<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"><head><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml><o:OfficeDocumentSettings><o:AllowPNG/><o:PixelsPerInch>96</o:PixelsPerInch></o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--></head><body><div class="ydpbcfe9da0yahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family:garamond, new york, times, serif;font-size:16px;"><div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/environment/article231906623.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="">https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/environment/article231906623.html</a><br></div><div><br></div><div><span style="font-family: McClatchy Serif, serif; font-size: 30px;">Appetite for California almonds still growing, but farmers feel squeeze from new water rules</span><br></div></div><div><div class="ydp6bb50e37bio" style="margin: 15px 0px 0px; width: 720px;"><div><div><p class="ydp6bb50e37byline" style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: McClatchy Sans; display: inline-block; text-transform: uppercase;"><a href="mailto:cwang@sacbee.com" style="color: inherit; font-weight: 700;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BY CANDICE WANG</a></p></div><div>AUGUST 02, 2019 05:30 AM, UPDATED AUGUST 02, 2019 12:30 PM</div></div><div class="ydp6bb50e37social-network-macro"><ul class="ydp6bb50e37share-list" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><li class="ydp6bb50e37share-icon" style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; margin: 10px 0px 0px; list-style: none; padding-right: 25px;"><a class="ydp6bb50e37link-icon enhancr_card_5394000052" title="Share on Twitter" href="https://twitter.com/share?text=Appetite+for+California+almonds+still+growing%2C+but+farmers+feel+squeeze+from+new+water+rules&url=https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/environment/article231906623.html" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="ydp6bb50e37glyphicon ydp6bb50e37glyphicon-twitter" style="display: inline-block; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1; font-family: FontAwesome; font-size: inherit;"></span></a></li></ul></div></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">The California almond has proved resilient under fire.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">During the late years of California’s most recent drought, from 2015 through 2016, the almond came under attack from a variety of sources, including news outlets such as Mother Jones, Forbes and the New Republic, labeling it a horticultural vampire. </p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">It was, they said, sucking California’s groundwater reserves dry, leaving behind brittle, drought-stricken trees and causing the dusty land in San Joaquin County to<a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/big-valley/article229148999.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="enhancr_card_5867138789"> <u>cave in</u></a>.</p><div><br></div><div id="ydp138f83f8enhancr_card_5867138789" class="ydp138f83f8yahoo-link-enhancr-card ydp138f83f8ymail-preserve-class ydp138f83f8ymail-preserve-style" style="max-width:400px;font-family:Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" data-url="https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/big-valley/article229148999.html" data-type="YENHANCER" data-size="MEDIUM" contenteditable="false"><a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/big-valley/article229148999.html" style="text-decoration:none !important;color:#000 !important" class="ydp138f83f8yahoo-enhancr-cardlink" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><table border="0" class="ydp138f83f8card-wrapper ydp138f83f8yahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="max-width:400px"><tbody><tr><td width="400"><table border="0" class="ydp138f83f8card ydp138f83f8yahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="max-width:400px;border-width:1px;border-style:solid;border-color:rgb(224, 228, 233);border-radius:2px"><tbody><tr><td class="ydp138f83f8card-primary-image-cell" background="https://s.yimg.com/lo/api/res/1.2/00EXz6df6vLf8.rVxTvTsw--~A/Zmk9ZmlsbDt3PTQwMDtoPTIwMDthcHBpZD1pZXh0cmFjdA--/https://cf-images.us-east-1.prod.boltdns.net/v1/static/5502557042001/aacfd1e8-737f-40eb-8d02-b777a458ef6c/ad9570c1-1897-463a-a6b7-23179e6c221b/1280x720/match/image.jpg.cf.jpg" bgcolor="#000000" valign="top" height="175" style="background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); 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line-height: 19px; margin: 0px 0px 6px; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(38, 40, 42);">The Central Valley is sinking as farmers drill for water. But it can be ...</h2><p class="ydp138f83f8card-description" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(151, 155, 167);">California’s Central Valley is sinking as its aquifers lose water to groundwater drilling by farmers. A study fr...</p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div id="ydp6bb50e37ConnatixVideoAd" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin: 50px auto; clear: both; width: 720px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><div class="ydp6bb50e37connatix" style="max-width: 550px; margin: 0px auto;"><div style="font-weight: 600; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.2em; font-family: McClatchy Sans, sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase; margin-bottom: 5px !important;">TOP ARTICLES</div><a style="cursor: default;"><div class="ydp6bb50e37resize-triggers" style="visibility: hidden; width: 550px; min-height: 309.375px;"><div class="ydp6bb50e37expand-trigger" style="width: 535px; background-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); min-height: 294.375px;"><div style="width: 551px; min-height: 310px;"></div></div><div class="ydp6bb50e37contract-trigger" style="width: 535px; background-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); min-height: 294.375px;"></div></div></a><span style="font-family: Lyon, serif; font-size: 17px;">But the nut and the crop have not just survived, but thrived.</span></div></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">The almond has extended its nutty tendrils into nearly every section of the grocery store. An almond weighs just .01 ounces and is slightly larger than a penny, but in multitudes it fills colorful tins of<a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article230370414.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="enhancr_card_5437243755"> Blue Diamond</a> salted and roasted almonds. It is used to make Almond Breeze non-dairy milk, almond butter, almond flour, almond crackers, almond granola, almond cereal, almond meal and almond milk yogurt.</p><div><br></div><div id="ydpaa07f6b5enhancr_card_5437243755" class="ydpaa07f6b5yahoo-link-enhancr-card ydpaa07f6b5ymail-preserve-class ydpaa07f6b5ymail-preserve-style" style="max-width:400px;font-family:Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" data-url="https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article230370414.html" data-type="YENHANCER" data-size="MEDIUM" contenteditable="false"><a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article230370414.html" style="text-decoration:none !important;color:#000 !important" class="ydpaa07f6b5yahoo-enhancr-cardlink" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><table border="0" class="ydpaa07f6b5card-wrapper ydpaa07f6b5yahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="max-width:400px"><tbody><tr><td width="400"><table border="0" class="ydpaa07f6b5card ydpaa07f6b5yahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="max-width:400px;border-width:1px;border-style:solid;border-color:rgb(224, 228, 233);border-radius:2px"><tbody><tr><td class="ydpaa07f6b5card-primary-image-cell" background="https://s.yimg.com/lo/api/res/1.2/VsWszA_a9Ts0qKOFuCVALw--~A/Zmk9ZmlsbDt3PTQwMDtoPTIwMDthcHBpZD1pZXh0cmFjdA--/https://cf-images.us-east-1.prod.boltdns.net/v1/static/5502557042001/73db0b5e-17e1-4534-8194-aa333aae6ef4/f2d99cf8-73d6-4b33-9d35-c6aabecc82eb/1280x720/match/image.jpg.cf.jpg" bgcolor="#000000" valign="top" height="175" style="background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); 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line-height: 19px; margin: 0px 0px 6px; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(38, 40, 42);">Crews knock down fire at the Blue Diamond factory after going to four al...</h2><p class="ydpaa07f6b5card-description" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(151, 155, 167);">Firefighters are battling a blaze Monday night on the second floor of the Blue Diamond almond factory in downtow...</p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Almonds are as popular as ever.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">California’s 6,800 growers churned out 2.26 billion pounds of almonds last year, amounting to over 80 percent of the world’s supply, according to the <a href="http://www.almonds.com/growers/resources/almond-almanac-industry-stats" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="enhancr_card_5826878125">California Almond Board</a>, a grower-supported nonprofit. And the upward trend is expected to continue, with 2019 production <a href="http://newsroom.almonds.com/sites/default/files/2019_NASS_Subjective_Forecast_0.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">forecast to grow nearly 10 percent</a>, reaching 2.5 billion pounds, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.</p><div><br></div><div id="ydp7c3f1fbfenhancr_card_5826878125" class="ydp7c3f1fbfyahoo-link-enhancr-card ydp7c3f1fbfymail-preserve-class ydp7c3f1fbfymail-preserve-style" style="max-width:400px;font-family:Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" data-url="http://www.almonds.com/growers/resources/almond-almanac-industry-stats" data-type="YENHANCER" data-size="MEDIUM" contenteditable="false"><a href="http://www.almonds.com/growers/resources/almond-almanac-industry-stats" style="text-decoration:none !important;color:#000 !important" class="ydp7c3f1fbfyahoo-enhancr-cardlink" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><table border="0" class="ydp7c3f1fbfcard-wrapper ydp7c3f1fbfyahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="max-width:400px"><tbody><tr><td width="400"><table border="0" class="ydp7c3f1fbfcard ydp7c3f1fbfyahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="max-width:400px;border-width:1px;border-style:solid;border-color:rgb(224, 228, 233);border-radius:2px"><tbody><tr><td class="ydp7c3f1fbfcard-primary-image-cell" background="https://s.yimg.com/lo/api/res/1.2/e65VETLOao6vyCSWNj_k.w--~A/Zmk9ZmlsbDt3PTQwMDtoPTIwMDthcHBpZD1pZXh0cmFjdA--/http://www.almonds.com/sites/default/files/Almanac%202018_0.jpg.cf.jpg" bgcolor="#000000" valign="top" height="175" style="background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); 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line-height: 19px; margin: 0px 0px 6px; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(38, 40, 42);">Annual Reports and Factsheets | California Almonds - Your Favorite Easy ...</h2><p class="ydp7c3f1fbfcard-description" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(151, 155, 167);"></p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"></p><div class="ydp6bb50e37related-stories ydp6bb50e37package ydp6bb50e37story-module" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; position: relative; padding: 0px 15px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); max-width: 720px; margin: 30px auto; clear: both;"><h5 style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.2em; font-family: McClatchy Sans, sans-serif; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;">Read Next</h5><div class="ydp6bb50e37grid" style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><h6 style="font: var(--hw) 12px/1.2em McClatchy Sans,sans-serif; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="ydp6bb50e37kicker" href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/environment" title="environment" style="display: inline-block; text-transform: uppercase; padding: 5px 8px 3px; border: 1px solid var(--tc,#4a4a4a); border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px; border-bottom-left-radius: 2px;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ENVIRONMENT</a></h6><h3 style="font: var(--hw) 18px/1.2em var(--hf); margin: 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/environment/article233041102.html#storylink=readmore_inline" title="An intense process: The California almond’s journey from orchard to grocery shelf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">An intense process: The California almond’s journey from orchard to grocery shelf</a></h3>AUGUST 02, 2019 5:30 AM</div><hr style="border: 0.5px solid var(--tc,#707070); margin: 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 100%;"></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Now that the drought has passed, almond growers are seeing more surface water flowing down canals, and geologists say groundwater reserves are starting to improve throughout the San Joaquin Valley.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">But the almond may not be out of the woods yet.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">This time, instead of immediate drought jeopardizing the almond industry, Valley farmers say they’re feeling the pinch of water politics, the result of a series of conflicts among the California State Water Resources Control Board, environmentalists and growers.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Farmers face cutbacks to the only two water sources available to them as state water managers roll out a new set of rules: The state’s “unimpaired flows” decision, which affects surface supplies, and the Legislature’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which governs groundwater.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">State water managers and environmentalists say the rules are necessary to avoid a die-out of key fish species in the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers – tributaries of the lower San Joaquin River – and to prevent further damage to aquifers from groundwater overpumping. </p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">But Steve Knell, general manager at the Oakdale Irrigation District in Stanislaus County, said growers are being squeezed from both sides.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">“Farming is being attacked at two ends,” Knell said. “You’re taking their surface water away, and then you’re taking away their ability to pump groundwater to replace that surface water.”</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">And almond growers say they worry that the one-two punch may knock them out of business for good.</p><h3 style="font: var(--hw) 18px/1.2em var(--hf); max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: both; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">OUT IN THE ALMOND GROVES<br><br></h3><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Under the harsh sun in Manteca, 20 minutes south of Stockton, David Phippen gripped the wheel of his truck, making a hard left down Graves Road. Dust trailed from his tires.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Phippen, a third-generation almond grower, co-owns 1,500 acres of almond trees within the <a href="https://www.ssjid.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="enhancr_card_4973505147"><u>South San Joaquin Irrigation District</u></a>, and is one of many growers who say they are threatened by the unimpaired flows decision.</p><div><br></div><div id="ydpd14fbca5enhancr_card_4973505147" class="ydpd14fbca5yahoo-link-enhancr-card ydpd14fbca5yahoo-link-enhancr-not-allow-cover ydpd14fbca5ymail-preserve-class ydpd14fbca5ymail-preserve-style" style="max-width:400px;font-family:Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" data-url="https://www.ssjid.com/" data-type="YENHANCER" data-size="MEDIUM" contenteditable="false"><a href="https://www.ssjid.com/" style="text-decoration:none !important;color:#000 !important" class="ydpd14fbca5yahoo-enhancr-cardlink" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><table border="0" class="ydpd14fbca5card-wrapper ydpd14fbca5yahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="max-width:400px"><tbody><tr><td width="400"><table border="0" class="ydpd14fbca5card ydpd14fbca5yahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="max-width:400px;border-width:1px;border-style:solid;border-color:rgb(224, 228, 233);border-radius:2px"><tbody><tr><td><table border="0" class="ydpd14fbca5card-info ydpd14fbca5yahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:#fff;position:relative;z-index:2;width:100%;max-width:400px;border-radius:0 0 2px 2px;border-top:1px solid rgb(224, 228, 233)"><tbody><tr><td style="background-color:#ffffff;padding:16px 0 16px 12px;vertical-align:top;border-radius:0 0 0 2px"></td><td style="vertical-align:middle;padding:12px 24px 16px 12px;width:99%;font-family:Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;border-radius:0 0 2px 0"><h2 class="ydpd14fbca5card-title" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin: 0px 0px 6px; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(38, 40, 42);">South San Joaquin Irrigation District</h2><p class="ydpd14fbca5card-description" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(151, 155, 167);"></p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Travaille & Phippen, the farm that Phippen manages with his brother Scott and cousin Bud, has top-notch surface water rights, and produced 42 million pounds of almonds last year without drawing upon groundwater for irrigation.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Row upon row of almond trees flickered past, minuscule bulbs of fuzzy green hulls barely visible in the thicket.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">The truck stopped next to a concrete canal, about 15 feet across. The water was crystal clear and cold.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">“So far, this water is still ours,” Phippen said.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Shading his eyes, he pointed toward the horizon, beyond the acres of almonds, where the hazy outline of mountains blends into the sky.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">“Look directly at those mountains that way – they still have snow on them,” Phippen said. “This here is snowmelt. It’s perfect water.”</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">In 1918, Phippen’s grandfather, Samuel Phippen, arrived in the U.S. from the Netherlands, taking on a succession of jobs, working as a real estate salesman, insurance company owner and, finally, an almond grower on the same ground that Phippen walks upon today.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Phippen has lived his entire life on this farm.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">At age 8, he drove a tractor with his brother through the rows of trees late in the evening, spraying pesticides, until his father would yell out to him, “You boys, park those tractors and come on in and do your homework.”</p><p class="ydp6bb50e37media-leadtext" style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: McClatchy Sans, sans-serif; color: rgb(112, 112, 112); margin: 0px; display: inline-block; padding-right: 0.5em;">John Hannon shot this spectacular aerial view of blooming almond orchards in the Sacramento Valley. It's from the Arbuckle area in Colusa County. Did you know California grows more than 80 percent of the world's supply of almonds?</p><div class="ydp6bb50e37mi-video-bylines ydp6bb50e37video-attributions-6012591521001" style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: McClatchy Sans, sans-serif; color: rgb(112, 112, 112); margin: 0px; display: inline-block; padding-right: 0.5em;">By <span class="ydp6bb50e37bylines">John Hannon/Sacramento Valley Water</span></div><div class="ydp6bb50e37embed-media ydp6bb50e37inline-video" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px 15px; margin: 30px 0px; clear: both; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><div class="ydp6bb50e37embed-media-details" style="padding: 10px 0px 0px;"><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif;"></p></div></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Since before Phippen was born, Travaille & Phippen has had rights to the first 250,000 acre-feet of water that flows from the Stanislaus. Each year, Phippen uses that water, also called surface water, to irrigate his almond orchards.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">But that could change, if the state water board’s recent river flow decision proceeds and Phippen can’t turn to groundwater as an alternative.</p><h3 style="font: var(--hw) 18px/1.2em var(--hf); max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: both; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">KEY WATER FLOW DECISION</h3><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">On Dec. 12, the state water board adopted the <a href="https://www.sacbee.com/latest-news/article223031605.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><u>unimpaired flows decision</u></a>, which would increase the flow of the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers to 40 percent, mainly to protect fish and wildlife – particularly fall-run Chinook salmon.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Unimpaired flow is the amount of water moving downriver in the absence of dams and other diversions. During drought years, the flow of the San Joaquin River can run as low as 6 percent, which depletes native fish populations.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">In 2010, 40,000 salmon returned to the San Joaquin for spawning, according to a <a href="https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/bay_delta/docs/bay_delta_faq.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><u>news release from the water board</u></a>. Two years ago, only 10,000 made it.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">According to state scientists, as much as 90 percent of the natural flows of some tributaries are diverted to farms and cities. To revive fish species such as salmon, steelhead and Delta smelt, scientists say more water needs to flow naturally to the Pacific.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">But even as salmon populations were decimated over the years, almond growers flourished in the South San Joaquin Valley, drawing on both surface water, sourced from the Stanislaus, Merced and Tuolumne rivers, and groundwater wells.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">The unimpaired flows decision will sharply reduce these growers’ surface water rights, and they are determined to fight back.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Less than a month later, on Jan. 10, a coalition of five irrigation districts, led by the San Joaquin Tributaries Authority, <a href="https://www.sacbee.com/latest-news/article224248020.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">filed a lawsuit</a> challenging the water board’s decision. They were joined by the city of San Francisco, which also pulls water from the tributaries that flow into the lower San Joaquin.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">If the unimpaired flows decision were to proceed, the canal Phippen stood in front of wouldn’t provide enough water for his almond operation.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Phippen views the unimpaired flows decision as a severe threat to his family’s future.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">“I can’t grow almonds without water,” Phippen said. “It’s the most serious threat to my grandchildren that I can think of.”</p><h3 style="font: var(--hw) 18px/1.2em var(--hf); max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: both; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">THE PROBLEM WITH GROUNDWATER</h3><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">The alternative to surface water is<a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article218300410.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> <u>groundwater</u></a>, which lies a few feet below the earth’s surface in a spongy, clay-like material, and can be accessed via pumping.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">However, pumping groundwater has been heavily criticized, for two reasons.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">First, each time farmers pump groundwater from the aquifer, or the underground bedrock that stores groundwater, the clay’s water storage ability weakens.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Michelle Sneed, a hydrologist at the U.S. Geological Survey, likens a healthy aquifer to a haphazard pile of dishes. The messier the pile, the more pockets of air between the dishes. In this case, the pockets of air between the dishes represent water storage space between the grains of clay in the aquifer.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Each time the groundwater is sucked out for irrigation, the “dishes” become more and more orderly, over time becoming a neat stack, drastically reducing storage space.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">“Even if the water level goes up, it won’t go back into that random orientation,” Sneed said. “That’s what causes the land subsidence.”</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">In the San Joaquin Valley, stretches of the landscape have sunk more than 50 feet in a few decades via the phenomenon called land subsidence, damaging highways and canals, at a cost of $100 million since the 1960s, according to<a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/89761/san-joaquin-valley-is-still-sinking" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="enhancr_card_5028482527"> NASA</a>.</p><div><br></div><div id="ydp7775120fenhancr_card_5028482527" class="ydp7775120fyahoo-link-enhancr-card ydp7775120fymail-preserve-class ydp7775120fymail-preserve-style" style="max-width:400px;font-family:Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" data-url="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/89761/san-joaquin-valley-is-still-sinking" data-type="YENHANCER" data-size="MEDIUM" contenteditable="false"><a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/89761/san-joaquin-valley-is-still-sinking" style="text-decoration:none !important;color:#000 !important" class="ydp7775120fyahoo-enhancr-cardlink" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><table border="0" class="ydp7775120fcard-wrapper ydp7775120fyahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="max-width:400px"><tbody><tr><td width="400"><table border="0" class="ydp7775120fcard ydp7775120fyahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="max-width:400px;border-width:1px;border-style:solid;border-color:rgb(224, 228, 233);border-radius:2px"><tbody><tr><td class="ydp7775120fcard-primary-image-cell" background="https://s.yimg.com/lo/api/res/1.2/XrMDD6jlO849cZ.ni4F2lg--~A/Zmk9ZmlsbDt3PTQwMDtoPTIwMDthcHBpZD1pZXh0cmFjdA--/https://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/89000/89761/sanjoaquin_sar_2016254_th.png.cf.jpg" bgcolor="#000000" valign="top" height="175" style="background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-size: cover; position: relative; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; min-height: 175px;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><v:rect fill="true" stroke="false" style="width:396px;height:175px;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;"><v:fill type="frame" color="#000000" src="https://s.yimg.com/lo/api/res/1.2/XrMDD6jlO849cZ.ni4F2lg--~A/Zmk9ZmlsbDt3PTQwMDtoPTIwMDthcHBpZD1pZXh0cmFjdA--/https://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/89000/89761/sanjoaquin_sar_2016254_th.png.cf.jpg"/></v:rect><![endif]--><table border="0" class="ydp7775120fcard-overlay-container-table ydp7775120fyahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%"><tbody><tr><td class="ydp7775120fcard-overlay-cell" background="https://s.yimg.com/cv/ae/nq/storm/assets/enhancrV21/1/enhancr_gradient-400x175.png" bgcolor="transparent" valign="top" style="background-color: transparent; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; min-height: 175px;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><v:rect fill="true" stroke="false" style="width:396px;height:175px;position:absolute;top:-18px;left:0;"><v:fill type="pattern" color="#000000" src="https://s.yimg.com/cv/ae/nq/storm/assets/enhancrV21/1/enhancr_gradient-400x175.png"/><v:textbox inset="0,0,20px,0"><![endif]--><table border="0" class="ydp7775120fyahoo-ignore-table" height="175" style="width: 100%; min-height: 175px;"><tbody><tr><td class="ydp7775120fcard-richInfo2" style="text-align:left;padding:15px 0 0 15px;vertical-align:top"></td><td class="ydp7775120fcard-actions" style="text-align:right;padding:15px 15px 0 0;vertical-align:top"><div class="ydp7775120fcard-share-container"></div></td></tr></tbody></table><!--[if gte mso 9]></v:textbox></v:rect><![endif]--></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td><table border="0" align="center" class="ydp7775120fcard-info ydp7775120fyahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:#fff;position:relative;z-index:2;width:100%;max-width:400px;border-radius:0 0 2px 2px;border-top:1px solid rgb(224, 228, 233)"><tbody><tr><td style="background-color:#ffffff;padding:16px 0 16px 12px;vertical-align:top;border-radius:0 0 0 2px"></td><td style="vertical-align:middle;padding:12px 24px 16px 12px;width:99%;font-family:Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;border-radius:0 0 2px 0"><h2 class="ydp7775120fcard-title" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin: 0px 0px 6px; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(38, 40, 42);">San Joaquin Valley is Still Sinking</h2><p class="ydp7775120fcard-description" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(151, 155, 167);">Groundwater pumping in California has been causing land subsidence.</p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">“We can’t undo what’s been done,” Sneed said.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Second, the California Legislature passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA, in 2014, requiring all irrigation districts by 2020-22 to draft plans to achieve sustainable management within 20 years</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Over the next few decades, many districts, especially those that have been sucking their aquifers dry due to limited surface water rights, will be restricted from pumping groundwater.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">“That farmer south of Fresno who’s using the aquifer and knows that SGMA is taking away his ability to use that aquifer, he is scared to death,” Phippen said.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">According to Mike Wade, executive director at the <a href="https://www.farmwater.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><u>California Farm Water Coalition</u></a>, some farmers are going to lose their water supply as a result of both SGMA and the unimpaired flows decision.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">“There’s a potential of 500,000 to 1 million acres of farmland that won’t have a sustainable water supply and may come out of production,” Wade said.</p><h3 style="font: var(--hw) 18px/1.2em var(--hf); max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: both; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">‘YOU CAN ONLY GROW SO MANY’</h3><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">As a senior policy adviser at Sacramento-based nonprofit Friends of the River, Ron Stork has watched the agricultural water battles play out for years.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">In his view, “People have been living without common sense for a while.”</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">With a background in plant science and expertise in flood management, Stork specializes in rivers all over California, advocating for dam removal and preservation of native species. The unimpaired flows decision, for Stork, represents hope.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">In Sacramento, Stork lives near the downtown headquarters of Blue Diamond, the world’s largest tree nut company and cooperative.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">“Sometimes the odor of cooking almonds wafts over,” Stork said. “There’s nothing the matter with almonds – I like eating almonds, they smell good. But you can only grow so many.”</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Each year, San Joaquin Valley growers use 2 million acre-feet of water more than they have, according to Stork. When the surface water runs out, they turn immediately to groundwater pumping.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">John Monroe, an almond grower in Arbuckle, an hour’s drive north of Sacramento, said the San Joaquin Valley is in crisis.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">“The San Joaquin is absolutely overdrafting,” Monroe said. “Agriculture in total and urban users and environmental users are wanting 150 percent of the available water.”</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">“You can’t use more water than you have forever,” Stork said. “But if you’re simple, that’s where you’re at.”</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Almonds are problematic in California for two main reasons, according to Stork.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">First, as permanent orchard crops, almond trees have a 25-year life cycle. Throughout those years, growers must commit to a yearly irrigation schedule. Tomato growers, for example, have the flexibility to forgo seeding tomatoes during a drought year, and perhaps put down a dry farming crop such as wheat or cotton instead. Almond growers are tied to their thirsty crop for over two decades.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">The Southern San Joaquin Valley is tethered to the inflexibility of permanent crops, from walnuts to pistachios to almonds.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">The second issue is simple, Stork said: There are too many acres of almonds in California. </p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">When asked how the state can curtail almond farmers, he said, “They will have to stop. This is just being responsible adults here.”</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Additionally, Stork said, the mindset of the growers contributes to the rigidity of their position on the unimpaired flows decision.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">“That’s the way the farmers think down there – that we’re diverting more water for the salmon,” Stork said. “But it’s water from the river that’s diverted to their fields. The more interesting thing is the concept that water left in its natural course is somehow artificial.”</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Many of the farmers hold what are called pre-1914 water rights, or rights to surface water that were established before the state started regulating water rights in 1914, according to Peter Rietkerk, general manager at the South San Joaquin Irrigation District. The growers with pre-1914 water rights are referred to as senior water right holders, and the state water board typically has limited jurisdiction over these rights.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">David Phippen is one of those senior water right holders, and his property has had rights to the first 250,000 acre-feet of the Stanislaus River for over 100 years.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">“The conflict fundamentally is that the farmers stole the water fair and square in their judgment back in the 1900s,” Stork said. “I’m sorry, but back in the 1800s, they stole it fair and square using gold miner rules: ‘Thems that gets there first gets the gold.’<i>”</i></p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Stork hopes to collaborate with the growers.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">“We all have to live together on this planet here,” Stork said. “We’re going to have to work this out.”</p><h3 style="font: var(--hw) 18px/1.2em var(--hf); max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: both; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><span id="ydp6bb50e37docs-internal-guid-25a97178-7fff-9966-1d67-8cdc416e29ce">SEEKING A SOLUTION</span></h3><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Is it plausible to reduce the acreage of almonds in California by requiring growers to dry farm crops such as wheat and cotton?</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">“No,” said Phippen, parking the truck next to a pile of almond hulls at least 80 feet tall.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Phippen turned in the driver’s seat. “I can look you in the eye and tell you, if I grow wheat on this ground, I’m going to go out of business,” he said.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">“As water becomes so precious and the land becomes so expensive and the taxes become so great, it’s becoming an expensive state to farm.”</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Cotton, a dry crop that requires very little water to produce, has thousands of acres in Texas, Georgia, and Arkansas. The cost of one pound of cotton is around 75 cents while one pound of almonds may bring around $3. Farmers say dry crops like cotton and wheat simply aren’t profitable enough, .</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">“The ground is too expensive for that,” Phippen said. “You are forced to grow the highest yielding kind of crop.”</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">From 2016 to 2017, almond acreage expanded by 90,000 acres, to a total of 1.3 million acres.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">In Phippen’s eyes, California is “full of environmental folks.”</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">“There’s a whole bunch of them,” Phippen said. “The Environmental Defense Fund, the Sierra Club … I should be able to recite them all to you, but I can’t, because I don’t like any of them.”</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Although Phippen said he spends thousands of dollars each year on improving the efficiency of his irrigation technology, uses solar energy to power his hulling and shelling facilities, and now produces one-third more almonds per gallon of water than his father did, he believes environmentalists have never taken into account the growers’ efforts.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">“Farmers have to think like an environmentalist,” Phippen said. “I’m endorsing green energy and drip irrigation. I think I am a doggone environmentalist.”</p><h3 style="font: var(--hw) 18px/1.2em var(--hf); max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: both; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">‘THE TARGET IS ON OUR BACK’</h3><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">In 2014, Mother Jones magazine published a story with the headline “<a href="https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/02/wheres-californias-water-going/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="enhancr_card_4966488749"><u>It Takes How Much Water to Grow an Almond?!</u></a>” paired with a harrowing<a href="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--pZfHwv4P--/c_fit,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/jvgyujbjtnpgwjsqdets.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> <u>infographic</u></a>.</p><div><br></div><div id="ydp932ef246enhancr_card_4966488749" class="ydp932ef246yahoo-link-enhancr-card ydp932ef246ymail-preserve-class ydp932ef246ymail-preserve-style" style="max-width: 400px; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; position: relative;" data-url="https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/02/wheres-californias-water-going/" data-type="YENHANCER" data-size="MEDIUM" contenteditable="false"><a href="https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/02/wheres-californias-water-going/" style="text-decoration:none !important;color:#000 !important" class="ydp932ef246yahoo-enhancr-cardlink" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><table border="0" class="ydp932ef246card-wrapper ydp932ef246yahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="max-width:400px"><tbody><tr><td width="400"><table border="0" class="ydp932ef246card ydp932ef246yahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="max-width:400px;border-width:1px;border-style:solid;border-color:rgb(224, 228, 233);border-radius:2px"><tbody><tr><td class="ydp932ef246card-primary-image-cell" background="https://s.yimg.com/lo/api/res/1.2/SGPF8kZmys.1Kfuow2iabA--~A/Zmk9ZmlsbDt3PTQwMDtoPTIwMDthcHBpZD1pZXh0cmFjdA--/https://www.motherjones.com/wp-content/uploads/almonds-master.gif?w=1200&h=630&crop=1.cf.jpg" bgcolor="#000000" valign="top" height="175" style="background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-size: cover; position: relative; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; min-height: 175px;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><v:rect fill="true" stroke="false" style="width:396px;height:175px;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;"><v:fill type="frame" color="#000000" src="https://s.yimg.com/lo/api/res/1.2/SGPF8kZmys.1Kfuow2iabA--~A/Zmk9ZmlsbDt3PTQwMDtoPTIwMDthcHBpZD1pZXh0cmFjdA--/https://www.motherjones.com/wp-content/uploads/almonds-master.gif?w=1200&h=630&crop=1.cf.jpg"/></v:rect><![endif]--><table border="0" class="ydp932ef246card-overlay-container-table ydp932ef246yahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%"><tbody><tr><td class="ydp932ef246card-overlay-cell" background="https://s.yimg.com/cv/ae/nq/storm/assets/enhancrV21/1/enhancr_gradient-400x175.png" bgcolor="transparent" valign="top" style="background-color: transparent; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; 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line-height: 19px; margin: 0px 0px 6px; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(38, 40, 42);">It takes how much water to grow an almond?!</h2><p class="ydp932ef246card-description" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(151, 155, 167);">Why California's drought is a disaster for your favorite fruits, vegetables, and nuts.</p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></a><div class="loadingSpinnerContainer" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.298039);"><div class="D_F F_n gl_C ab_C H_6MGW o_h"><div class="W_6MGW H_6MGW D_X ah_1PEzoz" data-test-id="loading_indicator"><svg class="W_6MGW H_6MGW ah_Zq6hUs" viewBox="0 0 24 24" width="24" height="24"><path class="cdPFi_n cZ13pKbK_Z2aVTcY cZ1XO2Ji_dRA c2abBOT_EY cZ1vNhDV_rd cZV8aCd_pI ah_14s73" d="M12,22C6.477,22,2,17.523,2,12S6.477,2,12,2"></path><path class="cdPFi_n cZ13pKbK_Z2aVTcY cZ1XO2Ji_dRA c2abBOT_EY cZ1vNhDV_rd cZV8aCd_pI ah_14s73" d="M12,2c5.523,0,10,4.477,10,10s-4.477,10-10,10"></path></svg></div></div></div></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">However, it is no longer about how much water a single almond requires to grow – 1 gallon.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">“All they heard was those mean almond farmers used a gallon for every kernel, oh my God!” Phippen said. “We’ve seen that what it takes to irrigate an almond orchard is significantly even with any other tree crop.”</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Walnuts suck up nearly 5 gallons of water per nut. Pistachios take three-quarters of a gallon. One tomato drinks 3.3 gallons.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">“So do you want to ban fruit? Do you want to ban nuts?” Phippen said.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">The underlying problem is the 6,800 almond growers in California, their collective 1.3 billion acres, and the effect of the unimpaired flows decision and SGMA on South San Joaquin Valley farmland.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Farmers like Phippen and Monroe invest thousands each year in dual-line drip irrigation, which localizes water only to the roots of the almond tree, and releases moisture only when a soil moisture probe signals it to. Irrigation has reached nearly 90 percent efficiency.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Despite these advancements, there is still not enough water for everyone in California. </p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">As the weather becomes hotter and more drought-prone, growers say they’re approaching a breaking point, and the unimpaired flows decision only adds to the stress.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Phippen estimates that his irrigation district, the South San Joaquin, will be in litigation for the rest of his life. But he’s going to fight until the end.</p><p style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: Lyon, serif; max-width: 720px; padding: 0px 15px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; clear: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">“The target is on our back,” Phippen said. “There isn’t a farmer in California, from dairy to cotton to walnut, who doesn’t know that a red dot is on our back.”</p><div class="ydp6bb50e37related-stories ydp6bb50e37package ydp6bb50e37story-module" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; position: relative; padding: 0px 15px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); max-width: 720px; margin: 30px auto; clear: both;"><h5 class="ydp6bb50e37caps" style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.2em; font-family: McClatchy Sans, sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;">RELATED STORIES FROM SACRAMENTO BEE</h5><div class="ydp6bb50e37grid" style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><h2 class="ydp6bb50e37caps ydp6bb50e37h6" style="font: var(--hw) 12px/1.2em McClatchy Sans,sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="ydp6bb50e37kicker" href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought" style="display: inline-block; padding: 5px 8px 3px; border: 1px solid var(--tc,#4a4a4a); border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px; border-bottom-left-radius: 2px;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">WATER-AND-DROUGHT</a></h2><h3 style="font: var(--hw) 18px/1.2em var(--hf); margin: 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article224248020.html#storylink=related_inline" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">San Francisco, farmers team up to fight California’s ‘water grab’</a></h3>JANUARY 10, 2019 01:44 PM<h2 class="ydp6bb50e37caps ydp6bb50e37h6" style="font: var(--hw) 12px/1.2em McClatchy Sans,sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="ydp6bb50e37kicker" href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/environment" style="display: inline-block; padding: 5px 8px 3px; border: 1px solid var(--tc,#4a4a4a); border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px; border-bottom-left-radius: 2px;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ENVIRONMENT</a></h2><h3 style="font: var(--hw) 18px/1.2em var(--hf); margin: 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/environment/article216729210.html#storylink=related_inline" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Why San Francisco is joining Valley farmers in a fight over precious California water</a></h3>AUGUST 19, 2018 03:50 AM<h2 class="ydp6bb50e37caps ydp6bb50e37h6" style="font: var(--hw) 12px/1.2em McClatchy Sans,sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="ydp6bb50e37kicker" href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought" style="display: inline-block; padding: 5px 8px 3px; border: 1px solid var(--tc,#4a4a4a); border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px; border-bottom-left-radius: 2px;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">WATER-AND-DROUGHT</a></h2><div style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 100%; width: 1px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-stretch: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-family: sans-serif; min-height: 1px;" dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br>Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/environment/article231906623.html#storylink=cpy</div></div></div></div></div></body></html>