The Maddy Institute and California Water Institute hosted the 2nd annual Ag Summit Sept. 4 on the Fresno State campus, drawing over 200 attendees both virtually and in person. The event brought together farmers, professors, engineers, and businesspeople to discuss the water challenges the agricultural community is facing in the Central Valley.
“Every one of us is a water user, but for the Central Valley, the significance and the importance of water are many folds higher because we are the center of the nation’s agricultural production,” Dr. Xuanning Fu, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Fresno State, said, adding he believes that with the collaboration of Fresno State’s faculty, staff, and community leaders, effective solutions for efficient water use that benefit everyone can be developed.
The first summit panel discussed water management projects like the development of the Sites Reservoir, which will be the second largest off-stream reservoir in California once completed. There is also a joint operation between the State Water Project (SWP), the Department of Water Resources, and the Bureau of Reclamations aimed at increasing water storage by redirecting and releasing water from Oroville Lake and the Sites Reservoir during excess flow periods. Molly White, assistant division manager for water management at the SWP, noted these operations are “absolutely critical” for improving flood control and recreational benefits.
The second panel addressed the importance of water data collection in agriculture and how it can be used to make better water management decisions. The SWP is analyzing water supply and weather data, incorporating climate change to improve forecasting and better manage flood control, water supply, and reservoir refill decisions. There is also collaboration between wildlife and fishing agencies and the SWP to measure and improve knowledge of the endangered species list to determine how these populations are being affected by these operations. Using this information, the goal is to minimize impacts on wildlife and help keep water systems sustainable and safe.
Closing the panels was a discussion about overcoming distrust and conflict among water stakeholders. Dr. Tom Holyoke, professor of Political Science at Fresno State and co-assistant director of the California Water Institute, said much of the distrust among stakeholders comes from the state’s history of treating water as an economic gain rather than a necessity to the state’s health. He said the state government is trying to become a proactive water ally by introducing projects aimed at repurposing water supplies and assisting growers in their water needs.
“After a century and a half of all this fighting and contention [over water], real efforts are now being made to overcome these differences between these stakeholder groups,” Holyoke said.
Wade Crowfoot, secretary of California Natural Resources Agency, said California, a state of nearly 40 million people with the fifth-largest economy in the world, would not exist without its water system. He said California won’t be successful if the Central Valley is not successful, which is why it’s important to address these new water challenges.
“Ultimately, nobody wins if we all don’t work together,” Crowfoot said. “We need to find a way to meet our environmental standards — federal and state — and strengthen our water reliability for the Central Valley.”
California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross concluded the event with a motivational statement emphasizing the importance of community collaboration in addressing water and agricultural issues: “This is about our community, it’s about our future. We are here and we can make it happen. I believe that to my core.”