Drought Desperation Reaches Expensive New Level As Canal Flow Will Be Reversed
TRACY (CBS13) — Drought desperation is reaching a new level as the Delta-Mendota Canal will flow backwards for the first time ever.
The expensive emergency project is meant to keep water districts from going completely dry and farmers from going under.
"You go to the grocery store and buy your beef, it comes from people like us," said cattle farmer Gay Costa.
Her water supply is up in the air, leaving her cattle farm teetering on the brink.
"We've already cut back; we've already sold animals," she said.
Inside, with concern etched on their faces, farmers like her listened to an emergency meeting held on Wednesday by the Byron-Bethany Irrigation District.
The district that serves dozens of farms west of Tracy is scrambling after its senior water rights were stripped by the state.
"We're definitely in a quandary; there is mass confusion," said district general manager Rick Gilmore.
Amid the uncertainty comes unprecedented emergency action. The Delta-Mendota Canal was designed to move water from north to south. For the first time in its 60-plus year history, the canal will move water uphill.
Temporary pumps are being installed along the canal in a rush to push stored water from the San Luis Reservoir north to six desperate water districts, including Byron-Bethany.
It is hard to believe that we're actually doing this," Gilmore said.
The district is still looking for additional water transfers.
Growers can still individually purchase water on the open market, but for smaller family farms it's fast becoming astronomically and prohibitively expensive—30 times pricier than usual.
"With that, we'd have to sell the herd we have to make that payment and years of heritage is gone," Costa said.
Byron-Bethany and other districts sued the State Water Resources Control Board over curtailments, petitioning the court for an emergency stay to keep pumping. But the state requested a change of venue, likely delaying the hearing for months. The larger case on curtailments could take years.
"We don't pretend to represent the entire farming community," Costa said. "We're a small piece of a big puzzle, but we're the first piece that's going to be missing."
