Fallowing program falls short

Imperial Valley Press – 5/22/08

By Brianna Lusk, staff writer

With the rising prices of commodities, the Imperial Irrigation District has found itself competing against the market for water.

IID Water Manager Mike King said the number of acres that will be left idle in the next year to conserve water for transfer is about 5,000 acre-feet short.

The district raised the incentives for fallowing this year for farmers to $85 an acre-foot in order to entice more to participate.

“We knew this year we would be competing against the wheat,” King said. “I’ve heard the wheat prices are good next year. We’re going to look at what we can do to the fallowing program to overhaul it.”

As part of the 2003 Quantification Settlement Agreement, fallowing fields is used in part to meet the water transfer requirements. Fallowing is scheduled to be phased out by on-farm conservation and water saving efforts by 2018.

Until then volunteers are sought each year to fallow and the same land cannot be fallowed more than two years in a row.

King said an average of 50 percent of those who apply for the fallowing program eventually turn the contract down.

“Part of it is due to the adjustment we make on the trending analysis,” King said.

The analysis looks at the usage of water on the field in the last three years. “They think they’re going to get paid more so they pull out,” he added.

With summer quickly approaching, King informed the board last week that the district might have to declare a supply demand imbalance next year if water conditions persist.

IID is estimated to have an overrun of 75,000 acre-feet this year. Last year similar estimates were predicted but the actual overrun was minimal.

IID board Director James Hanks said it’s an indication that the district will have to get more water from conservation to meet the transfer requirements.

“I think we’re going to have to move towards on-farm conservation sooner than expected,” Hanks said.

Imperial County Farm Bureau officials could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Also at issue is the lack of response received in the district’s equitable water distribution pilot program. If there were a water shortage for next year, a rationing program would be put into place for agricultural users.

This year farmers were given the opportunity to participate in a pilot program to test the software and system and to work out any issues that could come up if an SDI were declared in the future.

King said only 22 out of more than 400 farmers in the Valley have volunteered, making the pilot program useless.

“We need at least 200. You don’t get a good mix of the type of people that would be in the program and it wouldn’t make any sense,” King said.

Hanks said it could lead to difficulty in the future if there was a lack of familiarity with the system.

“When it comes right down to it and there’s a crunch, a lot of value is lost in not participating in it,” Hanks said.

IID staff is doing what it can to try and work out the bugs in the system, King said, but without input it’s an impossible task.

“It’s important to finalize the pilot program. We have to work with the Water Conservation Advisory Board and the Farm Bureau to see what changes we have to make,” King said.

“It may not be too late. There may be some incentive we can offer. We’re in a new field here — uncharted waters,” he added.#

http://www.ivpressonline.com/articles/2008/05/23/local_news/news05.txt