Central Valley Farmers Drill More, Deeper Wells As Drought Limits Loom
SACRAMENTO (CBS/AP) -- Farmers in central California are drilling more and deeper wells than ever before to pump water for their fruit orchards and sprawling fields following government imposed limits on surface water.
Two years after Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill designed to limit groundwater pumping, new wells are going in faster and deeper than ever, according to an analysis published Sunday.
Farmers dug about 2,500 wells in the San Joaquin Valley last year alone, the highest number on record. That was five times the annual average for the previous 30 years, the newspaper reported.
Well water is keeping agriculture alive in much of the valley through five years of California's historic drought and farmers say they will continue drilling and pumping because it's the only way to keep their farms afloat and turn a profit.
The new groundwater law won't become fully implemented for until 2040.
"Just like a guy that owns a hardware store who sells nothing but shovels, say I cut you off and decide not to supply you with shovels, are you going to close your store or are you going to get shovels from somebody else?" said Wayne Western Jr., a wine grape grower near Firebaugh in Fresno County who has been relying almost exclusively on well water the past three years.
"It's a business. I'll make no apologies for trying to stay in business and being successful," he said.
One reason behind the increase in wells is farmers with older, shallower wells are afraid of losing water to neighbors digging deeper wells. So they invest hundreds of thousands of dollars to drill their own new wells. Farmers are expected to spend $303 million this year alone to pump groundwater, according to UC Davis researchers.
Driller Steve Arthur, who runs Arthur & Orum Well Drilling Inc. in Fresno, said business is brisk.
On a recent weekday, he was overseeing the drilling of a 1,200-foot well beneath an almond orchard in the tiny Tulare County community of Poplar. A few years ago, the typical well was only half as deep.
Arthur said he expects to drill about 260 new wells this year throughout the San Joaquin Valley. That's about the same as last year but Arthur, who farms 200 acres of almonds, said he thinks the well-drilling business won't sputter anytime soon.
"If the government don't give us any water, what's the farmer supposed to do?" Arthur asked.
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