The tiny delta smelt (click here) is one of the best indicators of environmental conditions in the San Francisco Bay-Delta, an ecologically important estuary that is a major hub for California’s water system — and an ecosystem that is now rapidly unraveling. The “smeltdown in the Delta,” as the extinction trajectory of delta smelt is known, has left the once-abundant species in critical condition due to record-high water diversions, pollutants, and harmful nonnative species that thrive in the degraded Delta habitat....
Southern California has a problem with salt and the viability of agriculture there. Currently, the outlook for agriculture itself in Southern California is dim. The decades of irrigation has built up a salt deposit in the farm lands and it kills the crops.
Southern California has a problem with salt and the viability of agriculture there. Currently, the outlook for agriculture itself in Southern California is dim. The decades of irrigation has built up a salt deposit in the farm lands and it kills the crops.
Status and Causes of Soil Salinization of Irrigated Agricultural Lands in Southern Baja California, Mexico (click here)
Selected farmlands in southern Baja California, Mexico, were surveyed to determine the levels and the causes of salinization/sodication in irrigated agricultural soil. The salt dynamics observed in profiles differed from farm to farm. Low EC and high pH levels were observed in the profiles of sandy fields, because the salt composition of these soils can easily change when salts are leached by irrigation water that contains carbonates of sodium. On the other hand, high levels of salinity and sodicity were observed in the soils of clayey fields. Soil salinization/sodication is complexly interrelated with soil characteristics, the amount and composition of salts in the soil, the quantity and quality of irrigation water applied, and the irrigation methods used. Our findings indicate that irrigation water in Baja California should be supplied at a rate that is sufficient to meet crop requirements without exacerbating salt accumulation....
To pump more water means the soil salination increases and become intractable.
The people of Southern California have to make the decisions to move on because if they are dependent on harvesting produce crops their livelihoods are endangered.
The ONLY fault the State of California holds is not retraining these people to move on with their lives.
There isn't ANY good news here. There isn't good news for the people and/or the farmers and/or the California economy and/or the USA.
Salinity in the Central Valley: A critical problem (click here)
Posted by: Gary Pitzer on October 19, 2009 at 8:10 am
...Jerry Brown (click here) says the state is facing possibly the worst drought it has ever seen since record keeping began about 100 years ago. For more on the drought and its impact, Renee Montagne talks to Michael Hanemann, professor of agricultural and resource economics at University of California, Berkeley....
The Smelt is not the enemy. It is a far larger problem and the CITY FOLKS that want to do what they want to do without understanding the entire issue need to get a life. They always treat environmentalists and conservationists as though they don't have a conscience and don't care about people. That isn't the case.
Posted by: Gary Pitzer on October 19, 2009 at 8:10 am
By Gary Pitzer, Water Education Foundation
...Unlike most coastal communities where salt has direct outlets to the ocean, in parts of the Central Valley there's inadequate outlets, or even no way out, and salt accumulates. That is dire news for the crops. The excess salinity squeezes the productive life out of some of the most fertile soils in the world. On the municipal side, communities are spending increasing amounts of money to comply with water quality discharge standards designed to limit salinity....
...However, a portion of the salts originating in the Sacramento Basin reach the Delta pumps of the state and federal water projects and contribute to salinity problems in the San Joaquin Valley and other regions of the State.
The San Joaquin Basin receives considerably less rainfall than the Sacramento Basin....
Add to the NORMAL reality of this region the fact there is now record drought due to the Climate Crisis the dangers of salination and loss of crop land is extremely significant.
January 20, 2014
Renee Montagne
...Jerry Brown (click here) says the state is facing possibly the worst drought it has ever seen since record keeping began about 100 years ago. For more on the drought and its impact, Renee Montagne talks to Michael Hanemann, professor of agricultural and resource economics at University of California, Berkeley....The Smelt is not the enemy. It is a far larger problem and the CITY FOLKS that want to do what they want to do without understanding the entire issue need to get a life. They always treat environmentalists and conservationists as though they don't have a conscience and don't care about people. That isn't the case.
