Panelists Focus on Reasonable Use, Agricultural Water
Lisa Lien-Mager
ACWA
05/12/2011
Agricultural water users have made tremendous strides in improving efficiencies, but there are differing views about the potential for additional savings, panelists said today in a debate during ACWA's 2011 Spring Conference & Exhibition in Sacramento.
The state's Reasonable Use Doctrine can play a proactive role in encouraging efficiency improvements, but not in a "command and control mode," Delta Watermaster Craig Wilson said.
"Many, if not most, of the agricultural water users are employing efficient practices," he said. Expanding efficient practices on a relatively small percentage of farms could result in significant reductions in water use, he noted.
Paul Wenger, president of the California Farm Bureau Federation, said farmers make decisions about irrigation practices based on their soil conditions, local climate, and the timing and availability of water. A one-size-fits-all approach to regulating how much water a grower can use would not be workable.
"I farm in the environment. I work in the environment. I have to deal with whatever is out there. We don't have climate control," Wenger said. "Can we do more to save water? We're doing more every day. But we can't slide backward."
Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, said the reasonable use doctrine is just one piece of California's integrated system of water policy.
"The real question is what does 'reasonable' mean? Our ideas can differ, but I don't think they're all that different," Gleick said. "I think there is tremendous potential to use water more efficiently -- in both the urban and agricultural sectors. No is suggesting that we shut down agriculture."
David Guy, executive director of the Northern California Water Association, said improving efficiency does not automatically create "new" water, since water is often used multiple times in the form of return flows.
