into storage during wet years.

Agriculture, contrary to your editorial, is not on the defensive. We have, for years, advocated a change in water policies toward encouraging voluntary transfers of water among cities and rural areas in a way that allows both to achieve economic, environmental and quality-of-life objectives.

STEPHEN K. HALL, Executive Director, California Farm Water Coalition, Fresno