• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Valley Citizen

Pursuing truth toward justice

The Valley Citizen

Pursuing truth toward justice
  • Arts
  • Education
  • Environment
  • History
  • Nature
  • Politics
  • Wit
  • About

Are Water Sales Delaying Development of Alternative Sources?

August 29, 2021 By Bruce Frohman 5 Comments

Bruce Frohman
Former Modesto City Councilman Bruce Frohman

If one wants to know how bad a drought is, ask someone whose business it is to plumb the water table and test the effectiveness of wells and pumps. A gentleman in the business told this writer that he is busier than ever.

Businesses that rely on well water need to keep the water flowing. Wells need testing to make sure they don’t go dry and to check pumps for operational efficiency so that they don’t waste electricity or burn out. During a drought, testing is critical for economic survival. If a well goes dry, the landowner may go out of business.

The Increasing Importance of Testing Wells

The well tester I spoke with checks wells from Sacramento to the Grapevine, south of Bakersfield, occasionally answering calls as far north as Redding. He serves the Central Valley exclusively, but will not be identified because comments were made off the record.

The tester provided general information about various parts of the valley and generalizations that provide insights as to the severity of the present drought.

According to Wikipedia, the previous California drought started in December 2011 and ended in March 2017. At the end of that drought, water tables were well below levels measured at the beginning. During the recent two years of above average rainfall, the water tables did not recover to pre-drought levels.

Last winter, California rainfall was way below normal. Golden Gate Weather Services posted rain gauge readings in the Central Valley ranging from 36 percent to 60 percent of normal. The low rainfall during the last season, ending June 30, caused scientists to posit that California is entering a new drought.

According to the well tester, the lack of rainfall in the past year has had a greater impact on the Central Valley water table than well owners expected.

For example, a Delano area farmer was shocked to learn that the water table under his land had dropped 45 feet from the previous year. The Delano drop was the most spectacular of the wells tested, but highlights how fast the situation can deteriorate.

On the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, the well tester said dry wells are causing some orchards to be plowed under. Dead trees can be seen near Interstate 5 in some areas.

To acquire a farm, astute buyers are asking for reports on depth of the water table and condition of wells before they close a deal. An unfavorable report can sink a sale. A dry well can be expensive to rectify, especially if a deeper well has to be drilled to find water. The cost of a new well can be upwards of a million dollars.

What Is Going On Underground?

The well tester advises that the depth of a well near the mountains needs to be substantially greater to find water than in low lands. He cited Arvin, just south of Bakersfield, with well depths of 780 feet. Contrast that to wells near the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta of forty feet or less.

Pumping System Eastern Stanislaus County

Near rivers, reservoirs, lakes and canals, wells provide water that has migrated from those nearby bodies of water. Those further from bodies of water have lower water tables and are more vulnerable to going dry.

The City of Modesto has a relatively high water table. This is due to the city’s switch to  surface water sources and less reliance on wells, some of which are contaminated. In general, Stanislaus County has favorable water table numbers, except on the east side where elevations are greater.

Is Monetization Of Water Hindering Development of New Sources?

Past articles in the Valley Citizen have focused on schemes where wealthy private individuals buy public water at or below market value to resell water elsewhere. Oakdale Irrigation District has often sold water to south Valley buyers.

Given the profitability of water sales to the privileged few, one may wonder whether greater shortages are being allowed to occur by politicians in order to boost the profitability of the resale schemes.

If a concerted effort were made by federal, state and local governments to enhance supplies, the value of the resale water would fall, reducing resale profits. The laws of supply and demand are an economic force that cannot be disputed.

New Source Development Alternatives

The standard advocacy among water consumers is to build more dams. Next, kill off all the fish by diverting all river water to consumers. In other words, destroy the environment.

Alternatives include desalinization plants and recycling systems. If oil can be transported by pipeline across the country, why can’t water be piped to California?

As water becomes scarcer and more expensive, one would expect the alternatives to be explored and implemented so that we never again need to worry about shortages again.

Instead of unjustly enriching a few water merchants, the increasing value of fresh water should justify greater investments in infrastructure to make and transport water. Is California politics too corrupt to allow this to happen?

 

Filed Under: Environment Tagged With: California drought, Dry wells San Joaquin Valley, Eastern Stanislaus County groundwater, Oakdale Irrigation District water sales, San Joaquin Delta water, San Joaquin Valley aquifer

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lou Valero says

    August 29, 2021 at 11:49 am

    Is there any wonder?

    Reply
  2. Damon Woods says

    August 30, 2021 at 6:32 am

    Thanks for the information. I read recently, that your favorite Congressman- Josh Harder tacked on some $ to the infrastructure bill for added capacity of reservoirs- but, it seems he only set in motion funds for the Livermore area’s water supply (which he does not even represent?). Hmm, I wonder why that is….

    Reply
  3. John Duarte says

    August 30, 2021 at 7:09 am

    I agree that we do need to look at water scarcity as a possible economic advantage to some. Water scarcity is housing scarcity.

    The ill-conceived proposed MID / SF water sale was to supply a specific home development. One acre foot of water on a long term contract to a developer can facilitate $10M in real estate development.

    Reply
  4. Anita Young says

    August 30, 2021 at 10:36 am

    Hand-in-hand with developing alternative sources of water is practicing sustainable agriculture. Here is the letter to the editor I wrote to the Bee recently:

    A May 6 editorial in the Los Angeles Times led with the outrageous headline “There is no drought.” Read beyond the headline and you learn what the editors mean: we are not in a drought (they typically last from two to ten years); we are experiencing climate change and this is our new normal.
    Part of our new normal is erratic rainfall. According to the Times, we are getting as much precipitation as ever but the old pattern of a full Sierra snowpack that gradually melts to feed our rivers is no longer the reality.
    Farmers need water to grow the crops that built our local economy and help feed the world. If they can’t get it from the river, they’ll pump it from underground. Nuts, our most lucrative local crop, take an enormous amount of water to produce. To grow a pound of almonds takes 1,900 gallons. Unlike field crops, nut orchards cannot be fallowed and allowed to go unirrigated. So, as our new normal results in less river water for farming, crops like nuts become unsustainable.
    They are unsustainable because water is being pumped out of aquifers faster that it can naturally be replaced. This has caused permanent damage to some aquifers. Our new normal calls for less acreage planted in high water demand crops, especially new nut orchards. 62% of the almond harvest is exported, so in effect we are exporting our water to other countries. Water is a resource that has to serve many uses, including local clean drinking water and lifecycle needs of other species. We really cannot afford to send our water away.

    Reply
    • Eric Caine says

      August 30, 2021 at 11:16 am

      Thank you Anita. Well-reasoned and well-said.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Note: Some comments may be held for moderation.

Primary Sidebar

Off The Wire

?This is where society fails to have an answer?: Poll reveals Bay Area residents? frustration with street homelessness
“This is where society fails to have an answer”: Poll reveals Bay Area residents? frustration with street homelessness
Data includes support for possible measures, including a court system with the power to order people into mental health treatment.
www.mercurynews.com
?Monster Fracks? Are Getting Far Bigger. And Far Thirstier.
“Monster Fracks” Are Getting Far Bigger. And Far Thirstier.
A Times analysis shows that increasingly complex oil and gas wells now require astonishing volumes of water to fracture the bedrock and release fossil fuels, threatening America’s fragile aquifers.
www.nytimes.com
Newsom urges SCOTUS to consider encampment ruling that has 'paralyzed' California cities
Newsom urges SCOTUS to consider encampment ruling that has ‘paralyzed’ California cities
The Democratic governor’s intervention lays down a mark in a legal dispute with potentially profound implications for one of California’s most pressing issues.
www.politico.com
Clarence Thomas Secretly Participated in Koch Network Donor Events
Clarence Thomas Secretly Participated in Koch Network Donor Events
Thomas has attended at least two Koch donor summits, putting him in the extraordinary position of having helped a political network that has brought multiple cases before the Supreme Court.
www.propublica.org
How hungry is California? Millions struggle to eat well in an abundant state
How hungry is California? Millions struggle to eat well in an abundant state
How bad is hunger in California? A lot depends on your access to food aid, which expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic but now is being reduced.
calmatters.org
Sacramento DA sues city over homeless encampments
Sacramento DA sues city over homeless encampments
Sacramento County had nearly 9,300 homeless people in 2022, based on data from the annual Point in Time count. That was up 67% from 2019. Roughly three-quarters of the county’s homeless population….
www.mercurynews.com
At Last, a Real Possibility to Avoid Catastrophic Climate Change
At Last, a Real Possibility to Avoid Catastrophic Climate Change
After decades of minimal action, Congress passed the largest and most comprehensive piece of climate legislation in U.S. history. Will we make the most of this opportunity?
www.audubon.org
How the fentanyl crisis' fourth wave has hit every corner of the US
How the fentanyl crisis’ fourth wave has hit every corner of the US
The epidemic’s staggering scale and infiltration of communities is laid bare in a new study.
www.bbc.com
Can licensed tent villages ease California's homelessness epidemic? This nonprofit thinks so
Can licensed tent villages ease California’s homelessness epidemic? This nonprofit thinks so
Taking people off the street and into tents is a new twist on homeless shelter being explored by the San Francisco-based Urban Alchemy in two tent villages operating in Los Angeles and Culver City.
www.latimes.com
Mississippi has problems, but it's handling homelessness better than L.A.
Mississippi has problems, but it’s handling homelessness better than L.A.
The public tends to blame homelessness on poverty, drug use, crime or even warm weather. But other cities don’t have L.A. levels of street homelessness because they have more available housing.
www.latimes.com
Neo-Nazis March Through Florida Park
Neo-Nazis March Through Florida Park
The demonstrators raised “Heil Hitler” salutes and waved flags with swastikas.
www.thedailybeast.com
Families have high hopes for Gavin Newsom's CARE Courts. Providers want to lower expectations
Families have high hopes for Gavin Newsom’s CARE Courts. Providers want to lower expectations
Gov. Gavin Newsom?s experiment to push Californians with mental illness off the streets and into treatment, CARE Court, starts soon.
calmatters.org

Find us on Facebook

pp
The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Footer

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Subscribe for Free

* indicates required

Search

• Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 The Valley Citizen

Dedicated to the memory of John Michael Flint. Contact us at thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Editor and publisher: Eric Caine

Website customization and maintenance by Susan Henley Design