This story originally appeared in The Center Square.
A draft report calls for California to convert less of its agricultural land in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta for natural habitat and flood control.
The report reduces the amount of land from what the state previously planned to convert. But there’s little to no indication of how much the plan could cost taxpayers.
That draft report, which was released in September, follows a 17-year-old mandate that state officials find ways to create a more reliable water supply throughout the state while simultaneously restoring wildlife habitats in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The report also proposes ways to offset losses in reclamation district assessments and local tax revenues, which are paid by property owners in the state’s 110 reclamation districts and the five counties that fall in the boundaries of the Delta.
That report also recommends methods of increasing the agricultural and economic viability of farms in the Delta, as well as ways to decrease carbon emissions and subsidence.
The current draft doesn’t stipulate how much any of the report’s goals could cost taxpayers, or which taxpayer-funded agencies could pay the price of turning farmland into natural habitat restoration.
“The point of the report is really to just help re-center agriculture in the conversation,” Amanda Bohl, executive director of the Delta Protection Commission, told The Center Square on Friday. “The state’s policy around the Delta is focused on co-equal goals of water supply reliability and ecosystem health, all done with the Delta as a place in mind.”
Bohl said she does not know what the plan would cost taxpayers.
According to the draft report, 56% of the Delta, or 416,709 of 737,662 acres, is still used for agriculture. That’s down significantly from 538,000 acres in 1991. A previously-enacted Delta Plan converted 17,000 acres of farmland in the Delta back to natural habitat and flood control projects, and 32,000 acres of tidal wetland conversion are proposed. An additional 30,000 acres are proposed to reverse subsidence and carbon sequestration projects.
That worries some who don’t want to see additional farmland lost.
“I agree with the basic findings of the Delta Protection Commission’s draft report, that with respect to farmland conversion in the Delta, the state needs to do more to protect valuable farmland in the region,” said Sen. Jerry McNerney, D-Stockton and a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and an ex-officio member of the Delta Protection Commission.
“Agriculture in the Delta is not only critical to the area’s economy and environment but also vital for flood control and for safeguarding the 500,000 residents of the region,” McNerney told The Center Square this week. “We need a more effective strategy for supporting and protecting Delta farmland.”
As the state carries out efforts to restore natural habitat in the Delta, concerns abound that taking farmland out of production will negatively impact the state’s $61 billion agricultural economy. The report also addresses that some communities depend heavily on agriculture for jobs, and lawmakers with knowledge of the report said that farmers can’t be expected to keep agricultural production high if land in the Delta is converted into natural habitat restoration.
“We have to defend every one of our agriculture resources,” Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom, D-Tracy, told The Center Square on Thursday. “The Delta has more than 400,000 acres of farmland helping feed the world. We can’t keep losing that land and expect our farmers to keep themselves fed with a smaller crop and rising costs.”
Assemblymember Juan Alanis, R-Modesto and a member of the Assembly Agriculture Committee, said he wants to see agricultural lands protected in the months before the final draft of the Delta Protections Commission’s report is released.
“The Delta and our surrounding agricultural lands are vital to California’s food supply and economy,” Alanis said. “I strongly believe it is essential that local farmers, landowners, and community members have a meaningful voice as the Delta Protection Commission compiles this report. My team and I are carefully analyzing the draft and will continue working alongside local leaders to safeguard our region’s agricultural future.”
The California Water Commission, the Wildlife Conservation Board, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the California Fish and Game Commission declined to comment for this story.
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