Farmers Keeping Close Eye On Storm, River Levels
STOCKTON (CBS13) — San Joaquin County officials are keeping a close eye on the forecast as more storms are expected to move into the region.
Many farmers are also concerned after major flooding caused thousands of dollars worth of damage to property and crops.
Repair work on levees located in north San Joaquin County continues after heavy rain last year caused devastating flooding. The water closed roads and damaged acres of crops.
"We had rivers that had passed the flood stage in December and into January. The reservoirs in the foothills above us, many of them were reaching the top of their capacity," said John Austin with San Joaquin Office of Emergency Services.
Emergency management officials say this year's rainy season hasn't been so bad. Over the next two days, crews will be closely monitoring local rivers as the region is expected to see more showers.
"What we have noticed is that a couple of the rivers, the Cosumnes and Mokelumne, are going to reach monitor stage and close to flood stage on the Cosumnes River over the next two to three days," he said.
Right now, farmers who live close to area rivers are not experiencing any flooding, but they're concerned about the potential of the snow melt creating big problems during the spring.
"Our farmers can actually suffer a big loss. We are the only county in the state who packs most of the cherries, so it is a huge impact for our packing sheds," said Kamal Bagri, assistant agriculture commissioner.
Several farmers in the county had to file for a disaster declaration last year after their crops were destroyed. The assistant agriculture commissioner hopes future storms won't cause too much damage.
"We are keeping a close eye, because our cherry farmers, they might get impacted with a lot of rain, and it could lead to a lot of fungus issues or disease, and they might require a lot more pesticide applications," she said.
