Soon, the shelves and prices of your local supermarket could change. The Colorado River which supplies water to about 15% of the agriculture in our country is shrinking. The current agreement that divides the water usage will end in 2026.
Imperial Valley, in Southern California, relies on water from the Colorado River. The valley gets less than 3 inches of rain per year and still produces two-thirds of winter crops in the United States.
Farmers in the valley claim that the declining water levels and the competing interests regarding river usage will negatively impact the nation’s supply of food.
Many people claim that the Colorado River’s diminishing supply of water is a problem that affects forty million people because they are the ones who depend on it. This number seems too low to me. Andrew Leimgruber, a fourth-generation farmer, said that 100 million people depend on water from Colorado.
Leimgruber said, “When you are between November and February, the majority of your winter lettuce, broccoli, carrots, or all your winter greens come from the Imperial Valley, or Yuma Arizona, just across the Colorado River.”
The Colorado River is shared by seven states plus Mexico. The Imperial Valley is the largest user of river water.
The valley’s inability to produce enough crops can cause long-term issues.
“The big issue in California for us is the rising cost of labor, but also our ability to resist pest pressure and other things. Lack of diversity is one of the issues with water shortage. We can control pests better with diversity,” says Stephen Benson, manager of Benson Farms.
Some farmers in the valley receive payments because of the low water level to either not grow certain crops, or to use less irrigation. This is not enough.
“I’m able to say that it doesn’t cover our costs every time. If I want to install drip irrigation on my land, I will need $1,000 per acre. I get nowhere near that amount in compensation. Benson said that this is something we should study further because conservation costs are increasing as we go forward.
Imperial Irrigation District has announced that it is working on different water-saving efforts with farmers to address a part of the problem.
Tina Shields, Imperial Irrigation District’s Water Manager, said, “We provide additional funding to allow farmers to buy drip and sprinkler systems as well as tap water return systems. We also offer all sorts of new technologies, including precision laser leveling, which allows them to continue farming the same way they have always done it while using less water.”
Bureau of Reclamation will make decisions if the seven states plus Mexico are unable to reach an agreement by 2026 on how to use Colorado River water.
