Deja Vu

Spring has decended on the valley with the sweet smell of citrus blossom. We are heading into the home stretch of our navel harvest and will soon begin our valencia harvest.

This past season has been a busy one, with a cold winter that took much time and resources to hold back any frost damage to a very dry year that has left us with very little snow pack and low levels in our lakes. But every year has its challenges and this one is no different. When you farm for as living, you must deal with what Mother Nature gives you, both good and bad; and this season has seen both good and bad.

If you had not noticed, this is the post from one year ago, somethings don't change.

Another very cold year with a little more fruit lost to frost than in the previous season.  It was also even dryer.  We have made it through the year but our biggest concern is the ongoing drought.

Much of the fruit grown in this part of the stae relies on surface water, or water from the dams and reservoirs.  But with less than 50% of our normal rainfall for two consecutive years, we have very little surface water to work with and must use our wells. 

We are lucky to have ground water from our wells but we do not know how long they will hold up as the ground water is being pumped by all growers. This would not be such an issue if the govermnment would allow current dams to be raised and additional dams to be built to hold water for these drought cycles. It was only a few years ago that the dams were flowing over the top due to heavy rains, and if we would have had additional storage, we could possibly get through these drought years.

I do understand the environmentalists desire for water for the fish, but on drought years, even the fish do not have enough water and dams would help them as well.