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The Impacts of Agriculture on Water Policy in California

Fire & Water in the Golden State

The POTUS immediately seized on the plight of the tiny Delta smelt (and how it affected water policy in California) as the reason for the fossil fueled conflagrations in Los Angeles. Subsequently, the story of the smelt somehow eclipsed the heart-rending stories of Angelenos losing their lives and homes and businesses in the largest and most destructive conflagration in California’s history. While our natural resources are critical to our survival, I’d like to remind everyone that people are suffering in Los Angeles.

The Palisades, Hurst, and Eaton fires in the Los Angeles area as seen by the GOES18 satellite at 08 Jan 2025 21:51Z. Composite of the GEOCOLOR and FireTemperature images. U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration California's water policy has been implicated as a reason the fires were so hard to contain.

What I know about water policy in California

My research focused on the impacts of dairy farming on water and air quality in California, so I’m familiar with the Delta smelt’s story. Water is both a simple and a very complex resource. On one side, we have to agree that access to adequate, safe water is a basic human right. On the other side, water is a precious and increasingly scarce resource in our changing world. We also have to acknowledge that the powers that be have decided that precious resources must be exploited, mostly for the continued benefit of those in power. This tension drives the discussion around California’s water resources. Ultimately, how do we ensure that basic human rights are met now, while also protecting water so that our children and grandchildren will have their basic human rights met as well?

Is there something fishy about California’s water policy?

Delta Smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus). Native to the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta region of northern California. Date 17 March 2005 Source [1] Author Peterson, B. Moose / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service California's water policy to protect this species has been implicated as a reason the fires of January 2025 were so hard to contain.

Okay, back to smelt. While the Delta smelt is, in and of itself, a species worth preserving just because it exists (and it is adorable, I have to say), it’s also what ecologists call an indicator species. The health of the smelt population tells us a lot about the health of the delta ecosystem where it lives, and especially about the quality of the water it lives in. As water is pulled out of or prevented from reaching the Delta, mostly for Big Ag uses (more about that in a second), sea water intrudes and the environment becomes too salty for anything to survive – from native plants to insects and marine invertebrates, birds, mammals and, yes, fish! 

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, intact and healthy, is critical to the humans who live and play there and to the 500 or so non-human native species that depend on it for habitat. It’s a vital part of the Pacific flyway, supporting millions of migratory birds each year. Salmon and white sturgeon depend on it to access their upstream spawning grounds in the Coastal and Sierra ranges. Several of California’s endemic plant species like the tule and Valley oak thrive in the Delta. Intact and healthy estuaries, like the Delta, also provide important mitigation against sea level rise due to global heating. And the health of the Delta is easily monitored by watching the population of the humble Delta smelt.

Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta at flood stage, 2009. King Edward Island is inundated with water on the right. Bradford Island is on the left, and Bethel Island is below, in California's Delta region. Photo by Doc Searls. CC BY-SA 2.0

California Water Policy is a Big Problem, Thanks to Big Ag

We can’t ignore the elephant in the room when we’re talking about water resources and water policy in California – agriculture. California’s agricultural industry uses 40% of the water in the state – 80% of the water that’s available for human use. And Big Ag demands that it be first in line for water – before all others, especially natural resources like the tiny Delta smelt.

Here, I’d like to point out that about 7% of the farmland in California – more than a million and a half acres – is planted in animal feed crops like hay and feed corn. Dairy and beef production account for more than a fifth of the value of California agriculture. I recognize that these industries are very important to our economy and that thousands of agricultural workers depend on them. However, I have to wonder if we couldn’t be using our land and precious water to produce more efficient protein sources?

Harris Feeding Company Cattle feed lot along I-5 in California's Central Valley. Photo by Jay Galvin via flickr
Cattle feed lot along I-5 in California’s Central Valley

To conclude, if we really need to point fingers and play the blame and shame game for the conflagration in LA, let’s take a good, hard look at Big Ag.


Fun Facts from the 2022 CDFA annual report

  • Dairy is California’s #1 agricultural industry in terms of value; 31% of products are exported ($3.2 of $10.4 billion)
  • More fluid milk is produced in CA than in any other state, and CA ranks 7th for beef production and 8th for both egg and broiler production
  • Beef is California’s #3 agricultural industry in terms of value; 17% of products are exported ($0.6 of $3.6 billion)
  • More hay is grown in California than in any other state, 32% of this is exported
  • Herd/flock sizes:
    • Dairy: 1.7 million milk cows
    • Beef: 5.2 million head
    • Eggs: >13 million laying hens
    • Turkeys: 6.2 million head
  • Land use
    • 24 million acres in production
    • 13.4 million acres – 56% – are farmed by producers who earn >$500,000 annually
    • 345,000 acres planted in feed corn
    • 940,000 acres planted in alfalfa
    • 380,000 in other types of hay
    • Total: 1,665,000 acres in feed crops (7% of total)

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