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California farmers are no strangers to drought, although the magnitude of this, a third straight dry year, has widespread and significant impacts in Sacramento Valley rice country and nearby communities.
A lack of adequate rain above Shasta Dam has brought historic water cutbacks to growers on the west side of the Sacramento Valley, with a major reduction in rice plantings. This contrasts the east side of the valley, where rice acreage is expected to be normal to potentially above normal. Full rice acreage wonât be known until later this spring.
âWeâre down to 25 percent of normal rice acreage,â said grower Kurt Richter, who farms in Colusa County. âFor a westside operation, that figure is actually very high this year. Iâm the only person I know who is on the west side who is even planting rice at all.â
The sharp reduction in rice planting will have a ripple effect along the west side of the valley, including not only rice mills, dryers, ag pilots, supply companies and truckers, but virtually all people and businesses.
âWe have never seen a year like this,â remarked Rick Richter of Richter Aviation. Rick has aerially seeded rice fields since the 1970s. âWeâre basically one-seventh of what we normally do.â
Other area businesses echo Richterâs comments and concerns.
âYou talk to some of the guys that went through drought in the 1980s and this seems to be even worse,â said Jason Bowen, Pest Control Advisor at Colusa County Farm Supply. âThis affects everyone. Every person you talk to. It doesnât matter where you work at, youâre completely affected.â
Bowen is among those who hope state and federal aid is forthcoming, to help during a time of significant economic hardship.
âAny aid would benefit everyone,â he said. âWhoever the aid does go to, itâs going to trickle down all the way through the local economies in any way, shape or form.â
While faced with cutbacks not seen in decades, there remains a persevering nature that is a hallmark characteristic of this region.
âPeople here are tough. They are strong and have a way of working together to make this successful ,â said Jim Cook, Director of Research and Technology at Colusa County Farm Supply. âWe know weâre in for a tough go. The bottom line is we have no other place to go. This is like the Alamo for us. This is our place where weâre going to make a stand and we are going to survive.â
Jennifer Abel is General Manager of Luis Cairoâs in Williams, a restaurant with a rich history in the valley. She said they, like so many restaurants, have had big challenges in recent years, from COVID-19 restrictions, the economic downturn and large fires in nearby areas. Drought impacts to nearby farms and ranches will likely impact their business, but she remained positive about their future.
âWeâre really strong and united,â she said. âWe have a solid foundation of families and people that have been here for a long time that have been farming and working in this community. Theyâre going to come together, make a difference and make something happen.â
Episode TranscriptJim Morris: This is normally a time of activity far and wide in the Sacramento Valley, rice planting season, including here in Glenn County. Thereâs a disconcerting lack of tractors and airplanes working on the west side of the valley right now, as a third year of drought is impacting our region in an unprecedented way. With so much farmland idle, impacts will be strongly felt. This year will be a test like no other.
Kurt Richter: There's going to be a lot of people that are not going to be able to find work this year.
Rick Richter: Every person you talk to around the local community has been affected.
Jim Cook: This is really like the Alamo for us. This is our place where we're going to make a stand and we are going to survive.
Jim Morris: Welcome to Ingrained: The California Rice Podcast. I'm your host, Jim Morris, proud to have worked with California farmers and ranchers for more than 30 years to help tell their stories. Simply put, there is no year in memory compared to what's happening this year, especially for those who live and work along the Sacramento River. Pain will be real and widespread. We won't know the total acreage of rice planted in the state until later this spring. For now, it's clear that planting will be dramatically lower on the west side of the Sacramento Valley, and it appears to be normal to perhaps a bit greater on the east side. Kurt Richter, what's happening in your rice fields right now?
Kurt Richter: We are currently wrapping up getting the 2022 crop into the ground. It has been kind of a short season for us because acres are scaled back so significantly. Our workforce is scaled back significantly too, but we're probably a week away from getting the final fields planted and in the ground.
Jim Morris: One of the words that comes up a lot this year is unprecedented. Is that a good adjective to describe what you're seeing? What type of cutbacks are you having?
Kurt Richter: Notable cutbacks, the worst that we've ever seen in our operation, and I'm sure that goes out industry-wide as well. We're down to 25 percent of normal, and for a west side operation like us, that's actually very high. I'm the only person I know on the west side who's even planting rice at all. But we're very fortunate, with some of the leases that we hold, where well water is available, very good river water rights are available. We're able to maximize that. However, 25 percent is still the lowest we've ever been by a large margin.
Jim Morris: The impacts from that reduction extend well beyond your farm I imagine, so let's start with your farm. How does it impact you, your workforce, and then how does it impact the communities around you?
Kurt Richter: Well, we're running a much leaner crew than we typically run. We just don't need the people that we normally need because we don't have the acres to necessitate it. So, a lot of the seasonal people that we typically hire this time of the year are not coming on board with us. We just don't have anything for them to do. We're getting by with our full-time guys for the most part. That's how we're scaled back.
Kurt Richter: I've heard many similar stories from other growers, too. There's going to be a lot of people that are not going to be able to find work this year. And then when you extend that out to the rice dryers, the rice mills, I mean they're all going through budget cuts right now too, layoffs, paring down and trying to figure out how to survive a year where, in some areas, there is no rice at all.
Jim Morris: That sound is Nick Richter seeding a rice field in Colusa County, an all too uncommon sight on the west side of the Sacramento valley this year. Rick Richter is Nick's dad, and he owns Richter Aviation in Maxwell. You've been seeding rice field since the late '70s. Rick, how different is this year compared to all of the past time you worked in rice?
Rick Richter: We have never seen a year like this if you really want to know the truth. Back in the '70s, like '76, '77, I remember we were at 50 percent, and I don't recall any year quite like this.
Jim Morris: For those not directly involved in farming, they may not understand that impacts from not being able to plant crops extend well beyond the farm level. How does this drought and the idled acreage impact businesses like yourself and other businesses on the west side of the Sacramento Valley in particular?
Rick Richter: Well, this year as an example, Jim, last year we did 42,000 acres. This year we'll be lucky to do 6,000 acres. So, we're basically one-seventh of what we normally do. And last year was a 75 percent year, so we were even short at that following a few years of cutbacks. So, this is pretty hard to take.
Jim Morris: You'd much rather be in an airplane right now?
Rick Richter: Most definitely, and I've got four other pilots that aren't here would rather be flying. So, right now we just have Nick, my son, he's out flying and doing the work. And he'll be done. This is his only seeding job for the day.
Jim Morris: You've been at this a long time. I imagine you don't do any of this without the thought that you have to persevere through tough years. Will you and will the region largely come through this okay?
Rick Richter: Well it has to rain, Jim. We're here because of the drought, and we understand that, but we'll persevere.
Jim Morris: Work is well underway to try to help third parties suffering from the drought, businesses like yourself, for the sake of this region. How helpful would that be?
Rick Richter: Oh, Jim, that'd be a Godsend. If there's aid out there, we'll take it. We'd rather be working, granted.
Jim Morris: How concerned are you for allied businesses? Everybody has a different structure and financial situation, but so many are being impacted so seriously this year.
Rick Richter: Oh, the allied industries, I've talked to several of them so far. From the fuel suppliers, to the fertilizer companies, to the trucking companies. Every person you talk to around the local community has been affected. And it's just going to get worse. We're just hoping this is a one-year deal and we'll get some rain and come out of this.
Jim Morris: I'm in the Williams area speaking with Jason Bowen, Pest Control Advisor for more than 20 years at Colusa County Farm Supply, a Chico State graduate just like myself. Jason, tell me about this unfolding year and drought impacts as you see them.
Jason Bowen: Started out the winter with a lot of hope with the storms that we had in December. Progressing through the winter that kept on going down, and down, and down. And we're kind of where we're at right now. Being a PCA, and then also a rice farmer, everything we're seeing that nobody's ever seen. You talk to some of the guys that went through this in the '80s, and this seems to be even worse. On our side of it, it's nothing we've ever seen. Hopefully we'll never see it again.
Jim Morris: I'm going to mention a quote I saw that you stated, and would like you to amplify that a little bit. Several years ago during an earlier time of drought you said, "California rice farmers are a special breed of people, great stewards of the land who create environmentally friendly habitat for migrating waterfowl and other species of birds. I am proud to be part of this industry, not only as a consultant, but as a farmer who instills a love of agriculture to my wife and two sons every chance I get." Awesome quote. I personally share those sentiments. So someone who does not know this Sacramento Valley area, how intertwined are rice growers with the environment and the local business community?
Jason Bowen: Completely. Everything goes hand in hand from starting at the farmer going all the way down, all the businesses in one way or the other are affected. From the aerial applicators, to the ground applicators, to chemical and fertilizer distributors, mills, all the way down, trucking, grocery store. It's a trickle down to everyone. When the farmers are affected, the entire community's affected. I live in Maxwell, right in the heart of rice growing country, and I've never seen anything like it. I mean my house is surrounded by rice fields that are completely dried up, and not an acre around there is being planted besides a few fields here and there. So it affects everyone, every person you talk to. It doesn't matter where you work at, you're completely affected.
Jim Morris: Not too far from Maxwell is Sites, and there is talk and hope to get a reservoir built. I know it's in the future, but how helpful would additional water storage be for the future of the valley down the road?
Jason Bowen: Any additional water obviously would be completely helpful with the world that we live in. Everybody knows when the water projects were built they were managed in a way that it was for flood protection, for environment, for farming, for everything. That's obviously being pulled on a lot harder. Any shape or form where we can store more water when we do have those high water-flow years is a benefit for everybody in the Northern Sacramento Valley.
Jim Morris: And looking at the here and now, it's obviously going to be a tremendously difficult year. If it does come through, how helpful would state and/or federal aid be for this region?
Jason Bowen: Any aid would benefit everyone. Everyone in the communities, it's a trickle down. So whoever the aid does go to it's going to trickle down all the way through the local economies in any way, shape, or form.
Jim Morris: Jim Cook is Director of Research and Technology at Colusa County Farm Supply. Jim, tell me about the drought impacts you're seeing and experiencing.
Jim Cook: Well, one of the main things that we see is, being a support group for a support business like Colusa County Farm Supply, is our capacity to provide information and new products to our growers and fieldmen. The delay or the abbreviation of trying to get trials out, trying to get accurate information, and it has just changed the entire scheduling, our pace, the way our guys operate.
Jim Cook:
But also what it's done for us is, all of our information that we develop from a research standpoint is localized. So you can't take information let's say from the east side of the valley and bring it over here to the west side. So that's why it's important that we get our own information put together. So you have a drought, you have less fields to work with, it delays that information process which our guys need to move forward with new things.
Jim Morris: Those new things will ultimately help the grower and then the consumer. This takes years to develop, so this year is significant in terms of the challenge to get this done. Correct?
Jim Cook: That's absolutely right. You just interviewed with Jason, who is one of the top rice people I've ever worked with. But he has thrown at me more problems than I can shake a stick at. But it gives us an opportunity to test the new materials against the new resistance issues, cultural factors, things that we're operating against. And that is the direction of where his business and the business of our fieldmen are going, so we need to provide that information.
Jim Morris: On the website for this company it says, "This region of California is also a treasured source of year-round natural beauty. We're proud to be a vital part of this area, its communities, and production agriculture. We know a lot of people in this region that are hurting." Comment on how resilient this region is.
Jim Cook: All of us come from farming backgrounds and have been through tough times. One of the main comments my father made to me is, "Don't go into farming," because of these issues. People are tough. They're strong. They have a way of working together to make this successful, but they know they're in for a tough go. We all know with that. Bottom line is, we have no other place to go. We don't have the golden parachute. We don't have anything that's going to bail us out. This is it. So it is up to us to make this happen.
Jim Morris: The dominoes from this year's drought will fall well beyond the obvious farms, mills, ag pilots, equipment, and inputs for crops. Communities with agriculture as our foundation are hurting and they're bracing for a summer like no other. Jennifer Abel is General Manager at Louis Cairo's, a place she's worked at for nearly 30 years. Louis Cairo's is a dining institution in Williams, a short drive off of Interstate 5, about an hour north of Sacramento. Jennifer, please tell me about your perspective and the impacts you're either seeing or fearing regarding the drought.
Jennifer Abel: I feel that it's going to be detrimental to our community. Already, the people that come in at the end of the day, normally the farmers talking about their rice, and their water, and what it looks like, and what the ground looks like as they're sewing it up, and everything like that. You don't see a lot of that going on. You see them coming in and having these meetings, and they're nervous, and they're tense, and things are getting scary. And the west side is, from my understanding, which is where we're at, has the hardest hit compared to the east side. It's going to be a huge impact on not only our community, but the entire north state, the entire state, and nation.
Jim Morris: The Cairo family immigrated from Italy in the early 1900s. They had little money, so the entire family worked in prune orchards. Louis loved Colusa County and opened up a hamburger stand in the 1930s. Louis Cairo's has been in operation for more than 75 years. If you haven't done it, you need to visit, and you have to try their Louie Bread. You won't forget it. Jennifer, how connected is this place, this community, with the farmers whose fields surround all the towns in the Sacramento Valley?
Jennifer Abel: I'd say we're incredibly connected to the point that ... Well for instance, going through COVID and everything. And there was a time when we opened, closed, opened, closed, to-go only, outdoors only. Then we just had to close for a while because we weren't monetarily making it on just being open for to-go. Then we had the wildfires that were up this way and it was literally raining ash, so you couldn't eat outside. It was bad for your health.
Jennifer Abel: All these farmers got together and singled me out and said, "What can we do to get Louis Cairo's open? We are desperate. We will do anything. We will make it work." That's the kind of people that's in this community. That's the kind of people that want to see us thrive. And those are the kind of people that we want to continue to be here for to make a difference in their lives. To have that place for them to come and talk about their rice, and talk about their trees, and talk about their families, and have a great time.
Jim Morris: You made an interesting point, because it's been really tough for restaurants well before the drought, from any factor you can name, from the economy, you mentioned COVID, but what about the resilience not only from the Cairo family that as you've seen, but from these communities? How tough is this region? It's going to need to be tough to get through all of this.
Jennifer Abel: It's going to need to be tough, but I think that we're really strong and united, and there's a really solid foundation of families and people that have been here for a long time that have been farming, that have been working in this community, families that have been here from the ground up that make our community. I think they're going to come together and they're going to make a difference, and they're going to make something happen.
Jim Morris: As I look at my surroundings here in Maxwell at an unplanted rice field, this is a year where adjectives fail. Perseverance will be needed like never before for this unique, wonderful, and productive part of California. I want to thank our interviewees, Kurt Richter, Rick Richter, Jason Bowen, Jim Cook, and Jennifer Abel. I also want to say goodbye. I'm retiring from rice. Our family is following our son off to college elsewhere in the West to start a new chapter, and this is my final podcast.
Jim Morris: It will continue under great direction of Katie Cahill, who is a phenomenal person, and she will do a great job telling the California rice story. So please keep listening, send in your questions and comments, leave a review, and subscribe. I am so grateful to have worked in this wonderful region telling a great story with tremendous people doing it. Thank you to all who've been so kind and supportive. It has been my honor.
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Many travelers heading north on Interstate 5 or Highway 99 only get a fleeting glimpse of the Sacramento Valley. However, those who know this region understand and appreciate how unique and valuable it is.
The Sacramento Valley is an impressive patchwork of farms and communities, living and working in harmony with the environment.
A worsening drought has led to major water cutbacks. Farmers will grow less and the communities with agriculture as their foundation will be impacted.
Local officials are concerned about how lost farm production will impact their communities.
âThose impacts are actually huge,â remarked Colusa County Supervisor Denise Carter, who farms with her husband, Ben. âYou can just measure the magnitude in dollars, revenue to the county, and that revenue to the county and to the growers is there's a trickle-down effect. You have the equipment companies, you have the chemical companies, you have the fuel suppliers. You have also the people. In a drought like this, none of us can afford to hire as many people as we normally hire.â
Colusa County has an annual value of all crops produced of more than $900 million and is Americaâs top rice growing county. Cutbacks from the Sacramento River this year are unlike anything experienced before.
Concern for drought impacts is pervasive throughout the region.
âButte County, like many rural counties throughout America and California, is the economy revolves around agriculture,â said county supervisor and farmer, Tod Kimmelshue. âThe farmers make money, but also the support services that serve agriculture, also do very well when things are good. Now, if land is going to be fallowed this year in Butte County and Northern California, we're concerned that some of those support services will also not do as well. So it has quite a ripple effect going through the whole county.â
As this season plays out, the Sacramento Valley will be tested. Even with a difficult year ahead, optimism remains for the long haul.
âWe care deeply,â remarked Yuba City City Councilmember Grace Espindola. âThe diversity of community is in our blood.â
Espindola said building Sites Reservoir would be an excellent step to help California weather future droughts.
Jim Morris: It's late April in the Sacramento Valley and, at least here along Highway 99 in Butte County, things appear somewhat normal. The recent rain is unusual, but unfortunately the lack of rain in the winter months is an all too familiar occurrence. What we're left with is unprecedented drought, which has extended for three years and it's causing uncertainty and concern like never before.
Denise Carter: Quite honestly, no one has ever seen it this bad.
Jim Morris: Welcome to Ingrained, the California Rice Podcast. I'm your host, Jim Morris, proud to have worked with farmers and ranchers throughout the state for more than 30 years to help tell their stories. During that time, there have been all too many dry years, but what's happening this time has never been experienced in the Sacramento Valley. Concerns are real and rising. Butte County is one of the state leaders in agriculture, with a crop value of well over $600 million a year. Farming is the foundation of this county and of our valley. Tod Kimmelshue is a family farmer and a retired ag finance banking advisor. He's now serving on the Butte County Board of Supervisors. Tod, for someone who isn't familiar with your area, how do you convey to them what farming and ranching mean here?
Tod Kimmelshue: Butte County has always been a very strong farming community and we're very lucky also, to have an agricultural university here, Chico State, which trains farmers and agricultural people. We grow several different crops here, mostly almonds, walnuts and rice, and agriculture has a great deal of impact in this area.
Jim Morris: I think many from afar think California weather is absolutely perfect. And we certainly have some perfect times, but we're in a bit of a rough stretch right now to be sure, not only the winter freeze for almonds, but also the awful drought entering year three now. Prime examples of how this has already been an agonizing year for many. What are your concerns about drought impacts?
Tod Kimmelshue: The drought has had a huge impact on our water supply in this area. Much of Butte County rice is grown with surface water. And, when we have a drought, the reservoirs don't fill up, and so there's not enough water for the rice crops in this area. The other water source we have in Butte County are aquifers. And most of the orchardists in this area use the aquifers. However, those aquifers have been declining as well during the drought.
Jim Morris: When land is idle and crops aren't abundant, what is the effect on non-farmers in your area?
Tod Kimmelshue: Butte County, like many rural counties throughout America and California, is the economy revolves around agriculture. The farmers make money, but also the support services that serve agriculture, also do very well when things are good. Now, if land is going to be fallowed this year in Butte County and Northern California, we're concerned that some of those support services will also not do as well. So it has quite a ripple effect going through the whole county.
Jim Morris: I've lived in Butte County, and I know Butte Strong is more than a slogan, it's a way of life. Looking back to the Camp Fire in Paradise, several years back, the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history. This region struggled mightily, but came through and rebounded. How much will your area need to rely on its resiliency to whether this latest setback?
Tod Kimmelshue: Well, this is just another setback in many that has affected Butte County, and we consider ourselves very resilient. We've made it through some of these really terrible disasters. Drought is just another disaster that may impact us here in Butte County and probably will impact us economically. So we believe that we will weather this storm, just like farmers weather many different storms and weather conditions, and we will come out of this in the next couple years when we get more rain.
Jim Morris: Colusa County is America's top rice growing county. Its crop values usually exceed $900 million a year. There are legitimate concerns about how this year will play out due to water cut backs. The biggest drought impacts are along the Sacramento River. Denise Carter and her husband, Ben, farm in this county. She's also a county supervisor, a role she served for nearly 15 years. Her background includes an engineering degree from UCLA. Denise, can you convey your concerns about the drought from the perspective as a grower and someone who's working on behalf of your county?
Denise Carter: As a grower, I would say the cutback is significant. For us in our situation, since we are a settlement contractor along the river, with our 18 percent of Sacramento River water that we are going to receive, we are dedicating that to our rice crop. So we will grow basically half of what we normally grow. It's a small quantity and we grow organic rice, and obviously there's a real need in that market. So we're doing our little part with the water we have, to grow a little bit of rice.
Jim Morris: How about your community that you represent and your concerns about those impacts?
Denise Carter: Those impacts are actually huge. You can just measure the magnitude in dollars, revenue to the county, and that revenue to the county and to the growers is there's a trickle-down effect. You have the equipment companies, you have the chemical companies, you have the fuel suppliers. You have also the people. In a drought like this, none of us can afford to hire as many people as we normally hire. So quite frankly, that's my biggest concern is having jobs for people. And if we don't have jobs for people, what are they going to do? Are they going to leave their area? So, eventually maybe we will have more water, hopefully next year, will those people come back? Many of these employees have been in this county for years and have lived here and farmed here for years. And in Colusa County, agriculture is the number one industry. We are an agricultural-based county. So consequently, it's going to have a big hit on our county.
Jim Morris: You mentioned economics, but I caught a bit of emotion, too. People know each other here, they're concerned for each other. So how emotional is this year going to be?
Denise Carter: I think everybody knows each other in this community and there's going to be significant job loss in the county. People in this county do really take care of others in this county. I truly, truly believe that, and I've seen that so many times, but the magnitude of this job loss is going to be significant. And we have farmers who aren't going to be able to afford to hire as many people. And they're also not going to get the hours that they're used to getting. I was actually talking to someone about, at a tomato processing facility and they say, "People aren't going to be working 12 hour days. They'll be working 8 hour days."
Denise Carter: Because again, you can hire more people at 8 hour days or maybe you don't even have enough product, but you can hire more people if they have less hours, and maybe that's enough to keep people, at least, going. I had a conversation a couple days ago at our local paint store. And I asked him how things are going. And he said, "They're going okay. The big projects are still happening, but what I'm not seeing is the walk-in traffic, the people coming in who want to just paint a bedroom." And I think it's because people can't afford to, quite honestly. There are priorities, food, shelter and transportation.
Jim Morris: Agriculture, by nature, is cyclical. Have you seen or heard from other people, anything like what's happening this year?
Denise Carter: No one has ever seen it this bad. And, you couple the lack of surface water with the strain on our groundwater and it's kind of a perfect storm right now. And it's very frightening from a lot of different aspects.
Jim Morris: Grace Espindola legally immigrated at the age of two and has been a trail blazer, including becoming the first Mexican-American elected to the Yuba City, City Council. And Grace, can you tell me a little bit about your background and also the diversity of this area?
Grace Espindola: I came to this country at a very young age. I was two years old, carried by my mother with one luggage and we were destined to come to Colusa. My father was working there in Colusa with Mayfair Packing Company. So he had established a place for us to live. So here we are, I'm now a City Council member.
Jim Morris: That is so awesome. And reading from your biography at the age of 12, you began working in the orchards of Sutter County and your work has evolved into a variety of jobs, including fast food, a waitress, dishwasher, housekeeper, retail, insurance, home health, clerk, secretary, counselor, and many other jobs. So you have seen many different sides of this Sacramento Valley economy. How much is agriculture intertwined with all of the people here?
Grace Espindola: One hundred percent of our community is connected to ag business or ag industry. One of the things that my mom said to me when I was 12 years old, that the reason that she thought I was going to be successful, is because I knew how to pick walnuts faster than any other kid. So having that kind of experience, working out in the orchards and knowing the value of the farm worker, working with the farmers and within the city of our city, who purchase a lot of consumer goods, it is a relationship. It is a community and that's what the value is.
Jim Morris: And the Yuba Sutter area is amazing for agriculture when you look at walnuts, peaches, prunes, of course, rice. And so, what are your concerns specifically for agriculture, as we look at a year that we haven't seen before, a third year of drought?
Grace Espindola: The biggest concern is having enough water for all of us. As a city, as an ag business, as a community, do we have enough water? Well, fortunately we are in a better situation than other parts of our state, that is good. But in the future, what would that look like? So we, as a community, part of my mission, part of my priority, working with farming community, working with local businesses, working with the farm workers and their families is to be able to come up with solutions that we can both live with. And I'm also working with the State Water Board, DWR, for that voice to be heard from local community members.
Jim Morris: How much do people care for each other in this region?
Grace Espindola: We care deeply. The diversity of community is in our blood. That in a farmer when you have, there's a family, and sometimes farm workers in that farming industry become part of the fabric of family. My family, working for Mayfair Packing Company, we had that connection and I have continued to utilize that philosophy in my work as an elected official, but, at the same time, as just another person who is trying to do the right thing for all of us.
Jim Morris: I can feel your positivity and it is a very challenging year. How positive are you that through perseverance, this region is going to make it through?
Grace Espindola: I have everything to believe that we're going to make it through. We have to be much more mindful on how we utilize water. We have to connect all of this, in order to be able to live amongst the needs of how we're going to utilize the water when it becomes less. But, when we have extra water, we also have to know how to store it, how to keep it, to utilize it for those times when we have droughts, like we are in now.
Jim Morris: Sites Reservoir would be an excellent addition to California moving forward.
Grace Espindola: I completely value Sites Reservoir. I went up there and did a tour and seen firsthand, and I see the entire benefit of all of our community. It will offer many jobs, it will bring economic boost, but most of all, what we all need, is we need to reserve water and be prepared for when those moments of drought, like we're living now, so let's get this built.
Jim Morris: That will wrap up this episode, but you can find out more on the drought and on our podcast at calrice.org. We will keep you updated as the year progresses. I appreciate Tod Kimmelshue, Denise Carter and Grace Espindola for their time, comments and concerns for our region. Thanks for listening.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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A third straight drought year poses major challenges for Californiaâs environment, cities and farms. While cooperation, collaboration and innovation are needed in the short term, many feel a major part of the long-term water solution is additional storage.
A remote area on the west side of the Sacramento Valley could be a big part of the solution. Sites Reservoir has been debated for decades, and getting this critical addition to water infrastructure appears more likely than ever.
One major development in getting this project completed is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency earlier this month formally invited the Sites Project Authority to apply for a $2.2 billion low-interest loan through the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, which would bring the project significantly closer to construction and completion.
Jerry BrownâThis really is a game changer,â said Sites Project Authority General Manager Jerry Brown. âAdditive to the other sources of funds that we have, a prior loan from USDA and Proposition 1 funds from the state and federal sources, really rounds out our financing picture to a great extent. This puts us on a to track where we are now in a position to fund construction of the project, which is really exciting!â
Brown said there are several steps needed, including applying for a new water right to the State Water Resources Control Board. There are other permits needed from the state and federal government. If all goes as hoped, ground will be broken in 2024 and the new reservoir will be in place in 2030.
He said if Sites were in place prior to the wet years of 2017 and 2019, it would have been completely full at 1.5 million acre feet to start 2020, and would have been able to provide about 400,000 acre feet of water for the stateâs cities, farm and environment.
Brown said while Sites will provide significant benefits for urban and agricultural customers, itâs commitment for environmental water will set it apart from all other projects.
âI donât think thereâs ever been a project like Sites that will provide the kind of assets and benefits for environmental purposes.â
As the drought will provide significant impacts to the Sacramento Valley and state in the months ahead, hopefully getting Sites Reservoir built will provide major help in the future; especially vital considering our volatile climate.
Episode TranscriptJim Morris: After a promising start to the rainy season, California has gone extremely dry. The lack of water provides serious widespread challenges. As our climate volatility grows, the need for a more reliable water supply is even more vital. For a growing number of people, that's where Sites Reservoir comes into play.
Jim Morris: Welcome to Ingrained, the California Rice Podcast. I'm your host, Jim Morris, proud to have worked with California farmers and ranchers for more than 30 years to help tell their stories. A lack of rain and snow has extended the drought for a third year, creating the likelihood of widespread pain. One hopeful sign for the future would be carrying out a project that's been discussed and debated for decades, Sites Reservoir. Jerry Brown is general manager of the Sites Project Authority. Jerry, let's start with key updates on the project. First, can you relay the big news from the US Environmental Protection Agency, what happened, and how important is this news?
Jerry Brown: This really is a game changer. What happened was the Environmental Protection Agency is making an invitation to the Sites Reservoir Project to apply for what's called a WIFIA loan, Water Infrastructure And Finance Investment Act. And what that is, is a mechanism by which the federal government makes a loan available to a project like Sites. In this case, it's in an amount of about 49 percent of the project cost, which for Sites is roughly $2.2 billion. So it's a $2.2 billion loan that has been offered to the Sites Reservoir Project, and, additive to the other sources of funds that we have, a prior loan from USDA, the Proposition One money from the state, and the federal sources really rounds out our financing picture to a great extent and puts us on a track to where we are now in a position to fund the construction of the project, so that's pretty exciting.
Jim Morris: Let's talk about that construction. Realistically, and perhaps optimistically, what is your timeframe that you're looking at?
Jerry Brown: The loan doesn't really necessarily accelerate the project. There's still several steps that we have to take to get to the point where we can start construction. Probably most notable is the upcoming application that we're making for our water right. We are going to be seeking a new water right for the Sites Project, and that will be submitted within the next month. And, with that, it will kick off about an 18 to 24 month period that the State Water Resources Control Board takes to evaluate our application and make a final determination as to the water right that will be established for the project.
Beyond that, there are some very critical permits that we need to secure through the Fish and Wildlife Service of both the state and the federal government. Those are under way. We've made an application recently for one of those, and there's a couple more to do, and we expect those to occur within the next 18 to 24 months, as well. So those critical activities will lead up to the point in time when we will be able to have the assets in place to then secure the loan with the federal government through WIFIA. Once that occurs, we'll be able to initiate construction fairly shortly after that. So, hopefully, by mid to late 2024, we'll start construction. And it's about a six-year period, which would put us at operational completion in about 2030.
Jim Morris: If Sites were in place now, how much of a difference would it make?
Jerry Brown: Because largely of the 2017, 2019 wet years, if we would've had Sites in place then, Sites would've started the 2020 year completely full at a million and a half acre feet. We estimated last year, had we had Sites in place, we would've had about a million acre feet of water in the reservoir for the farms and cities and environment. With the use that was projected last year, we would probably have about 400,000 acre feet available this year, which is still a very substantial amount, especially considering the very low conditions at our upstream reservoirs, Shasta, Oroville, Folsom.
Jim Morris: We have three distinct segments in California, and they sometimes intertwine, the environment, cities, and farms. How would each of these benefit if Sites is built?
Jerry Brown: The one piece of this, while I believe the benefits for the cities and farms are very important and necessary to make the project work, is the environmental element. I don't think there's ever been a project like Sites that will provide the kind of assets and benefits for environmental purposes. We're still figuring the final participation by the federal government, but, on a high end, there could be up to around 40 percent of the project, the Sites Project, that would be dedicated for environmental purposes. And that is huge, because never before has the state or the federal government owned and operated an asset like Sites, that will have both storage and water supply for the environment in the driest of years.
And with that, we recently entered into some collaboration with some environmental groups to evaluate how we can optimize the use of this environmental storage to provide the optimum benefit for all the different environmental objectives that are out there. So we're super excited about that. And the board is very committed to this as a component of the project.
I think one other thing to note, one of the criticisms about the Proposition One investment in environmental purposes is that maybe it's going to be somewhat of a bait and switch where we say we're going to do something, and then, when times get tough, it's not going to happen. But I can tell you with a hundred percent confidence that this board and this project is going to seek to have an ironclad contract with the environment, with the State of California, to the point where, as long as there's a California, there will be an environmental component to the Sites Reservoir.
Jim Morris: When you look at rice, we have shown that you can grow a crop that's very helpful for our cuisine and incredible for our economy, but then we also have the Pacific Flyway Benefits, and looks like salmon will be benefiting from rice farming as well. So does it need to be an or conversation, or can Sites be part of a greater and picture that help our water overall in California?
Jerry Brown: I've been involved in California water for decades. And we are at a stage where it seems like we are at odds a lot in terms of what kind of strategy to take to improve our situation. There's the or camp, which seems to be of a mindset that we can extend and optimize what we have. That we don't need to do much of anything, but we just need to conserve and recycle, and that will take care of all of our issues.
That is a strategy, but I believe that what we're seeing today and the stresses that are occurring in our natural and developed systems, which are significant, we're seeing the results of that just an or strategy. There is an element to extending our supplies that we have, but there's also the and part of this, which is we need to build new facilities and find smart ways to extend the resources that we have to provide for the changing climate, the growing population, and all the needs of California, including the environment. And we think Sites Reservoir is a great tool that will allow us to do the and.
Jim Morris: I've lived in the Sacramento Valley my entire life. And, I have to say, it's a big concern when we look at what the drought is doing to our region. So let's talk about some optimism. If not now, when would this ever happen? What kind of momentum do you see for this project, and what kind of optimism do you have at this time that this is going to get done and help our state?
Jerry Brown: We are at a critical juncture where the Sites Reservoir and other storage projects, whether it be groundwater, storage, or surface storage, recycled water, conservation, desalination, all of these things are necessary to secure our future. And with SGMA, with the stresses that our existing resources are under, we have to invest. And I think more and more people are recognizing that. Somebody asked me this the other day, "What is different today than maybe 10 or 20 years ago in terms of the possibilities for Sites Reservoir?"
And I think a big part of it is the recognition of the changing climate and the effect that that's having on the availability of our water supplies. And, I think, people see the sensibilities of essentially providing additional storage of water, so that as we get more of our precipitation in the form of rain instead of snow, that we have someplace that is reserving this supply, diverting it during the wettest periods, when that can be done safely, and saving it for the dry periods when we really need it most, all of us.
Jim Morris: I appreciate Jerry Brown taking time to visit on this key project. As the year progresses, we will keep you updated on developments with Sites Reservoir, as well as drought impacts in the Sacramento Valley. You can find out much more at podcast.calrice.org. We appreciate your comments, questions, and reviews. Thanks for listening.
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Since fundamental changes were made to the way rice straw is managed following harvest in the early 1990s, Sacramento Valley rice country has steadily grown as a vital rest and refuel stop for millions of birds. Local rice fields not only provide habitat for nearly 230 wildlife species, the value of rice fields for the environment is proving to be even greater during drought years, because there is less water on the landscape and fewer habitat options.
What's next for the environmental crop? If promising research by the Rice Commission and UC Davis pays off, Sacramento Valley rice fields may one day help dwindling salmon runs.
The third year of field work for the salmon project has just completed, and the last of the baby salmon raised on Steve Neaderâs Sutter County rice farm have been released and are heading out to the ocean. Through sophisticated tagging, their journey will be studied. The ultimate hope is that rice fields specifically managed for this purpose will provide an even greater role in preserving and enhancing the California environment.
âIâm extremely optimistic about it,â remarked Andrew Rypel, one of the study leaders and professors in the Department of Wildlife, Fish & Conservation Biology at UC Davis. âAll of the data we have collected points to the fact these fields are going to be helpful for, not just salmon, but lots of native fishes.â
There were new elements in the latest year of the project that will ultimately help researchers adapt the habitat management strategy and understand prospects for future success.
âThis is the first time weâve ever done the project on full size rice fields, with about 125 acres devoted to testing the practice at scale, â said Paul Buttner, Environmental Affairs Manager of the California Rice Commission. âOne of the things we needed to make sure is that we could allow the fish to move freely through all of the checks in the field and out of the field when they want to, which is called volitional passage. We put in specialized boards with holes and notches to allow the fish to move through the system entirely.â
Buttner stressed the importance of partnerships to make this multi-million dollar project successful, including the scientific research from UC Davis and other technical partners.
âIt would not be possible without funding, that comes first and foremost from USDAâs Natural Resources Conservation Service,â he said. âThey provided over half of the funding for the project. All of the funding they provide has to be matched with private sector contributions, both financial and in-kind. Syngenta and State Water Contractors have really stepped up with major contributions, and we have a long list of other sustaining contributors as well. The full sponsorship list can be seen at http://salmon.calrice.org/#Sponsors.â
As the salmon left the rice fields to start their journey to the ocean, it was a somewhat emotional time for researcher Alexandra Wampler of UC Davis.
âIâm very excited,â Wampler said. âI canât wait to track their migration to the ocean. We have a very dense receiver array, so we should be able to track each step they take, and itâs going to be very exciting.â
It will take a while longer to determine the viability of the project, but those involved remain optimistic that, perhaps one day, Sacramento Valley rice fields will add a significant new area to their environmental benefits.
âI think that rice fields have the same opportunities for the salmon as they did for waterfowl,â said Carson Jeffres, research ecologist at UC Davis. âItâs a little bit different. It takes different opportunities because fish canât fly, so you have to make it available for them, as opposed to having it just available for them to fly to. Thereâs those same possibilities that we have, and I think that weâve really turned a big corner in doing that, and weâre starting to see those benefits being realized on the landscape right now.â
Episode TranscriptJim Morris: The environment holds special importance in California, and salmon represent one of the most beleaguered species in what now is year three of a major drought. There is a ray of hope in the form of a partnership being lived out in the rice fields of the Sacramento Valley.
Jim Morris: Welcome to Ingrained, the California Rice podcast. I'm your host, Jim Morris, proud to have worked with the state's farmers and ranchers for more than three decades to help tell their stories. Environmental stewardship among the rice industry is unparalleled. Not only do Sacramento Valley rice fields serve as a vital part of the Pacific flyway migration of millions of ducks, geese, shorebirds, and other species, those same fields offer great promise to help salmon.
Jim Morris: I'm at the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, where researchers play a pivotal role in exploring how local rice fields might help salmon. I'm speaking with research ecologist, Carson Jeffres. First of all, Carson, salmon in California have been struggling. What are some of the factors that have led to that decline in their population?
Carson Jeffres: They face multiple threats, both in the freshwater environment where we've experienced drought for multiple years. We're on our second major drought in the last 10 years, which is probably much more of a long term drought. Water and fresh water environments is limited, but also there's other factors from thymine deficiency coming back from the ocean. It's just one thing after another that they've experienced over the last, probably, a hundred years. Now, we're starting to see the culmination of climate change and management really affect the populations.
Jim Morris: Rice fields may help in two different areas. Can you comment on those? Also, your degree of optimism that these two areas may significantly help.
Carson Jeffres: There's two ways that those, what we think of as historic floodplains, which are not rice fields, can benefit the salmon. One of them is that, unlike birds, fish can't get to the dry side of the levee, but we can take the food that grows on the dry side of the levee and the rice fields and pump it into the river for the fish that are out migrating to the ocean. The other way that rice fields are used for salmon during their out migration, is that in the flood bypasses. In particular, is that when we have flood events, many of those habitats are rice fields now, and fish can use them during their out migration. If we manage those habitats well, we can benefit salmon during their out migration on those habitats, and the food that we grow that they consume, and they get big, and then they head out to the ocean.
Jim Morris: In a larger picture, reactivating the floodplains of the Sacramento Valley, do you see multiple benefits from that, not only just for salmon?
Carson Jeffres: Many species rely on these habitats, from waterbirds, the waterfowl, there's the waiting birds, there's fish, there's groundwater recharge. There's lots of benefits from having floodplains activated in the Central Valley. For human uses, for wildlife, it's really a win-win to see those habitats inundated.
Jim Morris: Fish food, and rice fields, how nutrient rich is that, and how optimistic are you that can make a difference?
Carson Jeffres: Fish food is really interesting in that what happens is as the rice double breaks down, when it's flooded, is it's basically carbon that's being released in the water. Carbon is the currency of energy in the floodplain. When carbon is released, microbes eat it, and zooplankton can eat it, and that's creating food for the salmon. It's really that ability to create that carbon out and make it usable for the animals in the system. That's what happens when you flood during the non-growing season.
Jim Morris: How important is it to consider the long term in this process? I imagine the salmon population probably won't rebound immediately, but steps need to be taken to help this important part of our environment.
Carson Jeffres: This is a problem that's been constructed over the last 150 years, since the Gold Rush. We shouldn't expect that we're going to fix it in one, or two, or five years. This is a long term idea that we need to change. The decisions that we're making now are something that will affect the future. Understanding that we have climate changing, being able to be plastic with our decision making, and our management, is really important.
Jim Morris: Rice fields have helped a lot with the Pacific Flyway and are essentially surrogate wetlands in California. Do you feel that they might be able to play a similar role down the road for salmon?
Carson Jeffres: I think that rice fields have the same opportunities for the salmon as they did for the waterfowll. It's a little bit different. It takes different opportunities, because fish can't fly. You have to make it available for them, as opposed to having it just available for them to fly to. There's those same possibilities that we have. I think that we've really turned a big corner in doing that. We're starting to see those benefits being realized on the landscape now.
Jim Morris: Andrew Rypel is a professor and the Peter Moyle and California Trout chair in cold water fish ecology at UC Davis. Andrew, this is year three of field work of the pilot salmon project between UC Davis and the Rice Commission. At first glance, it may sound like a wild concept, but good things are happening. Can you provide an overview on the project?
Andrew Rypel: What we're trying to do this year is to really scale out some of the lessons we've learned from previous years, such that we're working on production scale rice fields, working with growers, using the infrastructure that they already have in place, and trying to do things to help fish, to help salmon, using that infrastructure.
Jim Morris: Let's talk about that infrastructure. How suitable is a rice field to raise salmon?
Andrew Rypel: Well, we think it's very productive habitat. When you look at the river habitat that salmon have been using in recent years, it's functionally equivalent of a food desert. What this is really about is activating the floodplain, activating the food factory that already grows food for people, but now might grow food for fish, and grow salmon to be big and healthy.
Jim Morris: To have this work, you really do need quantifiable data, and of course, good results. How are those achieved?
Andrew Rypel: Using sound science. What we're really trying to do here is get down in the weeds, get down in detail with the kinds of questions that managers and agencies are really interested in here. Trying to understand how well salmon move through the infrastructure, through the modified rice ports that we have, how well they survive in the fields, how well they egress out to the river, out to the bypass, out to the ocean, these sorts of really nitty gritty science questions that are hard to do, but we need to really advance the practice.
Jim Morris: What level of optimism do you have that this will ultimately work and help the salmon population?
Andrew Rypel: I'm extremely optimistic about it. Everything we've collected so far, all the data we've collected, points to the fact that these fields are going to be helpful for not just salmon, but lots of native fishes, but the key is to really do the hard work, do the science, to work with the agencies that manage these fisheries, and these stocks, to address their questions, to do things in a partnership-oriented method, and to move the practice forward.
Jim Morris: When you talk about native fish, I have seen some of your writings on that. That's an area of passion for you. It sounds exciting that maybe salmon are just the first part and there could be other species that could be helped by rice fields. Is that one of your hopes?
Andrew Rypel: Absolutely. Many of the native fishes in the Central Valley are adapted evolutionarily for floodplains. Though we only have 5 percent of the natural floodplains left, we have 500,000 acres of these rice fields. We think they can be used smarter to help lots of native fishes, including salmon, but including a lot of other are kinds of native species, things like Sacramento black fish, and Sacramento perch, and maybe even smelt, who knows, but a lot of these species evolved to exploit the food rich areas of these floodplain areas, which rice fields can still provide.
Jim Morris: Oftentimes, when you have fish and farming, particularly in California, can be rather adversarial. What's different about this arrangement as far as you see?
Andrew Rypel: Fish and farms have been pitted against each other for a really long time in California. But to me, that's becoming somewhat of an old trope, and something that we need to get past. This is a great example of an interesting project where fish conservationists, growers, can work in collaboration to really help the resource, while still helping make food for people. That's the kind of thinking that we need in California. That's the kind of thinking we need in the world. This is just one example of how a project like that can come together.
Jim Morris: Paul Buttner is environmental affairs manager with the California Rice Commission. Paul, it hasn't been easy at all times, but after three years of field work, what are your thoughts about the potential viability of this project?
Paul Buttner: Well, Jim, I'm very encouraged about the possibilities for this project. As you know, what we're really trying to accomplish is to do for fish, what we've done for birds, for many, many years, that is develop habitats that's ideal for them. Of course, there's a lot more challenges with the fish side than the bird side. Of course, the birds fly over the habitat. They see it, they come down, they use it. With fish, it's all about the plumbing. It's how do we get the fish there? How do we get them off of the fields? These are the types of questions that we're really trying to answer.
Jim Morris: What were some of the new areas that you were working in this year?
Paul Buttner: Well, first of all, this is the first time we've ever done the project on full size rice fields, 125 acres or so, with five or six checks. One of the things we needed to make sure is that we could allow the fish to move freely through all of those checks, and out the field when they want to. It's called volitional passage. We put in specialized boards with holes and notches, allowing the fish to move through the system entirely.
Jim Morris: Carrying this out takes a lot of coordination, creativity, and partnerships. Let's talk about the latter. How vital are partnerships to make this effort a success?
Paul Buttner: Yeah, this is a very significant project. We're in phase two. Both phases are pretty expensive. They cost about $1.2 million apiece. Tremendous amount of science being done by UC Davis, and our other technical partners. It's a really significant endeavor and it would not be possible without funding that comes first and foremost from USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Services, which has provided over half of the funding for this project. Of course, all of the funding they provide has to be matched with private sector contributions, both financial and in kind, and Syngenta and State Water Contractors have really stepped up with major contributions, and then we have a long list of other sustaining contributors as well.
Jim Morris: We've come to the final day of the third year of field work for the salmon project. Alex Wampler of UC Davis, you've been here through the start. What are your thoughts as the fish are going to head from the rice fields out to the ocean?
Alex Wampler: I'm very excited. I can't wait to track their migration to the ocean. I suspect the fish will make it out in about 14 days. We have a very dense receiver array, so we should be able to track each step they take. It's going to be very exciting.
Jim Morris: Is it at all emotional? You're kind of in a different area. You're working with living things. We sure hope that the salmon will ultimately be helped by all of this.
Alex Wampler: Oh, yes. It's very emotional. I care about these fish deeply. I've hand raised them since they were eggs, in November. I suspect that they will do very well out at sea. It feels great to know that our efforts, and our research, are going immediately to species survival and helping these endemic and endangered species have a great chance while working within human boundaries.
Jim Morris: Hopefully, those same rice fields that provide major benefits for wildlife, especially during drought years, will also play a valuable role in restoring salmon, an icon of the California environment.
Jim Morris: That will wrap up this episode. Thank you to Andrew Rypel, Carson Jeffres, Paul Buttner, and Alex Wampler for their comments about this promising project. You can find out more at podcast.calrice.org. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Thanks for listening.
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For all of the high-tech advancements California is famous for, one part of the stateâs infrastructure â providing enough water for its environment, cities and farms â is lacking. It has been more than four decades since the last major water storage facility was built in the Golden State, and our total population has nearly doubled since that time.
Proposed for the west side of the Sacramento Valley, Sites Reservoir provides an opportunity to dramatically boost water storage capability, which would help safeguard the state during drought, like what we are currently enduring.
Sites would provide up to 1.5 million acre-feet of additional water storage, with a dedicated supply of water for environmental uses, including a significant amount of water for our stateâs wildlife refuges, particularly in dry years, to support the ducks, geese and other wildlife who greatly rely on our system of refuges to survive and thrive.
The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) is not taking a position on Sites. They do have an interesting concept to help the environment, should the project be completed â an environmental water budget.
âThis approach to water for the environment would have really big advantages,â said PPIC Senior Fellow Jeff Mount. âRight now, the way we manage everything, itâs all set on minimum in-stream flow and water quality standards. Itâs kind of like a hydrologic flatline- it doesnât change enough. Weâre suggesting that the most efficient and effective use of water has to have some flexibility in that use â especially if you want to mete it up with investments in physical habitat. Thatâs why weâre promoting an ecosystem water budget managed by a trustee of some kind âa restoration administrator like on the San Joaquin River. This is probably the best way to go. Itâs nimble. It sets the environment as a partner, working with the people who are managing the operations of storage all the time. And thereâs certainty. The key bottom line is the flexibility this would bring.â
Sites would also provide more water for urban needs, something very appealing to many, including General Manager Valerie Pryor of Zone 7 Water Agency, which serves the East Bay Area.
âOur community places a lot of value on increasing water storage and especially the Sites Reservoir,â Pryor remarked. âOur board and community are excited about this prospect. Seventy percent of our water comes from the State Water Project, and that supply is increasingly less reliable. Also, we are not all the way to build out, so we do expect to add population over the next 30 years, so we need additional water supply â both to make up for decreasing reliability and also for growth. The Sites Reservoir really helps with that equation.â
This enthusiastic support, plus increased momentum from favorable state and federal reviews of the project, are welcome developments for those trying to get this reservoir built â including the top person tasked for this job. âI am 100 percent confident that Sites Reservoir will be built,â remarked Jerry Brown, General Manager of the Sites Project Authority. âIt must be built. The thing that we are striving for, and I believe is a need in order to proceed, is that we must do this together.â
Episode TranscriptKai Tawa: We had a really good start to the water year with that atmospheric river event in late October. A lot of the valley got somewhere between 4 to 8 inches of rain. Quite historic, really.
Jim Morris: Meteorologist Kai Tawa of Western Weather Group in Chico commenting on the positive start of the water year, building hope that the drought might be broken.
Kai Tawa: From there our luck really continued going into December with some more atmospheric river storms with things looking good.
Jim Morris: Unfortunately, 2022 has been underwhelming for rain and snow.
Kai Tawa: We know it was certainly one of the driest January's recorded throughout northern California, and now we're going into February here. The medium to long-range models are pretty confident that we're going to remain quite dry.
Jim Morris: Today, we take a look at California's water shortage and how long-term planning can help the state survive and thrive.
Jim Morris: Welcome to Ingrained, the California rice podcast. I'm your host, Jim Morris. Proud to have worked with California farmers and ranchers for the past 32 years to help tell their stories. As if the pandemic wasn't enough, this year has started with little rain and snow fueling concerns that once winter is all over we may be in another dry year. That would be painful for our environment, cities, and farms. It's been more than 40 years since the last major water storage facility has been built in our state and our population nearly doubled over that time. Many are eyeing Sites Reservoir as a big part of a more stable water future. Proposed for the west of the Sacramento Valley in Colusa and Glenn counties, Sites would provide a major boost to the amount of water that can be stored during wet years to help during the dry ones. Jerry Brown is general manager of the Sites project authority, and Jerry, it would be good to get caught up on how the project is proceeding. I understand there's important news from the California Water Commission, so can you tell us a little bit about some of the latest developments with the Sites project.
Jerry Brown: Just last month, the state made a feasibility determination for the project, which they went through a very extensive review process of several elements of the project and came to the determination that the project continues to be feasible and investible from the state's perspective under the Prop 1 storage program. That compliments the earlier decision by the federal government for a similar feasibility determination, and between those two that represents anywhere from 30 to 40% of the project. Beyond those investors, there's the local agencies, and they are going through a process right now to evaluate their continued participation in the project, and we're getting really good and positive responses from the local agencies. Collectively we're looking really strong as far as where we are, and the funding levels to proceed with the project, and have a lot of momentum to move forward with some great work in the coming years.
Jim Morris: Those who are unfamiliar with Sites, this would be an off stream reservoir fed by excess water from rainstorms. Is that right?
Jerry Brown: That's right, Jim. Sites is not your old dam. It is a reservoir that is set off the Sacramento River, but does receive water diverted out of the river, but only taken during the highest flow periods in the river, pretty much the very wet times like 2017, 2019 would be the timeframes, that would store the water in the reservoir during those periods until we need it in the drier times when we would release it back into the river for meeting demands of our participants or directly serving demands within the area of the reservoir. It's really an insurance policy for those drier times which we're seeing more often and more severely. It's something that we need in order to prepare ourselves for our future.
Jim Morris: Past years, we've certainly seen, we've had tremendous amounts of rainfall and we haven't been fully able to capture all of it. Is it feasible to think if we have an incredibly wet year, that Sites can fill rather rapidly?
Jerry Brown: If you look at averages and the analysis that we've done, we're expecting that we could fill the reservoir in anywhere from five to seven years. But from my experience in my prior life as the general manager of Contra Costa, we were able to fill Los Vaqueros on first spill in one year, and we had originally anticipated a five to seven year fill period as well. That's a question that a lot of people ask me is how long is it going to take to fill, and it couldn't be anywhere from one year to, on average, five to seven years.
Jim Morris: The environment is talked about a lot in California and for good reason, it's vital, of course. The diminished salmon runs come up a lot, and at the rice commission, we're working with UC Davis on a pilot project raising salmon and rice fields. There's also promising work where fish food is being produced in rice fields and then returned to the river to help salmon. Jerry, what would Sites do to help this area?
Jerry Brown: There's two aspects to Sites that I think need to be understood. First, the state is an investor in the project, and as such, they are receiving benefits for the environment. There will be a dedicated storage space and amount of water that is provided for the state to manage for the benefit of the environment, including the salmon, and including the delta smell, for example, is another species that could be helped with the project. What they will be able to do is storing this water in the wet years for use in the dry years. In these dry times like we've been seeing and the effects that we're seeing on the salmon, this water could help the salmon survive these periods, so that's number one. Number two, being where we are on the Sacramento River and where we are located relative to Shasta and Orville and Folsom Lake, there are opportunities to coordinate the site's operations in a manner that could provide for greater cold water in those reservoirs. Cold water can, especially in the dryer years, can enhance our ability to help the salmon survive in the river.
Jim Morris: Yeah, keeping that water temperature at a certain level is critical for the survival of the salmon. Projects like this take time. What is a realistic timeframe to get Sites completed?
Jerry Brown: Our current working estimate of our schedule is that we will be operational and complete by 2030, so within this decade, the project will be built.
Jim Morris: To help that process, I think it sounds like good news that you have now an engineering and construction manager starting soon as well. Can you comment on that?
Jerry Brown: A very important component of our upcoming work is to advance the engineering to a level that will give us more confidence in the cost estimate for the project. That's something the investors really need in order to proceed. With that ramp up of work, we need some additional oversight and some additional capabilities, and so we've hired a gentleman by the name of JP Robinette, who has actually worked on the project for a couple years and has a lot of experience and great capabilities to help us advance this part of the work. One of the other aspects of JP's background is that he grew up in an area in southern Oregon similar to where we're trying to build the project, so he has a real sense of the local community's needs and will be able to bring that to the project.
Jim Morris: I could speak with you a hundred times, and I have to ask you this every time out. Sites is a very polarizing topic for many people. Some people love it and they understand the value of it, other people are negative and they feel it would never get done. What level of confidence do you have, Jerry, that Sites is going to be built?
Jerry Brown: I am 100% confident that Sites Reservoir will be built. It must be built. The thing that we are striving for, and I believe is a need in order to proceed, is that we must do this together. There is, as you said, polarizing effects from surface storage project of this nature, but I think we've reached a point in our development of the project where we've been able to address many of the areas of concern that people have had. We've reached a point where we are at a spot where it makes sense. We can do this safely and protective of the species and all of the other concerns and considerations that go into building something like this, but we must do this and we must do it together.
Jim Morris: Speaking of that, can you comment a little bit about the level of support that you're seeing locally, broader terms as well? We have very different sections of water in California environment, urban, agriculture. What level of support are you seeing for the project?
Jerry Brown: Probably the one area that stands out most for me is the local support. We would not be able to do this project without that support. We're seeing that in other big projects across the state where local support just doesn't exist, and there's a lot of difficulty moving forward. It's because of that local support that we're able to move forward, recognizing that our board is made up of the local community leaders. That is important to everyone on the project, not just the folks that are in this area, but other folks that are to be served by the project that are located outside of this area. I think that aspect of it makes it unique and also makes it possible.
Jim Morris: An important part of the water supply equation is meeting urban needs. Climate change and several other factors have put pressure on that supply. Valerie Prior is general manager of Zone 7 Water Agency, and Valerie, can you tell me a little bit about your agency, the region you cover, and who you serve?
Valerie Prior: We are largely a water supply wholesaler, and we serve the East Bay area. We serve the cities of Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton and portions of San Ramon. We are a state water project contractor, and we deliver state water project water through four retail agencies. Those agencies are the ones that serve water to homes and businesses. In zone seven, we actually also serve 10 to 15% of our water supply directly to agriculture. Those water supplies go to largely to the Livermore valley wine growing region, which is an important economic center for our community. Our local water supplies include some local groundwater, some local runoff, and then the retailers provide recycled water as well. I'd also like to mention that we are the groundwater sustainability agency for the region, and we recharge a groundwater basin with that state water project water that I mentioned, and we've been sustainably managing the basin for several decades now.
Jim Morris: You have a lot of different clientele, a lot of different ways to get the water. As we're in another dry period unfortunately, there are short-term ways to make that water go farther, conservation, innovation included, but still long-term answers needed in California. How much value do you put on increasing water storage specifically with the Sites Reservoir?
Valerie Prior: Our community places a lot of value on increasing water storage and especially the Sites Reservoir about which our board and our community's very excited. I mentioned that 70% of our water comes from the state water project and that water supply is increasingly less reliable. Also, we are not all the way to build out, so we do expect to add population over the next 30 years, and so we need additional water supply both to make for decreasing reliability and also for growth. The Sites Reservoir really helps us with that part of the equation. It compliments the state water project, so our thought process is in wet years we take state water project water, and in wet years we could store water in Sites Reservoir. Then in dry years, we'd be calling on the storage and the Sites Reservoir to meet our community's needs.
Jim Morris: Sites Reservoir is proposed for a very agricultural area and the Sacramento valley, but just to be clear, this project would help urban areas as well.
Valerie Prior: Very much. We are an urban area, and we're very interested in this project. One of the many things that's very exciting about the Sites Reservoir is that it meets environmental needs, agricultural needs, and urban needs. It's very nice to be participating in a project where all those needs come together to work on the project.
Jim Morris: Any in-depth discussion of water in California would benefit from covering the environmental side of things. Jeff Mount is senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California's Water Policy Center. He's an emeritus professor of earth and planetary sciences. I also understand you're a geomorphologist. Never heard that before. Can you tell me what that is Jeff?
Jeff Mount: It's the people who study the surface of the earth and the processes that shape it.
Jim Morris: Very good. I learned something already, so that's awesome. You also were founding director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC Davis, and that has been critical for the rice commission and rice growers and a lot of interesting environmental work. I'd like to start by asking you about that. What are your thoughts about rice farming in California? How it's changed, how birds and now salmon are being aided by those rice fields.
Jeff Mount: Yeah, this is one of the classic examples of multi benefit uses. Twenty years ago rice was vilified as this big water hog, and then we started to discover it was extremely important for wildlife, the Pacific flyway being the classic example. Then in these last 10, 15 years, we really have caught on to the value of those rice fields as food production factories for salmon. This is actually pretty exciting. I don't know of another crop that you can point to that has anything quite like that.
Jim Morris: One of the major priorities in the state is making sure the environment is protected. I believe your institute is reviewing a concept that may help and may involve the site's project. Can you explain what that might look like?
Jeff Mount: For some years now we've been saying the problem is we treat the environment like a constraint all the time, rather than a priority or better yet a partner. What we're proposing is we think about the environment as a partner in managing water. One of the ideas we've been promoting is the notion of setting aside a block of water for the environment that can be managed, kind of like a water right. Flexibly it can be managed that way. The advantage such an approach is it's great for the people on the other end who are looking for certainty, how much waters go into the environment, and it's a guarantee that the environment will get a certain amount of water. Now, the novel idea is how to do it with reservoirs. An environmental water budget in a reservoir, that's a set aside of water that can be flexibly managed for the environment.
Jeff Mount: If the Sites project is built, it is my understanding there's a proposal to do just such a thing, to set aside a portion of that storage for the environment. This has really big advantages. Right now, the way we manage everything, it's all set on minimum instream flow and water quality standards. It's like what you'd call a hydrologic flat line. It doesn't change enough, yet the biota that evolved here all depended on a lot of variability. We're suggesting that the most efficient and effective use of water has to have some flexibility in that use, especially if you want to mate it up with investments in physical habitat. That's why we're promoting this idea of an ecosystem water budget managed by a trustee of some kind, a restoration administrator like on the San Joaquin River, is probably the best way to go because it's nimble.
Jeff Mount: It sets the environment as a partner, that is the environment's in there working with the people who are managing the operations of storage all the time, and there's certainty, and a key bottom line, I can't stress this enough, is flexibility. Hey, a storm is coming next week. Maybe we should hold onto our environmental water, and when the storm comes, we should let some of it go to move salmon farther down the system, or put salmon out onto the flood plain, for example, or, hey, the spring, we really need a little extra flow, a little boost in the river this spring so that water that we've stored, that belongs to the environment, can be released to help push the salmon out to sea, or we need a pulse flow to help bring cues for salmon to come up.
Jeff Mount: Those are examples. The problem is the way we do it now it's just, you got to let out this set amount of water and have this quality all the time. The argument would be give some flexibility so we can be adaptive and responsive and nimble just like somebody who has a water right or somebody who owns water.
Jim Morris: When you look at water, it's incredibly contentious in California. We never seem to have enough. How important is it to have divergent interest coming together for a common goal?
Jeff Mount: At PPIC, we have been crystal clear on this for seven years now. Almost every year we say the same thing. Litigation is not the solution. It's expensive. It takes forever, decades to resolve. Meanwhile, nothing gets done for the environment. There's no benefit for the environment. The real progress comes through negotiated solutions. We call them comprehensive solutions. People call them voluntary agreements, whatever you want to call it. But when you have multiple people at the table, multiple interests at the table, so that they're interests are represented, and they're people of goodwill and good faith who are willing to give something up to get something. That something that they get is durable instead of every five years you're back in court trying to deal with these things. We strongly advocate for people negotiating solutions to water problems rather than the usual approach, which is litigation.
Jim Morris: It seems like that there is a little more cooperation in this region than perhaps some other areas of the state. What are your thoughts about that?
Jeff Mount: At PPIC we've been saying for sometimes perhaps the most environmentally progressive groups in the farm community are in the Sacramento Valley. It helps that you have lots more water in the Sacramento Valley, one can't ignore that, and you have crops in the Sacramento Valley, which are ideal for working with the environment. I mean, in particular, the fall wet up for the Pacific flyway and the ability to start thinking about using these agricultural fields for raising fish and restoring that most essential element of access to the flood plain. What's been particular is that I don't know how to put it. I'll put it simply, people are a little more friendly to these ideas in the Sacramento Valley than they are in other places and that's great. That's the first step, by the way, to getting toward those negotiated solutions where people of goodwill are willing to give up something in order to get to where they want to be.
Jeff Mount: I've just been impressed over the years, the evolution in the Sacramento Valley and the willingness of landowners to be involved. The fact of the matter is let's be direct on this. Most farmers are stewards of the land, and so they consider themselves stewards of the environment also. For some reason, they seem more stewardish in the Sacramento Valley, and I have no explanation for that, but they just are.
Jim Morris: That will wrap up this episode, although we will, of course, have updates as the year progresses about the water outlook and impacts to our region and state. Thank you to Kai Tawa, Jerry Brown, Valerie Prior, and Jeff Mount for their time and expertise. You can go to podcast.calrice.org to find out more and listen to other episodes and subscribe. Thanks for listening.
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A generation ago, it may have seemed far-fetched that Sacramento Valley rice fields could play a vital role for millions of birds. However, changes in rice growing methods in the early 1990s â a shift from burning fields after harvest to adding a few inches of water to break down leftover rice straw - led to just such an occurrence. Area rice fields are now home to nearly 230 wildlife species, including 7 to 10 million ducks and geese every fall and winter. The âsurrogate wetlandsâ are now crucial to the massive Pacific Flyway wildlife migration.
Californiaâs struggling salmon may be next to benefit from those same rice fields.
This is year three of pilot salmon research by the California Rice Commission, UC Davis, California Trout and other partners. This project will test and refine rice farming practices designed to provide habitat and food for fish. If successful, baby salmon will rear in flood bypass rice fields in the winter, when no rice is grown, then head off to the ocean. Every step of the process is being monitored to understand the best practices moving forward. If all goes well, this project will move from pilot to voluntary adoption on suitable Sacramento Valley rice farms. This work is supported by a grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, major sponsors including Syngenta, State Water Contractors and a long list of contributors.
Additionally, there are major modifications to existing water infrastructure planned that will allow juvenile salmon on their way to sea better access to food-rich floodplain habitats.
This nutrient-rich food web develops naturally in winter flooded rice fields, due to organic matter and sunlight.
Finally, the Fish Food program is working with rice farmers and wetland managers on the protected or âdry sideâ of levees. While these fields and wetlands are not directly connected to the river and can not host salmon they can still support salmon populations by creating fish food. A dense invertebrate food web rapidly grows in nutrient rich, sun-soaked shallow waters of flooded rice fields. Several weeks after being inundated this veritable bug buffet can be strategically drained into the river to provide much-needed nutrition for small juvenile salmon migrating downstream to the ocean.
Jacob Katz, Senior Scientist with CalTrout, is a passionate advocate for salmon. He said he is very hopeful that the collaborative work being done in the Sacramento Valley will ultimately help fish, as well as birds, people and farms.
âThere are two big reasons for my optimism,â Katz remarked. âThe first is the science. Itâs really clear that, if we meet every link in the chain, every type of habitat that these critters need, including salmon, we can expect a really dramatic response â an increase in abundance. The second is collaboration. Everywhere I turn, I see farmers dedicated to more ducks, more geese, more salmon â and opening their farms to a rewilding; a way of thinking about welcoming the wild back onto the farm. Weâre not talking about going back. We are still going to be one of the most productive farming areas on Earth. But, in the non-growing season, floodplain farms can be managed as fantastic habitat for multiple species.â
The first baby salmon will soon be added to rice fields participating this year. The ultimate goal for the project is to benefit natural-origin fish â salmon that would swim onto the fields naturally when flooding occurs. However, in the event that the bypass doesnât flood, eggs from hatchery fish raised at UC Davis will be utilized to test the practice. We will keep you posted on key developments and findings as they become available.
Episode TranscriptJim Morris: Following one of the driest years in decades, we're off to a great start for rain and snow in California. Sierra snowfall in December shattered a 51 year old record and the California water year, which started October 1st, has already been more productive than the entire year prior. But water is hardly ever an easy subject in our state. Finding enough for the environment, cities and farms is frequently contentious. One creative plan involves what at first may seem like an unlikely pairing, rice fields and salmon.
Jim Morris: Welcome to Ingrained: The California Rice Podcast. I'm your host Jim Morris, proud to have worked with California farmers and ranchers for the past 32 years to help tell their stories. I'm at Montna Farms, a rice farm near Yuba City, here they grow premium sushi rice. It's also a haven for wildlife and they participate in a pilot program that may help the stateâs salmon population, which has been struggling.
Jim Morris: The salmon project involves many partners - the Rice Commission, UC Davis, landowners, water districts, and California Trout. Jacob Katz has a PhD in ecology and is senior scientist with CalTrout. Jacob, there's several things that are going on to help salmon. Can you tell us about what's happening to try to improve that population?
Jacob Katz: All three of the efforts underway involve floodplains or the marshlands that run adjacent to our rivers and tributaries here in the Sacramento Valley. The first we call fish food and that's understanding that bugs, that fish eat, that make fish populations really aren't grown in the rivers themselves, but in the adjacent marshlands. And most of those marshlands are no longer attached to the river. So maybe 95 percent of the marshes that were once flooded by the Sacramento River and its tribs are now behind levies.
Jacob Katz: And the fish food program works with farmers that now for the most part farm those lands to mimic those flood patterns out on their fields to spread and slow water mid-winter when they're not farming to allow bugs to grow in those fields. And then to actively drain that flood plain rich water, that natural wealth back to the river where the fish are.
Jacob Katz: The second thing is actively managing fields within our bypasses, within the floodways that are the parts of the former floodplain, which are still hydrologically connected to the river. And then the third is actually changing, upgrading often obsolete infrastructure so that it allows the river and fish to connect to those flood plain bypasses more frequently and for a longer duration.
Jim Morris: Let's start with the fish food. It's amazing at first glance that there's not enough food in the river, but that's certainly true. Correct? How much of a difference can the food that's being raised in rice fields be for the salmon?
Jacob Katz: Well, over the last 10 years or so, we've been running around the Sacramento Valley, throwing our plankton nets, looking for bugs in every kind of aquatic habitat. And what we found is that the rivers themselves are essentially food deserts. There's very little food for small fish to eat there.
Jacob Katz: Whereas the adjacent marshlands, whether that's a flooded field or a marsh habitat managed for waterfowl or a natural marsh, all of those are teaming with invertebrate life. With what I call floating filet, the exact right kind of food if you're a young salmon, trying to get strong and fit on your journey to sea.
Jim Morris: When we look at the pilot program of raising salmon in rice fields, works out perfectly because there's nothing grown in the fields during the winter. How optimistic are you with what you've seen so far with that project?
Jacob Katz: Well, what we see is that when fish are exposed to the kind of conditions, the physical, or I call them biophysical conditions, because the depth and duration of flooding that you would've seen before, which is to say, when you allow a fish to recognize the river system that it evolved in, that it's adapted to. When you put a salmon into a puddle, what you find is that there is ample food there and these little guys are swimming around with their eyes closed and their mouth open, getting big, getting fat. And that's really critical because it increases their chances, not just of making it out of the river system, but critically it increases their survival in the ocean so that they have a much better chance of returning as an adult. And that is one of the most important things we can do to bring back these salmon populations in the Central Valley.
Jim Morris: So the fish that are grown in the rice fields, how is their survivability relating to the wild population?
Jacob Katz: It looks like fish that find something to eat, and that's what the rice fields really provide is access to the kind of habitats that fish would've been rearing or feeding in previously. And when they do that, when they get food, they get strong and they have a better chance making it out of the river system.
Jacob Katz: The Rice Commission and UC Davis have done some great studies showing that their survival improves on the way out to the Golden Gate, but what's even more important is that ocean survival. Is that leaving fresh water well, their survival's increased, but it's coming back that you get the really big payoff. That's what we're all after is making sure that more of those juvenile fish return as adults and a bigger fish that hits the Marine environment, that hits the salt, that's a fish that's more likely to return as an adult.
Jim Morris: Looking at another big aspect of this is making sure the infrastructure is correct, not only to help cities and farms, but also make sure that fish are healthy and what can be done there?
Jacob Katz: Several things can be done. One thing is to increase the habitat benefit to the fish that actually get onto our floodplain bypasses. These are the flood protection areas in the Sacramento Valley, in the Sutter and Yolo Bypasses. And the Rice Commission is piloting a study now that helps manage rice fields in those bypasses so that they better serve the salmon when the salmon get out in there.
Jacob Katz: The other is increasing the frequency in which fish can actually get out of that food desert of a river and on to that food buffet that is the bypass, or is the floodplain. And that's done by putting gates or lower areas within these levees and weirs that allow the river to spill out of its heavily channelized leveed bank more often to access, to hydrologically connect from the river onto the floodplain, and allow those small fish to get out to where the food is.
Jim Morris: So this new type of thinking, actually I guess it's a nod toward the old way things happened in historic California. How optimistic are you that this is going to work?
Jacob Katz: I'm incredibly optimistic. When you allow a salmon to recognize the river system that it's adapted to, that it evolved in, that when we manage our rivers and our farmlands in such a way that we mimic those natural patterns. The slowing and spreading of flood water out over the shallow marshlands, that once really dominated and characterized the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys. What we get is an explosion, a natural explosion of biomass, of abundance.
Jacob Katz: We've seen that this works with the fantastic efforts from the rice industry and regulators and others that revolve around making farm fields better for waterfowl and for shorebirds. And now in Butte Creek, we see that when we do the same thing, when we focus on creating the kind of habitat that salmon need at each part of their life history, making sure that the small fish on their way to the ocean have something to eat, making sure that the big fish on their way back have unfettered access to their spawning streams and have adequate cold water for holding in before they spawn.
Jacob Katz: If you hit every link in that chain, we see that the fish populations respond and respond dramatically. That we can get very rapid increases in population. Similar to what we've seen with ducks and geese in the Sacramento Valley. I believe that we can have the same thing for salmon, and it really takes this landscape-scale approach where we're not doing this on hundreds of acres or even thousands of acres, but tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of acres. And it takes the collaboration of farmers, and regulators, and environmentalists all working together to create an ecologically functioning valley.
Jacob Katz: And when we do that, we can create a valley that once again can create salmon abundance, and in so doing can create a system where water can much more easily be moved from where it's more abundant to where it's utilized by both agriculture and our cities.
Jim Morris: I'm reminded of what grower Fritz Durst has said many times focusing on the fix, not the fight, which is a great way to go if you can do it. It seems to be happening in the Sacramento Valley. So when we look ahead, Jacob, in our lifetimes do you foresee a water situation that has improved to a point that is best serving the cities, the environment and farms?
Jacob Katz: Well, absolutely and that's because we need to get the most pop per drop, right? And there's two real big reasons for my optimism. The first is the science. It's really clear that if we meet every link in the chain, every type of habitat that these critters need, including salmon, we can expect a real dramatic response, an increase in abundance.
Jacob Katz: And the second is collaboration. I see wherever I turn farmers dedicated to more ducks, to more geese, to more salmon and really opening their farms to a rewilding, a way of thinking about welcoming the wild back onto the farm. We're not talking about going back. We are still going to be one of the most productive agricultural regions on earth, but in the non-growing season, floodplain farms can be managed as just fantastic habitat for multiple species and can be done in such a way where they spread in slow waters so that that water sinks back into our aquifers. To the bank of our most precious resource, water.
Jacob Katz: So when we have functioning river ecosystems, when we have a functioning Sacramento Valley, what we really have is a system that works for fins, for feathers, for farms and for people, and is better able to meet the challenges of a changing climate with resilience and ultimately with this recovery of natural abundance.
Jim Morris: As the salmon work ramps up, we will have much more in the coming weeks. For now, I appreciate spending time with Jacob Katz on this important subject. You can find out much more at podcast.calrice.org. Please subscribe and tell your friends. Thanks for listening.
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Winter is approaching, and that will soon translate into the arrival of millions of birds to the rice fields and wildlife refuges in the Sacramento Valley.
For many, including Suzy Crabtree, itâs a magical time. Suzy has visited Gray Lodge Wildlife Area in Butte County thousands of times over the years, to photograph the amazing array of ducks, geese, shorebirds, raptors and other animals there.
âThereâs so many things to see there,â she remarked. âWe find it to be a place of refuge and solace. The drive down through the rice fields and the orchards is just the beginning of bringing us peace.â
In addition to viewing Bald Eagles and other stunning birds, Suzy is among those who has seen a rare white deer at the refuge, as sheâs had four sightings over the years.
Tim Hermansen is wildlife area manager at Gray Lodge. He has worked to help the Sacramento Valley ecosystem since 2008, including working with rice farmers to maintain and enhance waterbird habitat in their fields, which are vital to hundreds of wildlife species and millions of birds.
Gray Lodge Wildlife Area has a long history as a wildlife sanctuary. Initial land was purchased in the 1930s. The area and scope has expanded over the years, including nearly 9,300 acres covered today. Itâs home to upwards of one million waterfowl at its winter peak.
A highlight for visitors is a three-mile long auto loop, which includes more than $1 million in improvements carried out by Ducks Unlimited and the Wildlife Conservation Board.
Hermansen said the improvements include widening the road and flattening the shoulders, with wider turnouts so visitors donât need to feel rushed. Also, they added islands and enhanced the topography in the ponds to make it more suitable to birds and draw them closer to viewers.
âYou can drive around and there are pullouts for people to stop and observe the wildlife that is out there,â Hermansen said. âIt gives you a chance from your vehicle to be up close and personal with the birds and not scare them away. Theyâre not as scared of a vehicle as someone walking. In some cases, they will stay within 10 to 20 yards from your vehicle.â
The entire Pacific Flyway has struggled due to prevailing drought in the west. Fortunately, rice growers have worked with conservation groups and other stakeholders to do what they can to provide enough shallow-flooded fall and winter habitat.
âWe continue to be concerned with issues like disease and starvation as more birds arrive and they may not have the habitat that they need,â remarked Luke Matthews, Wildlife Programs Manager with the California Rice Commission.
As steps are taken to protect the millions of birds that will visit the Sacramento Valley, their presence here is a joyous sight for many. Gray Lodge Wildlife Area is one of the best places to enjoy this annual gift.
Episode TranscriptSuzy Crabtree: I have been to Gray Lodge probably thousands of times over the years. We find it to be a place of refuge and solace. Just the drive down through the rice fields and the orchards is just the beginning of bringing us peace.
Jim Morris: Suzy Crabtree is among those who appreciate wildlife refuges in the Sacramento Valley. Gray Lodge Wildlife Area near Gridley is indeed a special place. Ducks, geese, raptors and eagles are just the beginning of your wildlife viewing.
Suzy Crabtree: There's so many things to see there. There's deer, there's muskrat, there's mink, there's fox. We've seen bobcat there. Probably the most magical time I've had at Gray Lodge has been when we have come across the white deer, a leucistic deer. We usually see her in the evening and we've seen her probably about four times. It's pretty magical to see her.
Jim Morris: This magic - an affordable, memorable outing, great for families, is only part of the benefits that come from wildlife refuges, and we're entering the time with the absolute best viewing. Welcome to Ingrained, the California Rice Podcast. I'm your host, Jim Morris, proud to have worked with California farmers and ranchers for more than 30 years to help tell their stories. I've lived in the Sacramento Valley my entire life, and my appreciation for our ecosystem continues to grow. I've learned the awe-inspiring sights that come from living along the Pacific Flyway. We'll find out more about fantastic ways to see wildlife right from your vehicle, but first, an update on how birds are faring during this drought. Luke Matthews, Wildlife Program's Manager with the California Rice Commission, what are you seeing and hearing from the field about the wildlife migration?
Luke Matthews: There's definitely a lot of birds here already. We're not at the peak of the migration on the Pacific Flyway yet, but we're nearing that. Numbers are continuing to build, but there's definitely experiencing some issues with drought conditions across the west.
Jim Morris: That is a factor. So by the time the birds are arriving here, they haven't really had their full rest and refuel capability. What have you seen elsewhere in the west that really impacts their health as they head to the Sacramento Valley?
Luke Matthews: Drought conditions throughout Oregon, Washington, Utah, a lot of these areas where birds normally rest have been pretty significant. And so, we're assuming that when they get there, they're struggling and needing habitats. So when they arrive here, it's even a greater need.
Jim Morris: So the value is great in the Sacramento Valley every year, but particularly in a year like this. And there is a program with the Rice Commission and the State Department of Water Resources that is helping. Can you tell us a little more about that effort?
Luke Matthews: So we have a program that looks to create more flooding on the landscape with a shallow amount of water, both on rice fields and wetlands. For total, the program has about 50 to 60,000 acres across both components. And it's really just a strategic effort to increase flooding on the landscape because, in a normal year we would have on the order of 300,000 acres of flooded rice and this year, even with the program, we expect to only have probably 100,000 acres of flooded rice. Concerns are that we will not have enough habitat. And as we reach the peak migration, that will just get worse, less habitat, but more birds. So there is our effort and other efforts down in the San Joaquin Valley, for example, to increase flooding for the migration, for the duration of this winter. But we are just worried about disease and starvation and other things like that as birds arrive and may not have the habitat they need.
Jim Morris: Time to learn more about one of the jewels of the Sacramento Valley, Gray Lodge. I'm visiting with Tim Hermansen, Wildlife Area Manager. Tim, let's start with your background and your experience with our valley ecosystem.
Tim Hermansen: So I got the start in the Sacramento Valley ecosystem in 2008, when I became the wildlife biologist for the Colusa Natural Resources Conservation Service office, working with private land owners in the Sacramento Valley to enhance habitats on their private ground. That included habitats in the areas such as the Butte Sink, but also private rice growers throughout the valley. In 2011 and 2012, I was working with the California Rice Commission to pilot some of the initial waterbird enhancement programs throughout the Sacramento Valley to enhance that waterbird habitat across the private landscape. In 2013, I became the area manager for the Upper Butte Basin Wildlife Area, located just north of Gray Lodge along Butte Creek. And then about a year ago, I became the area manager for Gray Lodge.
Jim Morris: Gray Lodge was established many decades ago. Can you give me a little bit of background on the history, how much land we're talking about and other important details?
Tim Hermansen: The initial purchase was in about 1931. It actually used revenues generated from pari-mutuel horse betting through the Lee Act. The design was to provide sanctuary habitat for migratory birds to draw them off of the surrounding private rice grounds and reduce depredation issues. For a few decades it was just a sanctuary where people could come out and enjoy seeing the birds. In the 1950s, they through one of the expansions, started to allow hunting. And since the initial purchase in the 1930s, we're now up to about almost 9300 acres. It's about 9260 acres where we have both sanctuary habitat for wintering waterfowl to rest and still do that depredation. But we also provide public hunting across about two-thirds of the wildlife area.
Jim Morris: Your job is to balance all that, to make sure that we can enjoy this ecosystem for many years to come, I imagine?
Tim Hermansen: We try to balance that. A lot of our revenue comes from hunting, license sales and things of that sort. We want to continue to provide opportunities for the hunters to come out, enjoy the area that their licenses are going to fund. But we also want to make sure that the people that just want to come out and enjoy seeing the wildlife have an opportunity also. So we have a large auto tour loop public trail system. That's open 365 days a year that people can come out and go for a hike, go for a drive, see all sorts of wildlife in our sanctuary area and still enjoy that. And it provides that sanctuary for the wintering waterfowl.
Jim Morris: What can people expect when they come out? It is an amazing array of wildlife, but what are some of the things that people would see this time of the year?
Tim Hermansen: We can have up to a million waterfowl on the wildlife area. A lot of snow geese, a lot of white fronted geese, pintail, mallards, but we also get other birds in the area. Last winter for example, we had six bald eagles using our closed zone all winter long. There're other raptors. In the springtime, you'll start seeing some of the Neotropical migrants, the songbirds moving through. And then year round, we have deer, quail, turkeys can be found out here, all sorts of local wildlife that don't migrate away. But this time of year the primary attraction is the waterfowl.
Jim Morris: I was distracted coming in on this foggy day because right across the road from your office, there was a deer just sitting there waiting for its photo to be taken. So it is really fun to see and a great way for people to experience this is the auto loop, which is about three miles. And tell me about what that offers and also the improvements that have been done on it.
Tim Hermansen: It's about a three mile auto tour loop where you can drive around. We have pullouts for people to stop and observe the wildlife that are out there. It gives you a chance from your vehicle to have an opportunity to get up close and personal with the birds and not scare them away. They're not as scared of a vehicle as they are of someone walking. So, for three miles you can drive around and from your vehicle and with your binoculars or spotting scopes or cameras see the wildlife from, in some cases, they'll stay within 10 or 20 yards of your vehicle.
Tim Hermansen: Over the last two years, we've partnered with Ducks Unlimited and the Wildlife Conservation Board to do improvements to our auto tour loop that widen the road and flatten the shoulders out a bit, for safety. Before, you could easily drive off into the canals or ditches and they improved all of that. And it also made those turnouts wider so you don't have to feel rushed if someone's coming up behind you. Out in the ponds, we added islands and enhanced the topography to make it more suitable for the birds and draw them in closer to you in your car. So that project just finished up this summer. It was a huge success, huge project, over a million dollars worth of funding went into it. And I just can't thank our partners enough for that.
Jim Morris: A few suggestions when you're driving through, please drive slowly out of respect for everyone. And of course the birds that are there. Also, my wife always suggests go a second time if you can through a loop because you often see different wildlife that you can appreciate. This has been a tough go for our world, with the pandemic and other stressors. And I am jealous of your work environment. So what is it like to work out here regularly?
Tim Hermansen: When you drive in you see deer right off the side of the road. From our office we can look up from the computer if we're stuck in the office for the day. And oftentimes seeing those deer, seeing the waterfowl flying by, ducks and geese. In the springtime, you have California Quail right outside making their calls and having a good time. So it's great. You get to see the wildlife from your office. And then when you aren't in the office, you're still working. So you get to drive around, if we're checking water or doing a survey, or just seeing how the wildlife area is doing and you're out there in the wild, you have the great view of the Sutter Buttes in the background and you're still doing the job and getting paid for it. So can't beat that.
Jim Morris: You mentioned it right up top. There's a coordinated effort to help the Pacific Flyway Migration and our entire Sacramento Valley ecosystem. What have you seen in terms of cooperation among rice growers, conservation groups, state, and federal government, water districts, and other stakeholders in this area?
Tim Hermansen: There's a huge partnership in this area between all of those groups you just mentioned. Through this last year in the drought, we were having coordination calls between the state agencies, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, US Fish and Wildlife Service. We had other partners like USGS, Ducks Unlimited, California Waterfowl Association, and the California Rice Commission was involved with those calls, trying to help coordinate where we might strategically place the limited water supplies on the landscape during this critical drought year. It was a very large effort. We met regularly to try to coordinate. And, it seems like when you look around the valley, that those coordination efforts paid off because the birds are spaced out. We're not having any disease issues yet. Thankfully. Let's hope it stays that way. We have the partnership with the rice growers to pump water and have it on their fields, through programs that California Rice Commission or DWR have worked on. We've been able to meet many of the needs of the waterfowl that came down from the north lands this year.
Jim Morris: So good to hear about this great partnership. And a lot of the refuges are right around the rice fields. A quick comment, if you would, about how important the rice fields are, those surrogate wetlands. They've largely replaced the original wetlands that California had. How important are the rice fields to maintain this ecosystem?
Tim Hermansen: Like you mentioned, most of the natural historic wetlands in the basins around here, they did large reclamation projects to turn it into agricultural ground. So, we have small postage stamps of state and some privately owned wetland habitats, moist soil management wetland habitats, but we also have hundreds of thousands of acres of rice. After the harvest is complete, those rice fields, if they are flooded or even if they're not, if they're properly managed, they can provide great food resources for waterfowl. Both the waste grain that doesn't get picked up by the combines, but also invertebrates that are in the soil that the birds will eat. It's important, not just for ducks and geese, but also waterbirds, shorebirds, the little sandpipers and killdeer, black-neck stilts. All of those really rely on those fields in the wintertime for those supplemental food sources that our wildlife areas just can't provide.
Tim Hermansen: We don't have enough space. Rice fields also provide some good habitat for resident nesting and breeding wildlife in the spring and summer months. A lot of birds will use the checks for nesting habitat. More barren checks are used by some of the shorebirds, like the stilts and avocets to nest on. If they're allowed to get more weedy cover, mallards, and some of the other local ducks will nest on them. And then they can use the flooded rice fields to raise their young in and have a bit of a supplemental habitat, in addition to the wildlife areas. The fields that are closer to the wildlife areas, the state areas and the federal refuges they're generally used more, but they're important throughout the valley.
Jim Morris: The other day, I was at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, and it was great as always, but across I-5 in a rice field were tens of thousands of snow geese so I understand exactly what you said in that last comment. Probably unfair of me to ask, but do you have a favorite sighting that you ever had here or a favorite bird or mammal that you've seen at Gray Lodge?
Tim Hermansen: A sighting that stands out to me. I had a friend, he was actually a mentor from when I worked in the Midwest. He came out to visit. It's been close to a decade ago before I worked for the department, but I took him out here and he wanted to see Gray Lodge. And as we're driving the tour loop, he had never seen a Eurasian Wigeon before, and I would drive the tour loop regularly just to see what's out here before going hunting. And I told him usually right around this corner, there's a Eurasian Wigeon. So we came around the corner and sure enough, there he was. I got proven right on that account and my friend from the Midwest got to see his first Eurasian Wigeon which was pretty neat. And it still stands out in my mind as a neat sighting.
Tim Hermansen: That's something to keep note of. If you come out for our auto tour loop or our public trails, or if you come out to go hunting, we do get those odd visitors from other flyways from time to time. The Eurasian Wigeon, blue-winged teal - some of the birds you normally wouldn't see in the Pacific Flyway, we will get through here. And you have an opportunity to perhaps see the bird for the first time in your life.
Jim Morris: Take your time, enjoy it. And then when you see a lot of birds, look carefully, because there may be an unusual visitor in the mix. Hopefully after what you heard today, you will soon plan a trip to a wildlife refuge near you. Before we wrap up, a few final suggestions from Suzy Crabtree on how you can get it the most out of your Grey Lodge experience.
Suzy Crabtree: If you are going to Gray Lodge the one thing that I would suggest is to take the walking hiking trail first, and then take the auto loop. And when you are going to take the hiking trail, always make sure that when you're walking to take a moment to stop and look back from where you've just been. It's a good way to find things that you may have passed that you didn't see. Owls are really great at hiding and blending in with their surroundings. If you go and park at Lot 14, and you head out on the dirt trail, not on the asphalt trail and just that first trail that you go along right across from the canal, there is a pair of great horned owls that you, if you're really good at looking, they're very hard to find, but you can find them. And they're right before you make the first right hand turn on that trail.
Suzy Crabtree: Bald eagles are really a thrill to see at Gray Lodge. You can see the adults as well as the juveniles. And it's really interesting to watch the adults training the juveniles on how to hunt. And it's really fun to watch them teach the juveniles and the next upcoming ones that are coming onto the lodge.
Jim Morris: We will continue to chronicle the Pacific Flyway Migration and drought impacts in the coming weeks. You can go to podcast.calrice.org to find out more information. Thank you to Suzy Crabtree, Luke Matthews, and Tim Hermansen for their time and expertise. Be sure to subscribe for future episodes. We appreciate your comments and reviews. Thanks for listening.
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It took longer than normal, but fortunately it is happening. A shallow amount of water is showing up in rice fields throughout the Sacramento Valley â essentially a welcome mat for the 10 million ducks, geese and other wildlife migrating through our area for their annual Pacific Flyway journey.
This year was the driest in a century in California. The water shortage led to about 100,000 fewer acres of rice planted in the Sacramento Valley. It also threatened to leave many rice fields without a shallow amount of water after harvest, which helps decompose leftover straw and provides vital wildlife habitat.
Fortunately, through an innovative new program and a large recent rainstorm, the outlook for migrating wildlife has improved.
âWe went from historic drought to record-setting rain, and it has helped,â said Luke Matthews, Wildlife Programs Manager with the California Rice Commission. âIt has saturated the soils and added a bit of water to creeks, streams and reservoirs. Itâs definitely going to benefit migratory birds, but one storm doesnât change a couple of years of drought. Weâre not out of the woods yet, but definitely hope here.â
Matthews said a new program funded by the California Department of Water Resources will be a huge help. It provides for about 42,000 acres of rice fields to be shallow-flooded for birds, along with about 12,000 acres of private wetlands.
Sutter County rice grower Jeff Gallagher has participated in many conservation programs, including this effort to provide more water for wildlife. He said wildlife viewing is good and getting better by the day.
âItâs nice to be able to come to work every day and see thousands of geese and ducks, as well as tons of shorebirds,â Gallagher remarked. âItâs a good thing for everybody!â
Among those closely monitoring the Pacific Flyway migration is Jeff McCreary, Manager of the Western Region for Ducks Unlimited, a key conservation partner with the Rice Commission and other stakeholders.
McCreary said the Sacramento Valley is perhaps even more valuable for migrating wildlife this year, due to water shortages elsewhere on their journey.
âWhat weâre seeing with the dry conditions in the Klamath Basin and the Great Salt Lake is that birds are not staying in those locations, theyâre moving on quickly and coming to the Sacramento Valley earlier than they normally would,â McCreary said. âWeâre seeing lots of ducks and geese really early. This recent rain actually provided more habitat in the Sacramento Valley, because itâs shallowly-flooding up the dry rice fields unexpectedly. We thought there would be a lot more dry ground out there all the way into the middle of winter, when the rains have typically come. Now, weâre seeing rain on the landscape, which is right in the nick of time, because this is when the birds are starting to come. Weâre cautiously optimistic about how things are going to progress this winter.â
He said those in the Sacramento area have a great opportunity to see the amazing sights from the millions of visiting birds, through local wildlife refuges. Ducks Unlimited just completed a major project at the Gray Lodge Wildlife Area in Butte County, making the auto tour loop safer and providing better access to viewing these stunning birds.
Episode TranscriptJim Morris:
It's an amazing annual spectacle. The Pacific Flyway wildlife migration through the Sacramento Valley is one of the largest waterfowl migrations you'll find anywhere. It has been a difficult year in the Sacramento Valley, but seeing why rice is the environmental crop, seeing all of the birds in the fields provides a chance to exhale and appreciate something beautiful.
Welcome to Ingrained, the California Rice Podcast. I'm your host, Jim Morris, proud to have worked with California farmers and ranchers for more than 30 years to help tell their stories. The water outlook in California has improved as we get deeper into fall, but we have a long way to go, according to meteorologist Alexander Mellerski of Western Weather Group in Chico.
Alexander Mellerski: We saw a pretty significant atmospheric river event slam into California. We saw multiple inches of rainfall across the state ranging anywhere from right about three inches up north of the valley near Redding, a little bit farther south in Chico and then near Oroville about four to five inches kind of in that range. And then even down further south in the Sacramento area, we got about five to six inches of rain, maybe even a little bit more kind of closer to the foothills. So pretty significant rainfall. And, to put that into perspective, for all of last water year, so in 2020 to 2021, the water year, Sacramento for example, got anywhere from about six to seven inches of rain the entire water year. So this one storm gave us about 75 percent roughly of what we got all of last year.
Jim Morris: It's pretty amazing, but we're not out of the woods in terms of the drought?
Alexander Mellerski: In terms of the drought. No, unfortunately I would say, one event, that's by no means is indicative of getting us out of a drought.
Jim Morris: Conditions are better, but the drought continues. And while we hope for several more storms at the right time, that's far from guaranteed, I'm near the Sutter-Yuba county line at Gallagher Ranch near Rio Oso. Jeff Gallagher, it was a stressful year for water. How did it treat your operation?
Jeff Gallagher: It's definitely been one of the most challenging years we faced. Starting out the season we were cut way short on our water. We get all of our water out of the Camp Far West, which our allocation got cut about 80 percent back. So, we ended up planning about 65 percent of our ground this year had to leave out a little over a third. So, it was definitely tough here. And then we're getting through harvest, got kind of an early storm here recently, and we have a few fields still left to cut. It has definitely been a tough year.
Jim Morris: Too little the front, too much on the back end, boy that is tough. So you have participated in wildlife conservation programs. It's great to see the wildlife in the rice fields and those tremendous benefits. How do these programs help you carry out what you can to help the birds?
Jeff Gallagher: We've been working with the Rice Commission and Luke the last three, four years now, and the programs have just been really great. Anything we can do to kind of co-exist with the environment, help that area out and ourselves production wise, it just kind of fits really good. We're doing kind of our straw decomposition anyway in the fall. It creates this great habitat for all the waterfowl. And plus, it's just nice to be able to come out to work every day and see thousands of geese and ducks and tons of shorebirds in the spring. And so it's just a good thing for everybody.
Jim Morris: And when you do look out at the fall and we're going to have a lot more wildlife coming into our region, favorite wildlife that you see?
Jeff Gallagher: I would have to say the ducks and geese. I think we get here, we'll get some geese, snow geese, and specklebelly geese packed in pretty thick down here. And just to drive across the field and see thousands and thousands of birds sitting out there. And then they all get up at once. I mean, it's definitely a sight to see and something that we look forward to every year.
Jim Morris: Luke Matthews is Wildlife Programs Manager with the California Rice Commission. When we look at the weather this year and getting water on the rice fields, the conditions have improved a little bit for wildlife. Can you comment?
Luke Matthews: We went from historic drought to record-setting rain and it's definitely helped. It's saturated the soils. It's added a little bit of water to creeks, streams, reservoirs, stuff like that. It's definitely going to benefit migratory birds, but one storm doesn't change a couple years of drought. So we're still not out of the woods, but definitely some hope here.
Jim Morris: So we really do need the wildlife programs and there is one that's unfolding right now. Can you comment on how that will help the Pacific Flyway?
Luke Matthews: So we have a program that's funded by the Department of Water Resources and it is to help get more flooded acres out this winter, given the drought conditions on both rice and on private wetlands. So, really just an effort to increase the amount of flooded landscape this year, because we knew there wasn't going to be much with surface water without any sort of program.
Jim Morris: This is shallow flooding of rice ground. And how many acres should be involved with this?
Luke Matthews: That's correct. We're looking at very, very strategic use of this water. It'll be shallow. For the rice we have about 42,000 acres enrolled. And then on the private wetland side, we've got about 12,000 acres.
Jim Morris: Rice is amazing in terms of its environmental value. The Central Valley Joint Venture, in 2020 I believe, has some new numbers. It's very impressive. Can you relay those numbers?
Luke Matthews: The Central Valley Joint Venture puts out a plan every couple years and the most recent one cited the food resource use from agriculture of waterfowl and that's that ducks in the Sacramento Valley rely on rice for 74 percent of their nutritional needs. And then for geese, it's even higher, that rice provides 95 percent of all their nutritional needs for geese in the Sac valley.
Jim Morris: That's a lot of food when you consider seven to 10 million ducks and geese are spending their fall in winter in Sacramento Valley rice country in adjacent wetlands. There is already stress as these birds arrive because of dry conditions elsewhere. So how important is the Sacramento Valley to keep these migrating birds comfortable, fed and rested before they continue their journey?
Luke Matthews: Well, in a normal year, the Sac valley is very important because it's sort of the final resting ground for a lot of these birds that migrate south along the Pacific Flyway. So they spend a lot more time here than most of the other areas. This year, I'd say it's even probably more important, because their key staging areas in the Great Salt Lake, up on Klamath, in Oregon - those are all historically dry right now. So as they come down on their migration, they're experiencing low food availability, low resting and loafing habitats. So when they get here, they're in worse body condition we assume. And so that just means that this year, the habitat we can provide is going to be utilized more aggressively, more heavily and be even more important.
Jim Morris: Innovative conservation programs are only possible through collaboration with outstanding partners, Jeff McCreary is director of operation for the Western Region of Ducks Unlimited. Jeff, how is the Sacramento Valley leg of the Pacific Flyway proceeding for ducks?
Jeff McCreary: Well Jim, we're in the heart of the Pacific Flyway and the Central Valley, and particularly the Sacramento Valley, is key for the wintering habitat for the Pacific Flyaway migrating birds, ducks, geese, swans, all those great charismatic megafauna that you see out there in the rice field this time of year, but we're in a Pacific Flyway drought. And, although we've just had record rain in the Sacramento area, we're still incredibly dry, exceptionally dry all across the Western United States. So, while things are definitely better here in the Sacramento Valley, it's still challenging in two of the other main migration habitats within the Western US, that's the Klamath Basin and the Great Salt Lake, both of which have seen record dry years along with the Central Valley.
Jim Morris: So the drought continues and how important are the rice fields of the Sacramento Valley? Obviously very important, but even more important this year because these birds really need to rest and refuel now in our area more than ever.
Jeff McCreary: Absolutely. In the Sacramento Valley, winter flooded rice provides up to 70 percent of the energetics for these wintering birds and what we're seeing with the dry conditions in Klamath Basin and the Great Salt Lake is that birds are not staying in those locations. They're moving on quickly and they're coming to the Central Valley, the Sacramento Valley, earlier than they normally would. As we drive around the northern part of the valley here, we're seeing lots of ducks. We're seeing lots of geese and this is October. This is really early. The peak of the migration is in mid-December. What we're seeing here is that this recent rain has actually provided more habitat in the Sacramento Valley because it's shallowly flooding up these dry rice fields unexpectedly. We thought there was going to be lot more dry ground out there all the way into the middle of the winter when the rains have typically come. But now we're seeing rain on the landscape and it's right in the nick of time because this is when the birds are starting to come. And I think we're cautiously optimistic about how things are going to progress this winter.
Jim Morris: I mentioned at the start of our conversation, the importance of partnerships, probably more important this year than ever, because of the limited water supply. Your view, Jeff, on the importance of partnerships to best protect wildlife and our region as a whole.
Jeff McCreary: Partnerships are essential for effective conservation without a good suite of partners, nothing's going to happen on the landscape and that's private landowners, that's nonprofit groups, that's federal and state agencies, local governments, water districts, when they can all come together. What we can do collectively is greater than we would've been able to do individually. I think one great example is a recent memorandum of understanding that was signed between Ducks Unlimited, California Rice Commission, Northern California Water Association and California Trout. And we're working to re-envision the Sacramento Valley's floodplain ecosystems so that the valley can support sure, ducks, but also rice agriculture and fish. It's a complicated system that we have with the floodplains and the rivers, but we think that there's space and there's an opportunity for us all to work together so that we can see a landscape that's vibrant with winter flooded rice, millions of ducks and geese in the winter and vibrant fisheries in our rivers and streams.
Jim Morris: You mentioned the millions of ducks and geese. We see this all the time. I was in Yuba County this morning and enjoyed seeing thousands and thousands of birds. How best can someone who hasn't yet experienced this, take it all in, in the weeks ahead?
Jeff McCreary: Well, we are blessed to be right in the middle of a spectacle of nature, which is the Pacific Flyway migration and ducks, geese and swans are starting to arrive here in the valley and Sacramento, one of its great assets is that it's central to most everything. And, in fact, in a short drive from Sacramento area, we can see lots of wildlife right outside the vehicle and right outside of walking trails. Some great places to go, I think are the Cosumnes River Preserve , which is south of Sacramento, great rice fields and wetland habitats, all with walking trails and there's a great sandhill crane viewing area if you go there in the evening Also the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area , which is just to the west of Sacramento, great auto-tour loop. And two other places that I think have some of the more spectacular wildlife waterfowl viewing, especially during mid-winter is the Gray Lodge Wildlife Area and the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. Spectacular auto-tour routes, in fact DU just did a major project at the Gray Lodge Wildlife Area where we reconstructed the auto-tour loop to make safer and better access for viewing these spectacular congregations of waterfowl.
Jim Morris: I have gone through Gray Lodge recently and it is a major upgrade. So thank you to you DU for doing that. And I would also say Colusa National Wildlife Refuge has an excellent auto loop too. Hopefully we'll have abundant rain and snow moving forward, filling the reservoirs and helping cities, farms and the environment. Until then, there are many in our region doing what they can to make the most out of a tight water situation. Thank you to our interviewees, Jeff Gallagher, Alexander Mellerski, Luke Matthews and Jeff McCreary. We will keep you updated on fall and winter along the flyway. Until then, you can go to podcast.calrice.org to learn more and listen to past episodes. Thanks for listening.
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Water has long been a contentious subject in California. As the nationâs most populous state, leading the nation in farm production and a state dedicated to environmental protection, itâs easy to understand why.
The severe, ongoing drought only puts a greater focus on water.
While thereâs hope for a wet fall and winter, Sacramento Valley water managers and other stakeholders are doing what they can to prepare for all outcomes.
Teamwork and coordination are invaluable, especially during difficult times.
âWe are really fortunate in the Sacramento River Basin,â said Northern California Water Association President David Guy. âWe have a real cohesive set of leaders that work very well together. Our managers and counsel work well together. Thatâs critical, particularly as we head into these next years that could be very challenging. I think every river system in the valley works together. We realize weâre all invested in the same types of actions and need to do the same types of things to be able to make sure that we have water supplies for the farms, cities and refuges.â
Guy said he hopes more robust scenario planning this fall will further bring the region together, to be unified and best prepared for whatever 2022 holds for our water supply.
While the drought took its toll in our region, including a 100,000 acre reduction in rice planting, the familiar fall activities of harvest and the Pacific Flyway wildlife migration are welcomed. This year has been an uphill battle for those safeguarding water for all who need it and for future generations.
âItâs a daily, weekly, monthly and annual balancing act,â remarked Thad Bettner, General Manager of the Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District, the largest water district in the Sacramento Valley. âWeâre always making those sorts of decisions about how best to manage and use our supplies. A lot of environmental assets sit in our backyard, so we want to make sure we are meeting those needs as well. As a district, weâre very transparent in all of the things that we do and weâd love to have other partners come alongside us in helping us make these key decisions.â
Harvest of Americaâs sushi rice is nearing its peak, with growers reporting good quality and production from the fields they were able to plant. Grower Don Bransford in Colusa said he planted about 25 percent less acreage this year due to the water cutbacks. Bransford has long been a leader in this region on key issues, and water is no exception. He said planning and coordination for 2022 must be a priority.
âThe challenges are great, as they were this year,â he said. âThere obviously is not enough water to go around, so the environment was shorted and farming acreage had to be reduced because of the curtailments. Urban areas had a little better supply situation, so they have not experienced what agriculture has. Moving forward, I believe we have huge challenges in this coming year.â
Those who know and love the Sacramento Valley understand the need to preserve this unique and essential part of California.
âWe are all very proud of our little communities in the Sacramento Valley, many of which are dependent on a viable rice industry,â Bransford said. âWhat other commodity can you grow that has over 200 wildlife species inhabiting a growing crop, and then once that crop is harvested, then you have the migratory waterfowl moving in for a winter feast. Here we have land thatâs producing food and habitat â and they coexist wonderfully.â
Michael Anderson: This past year is ranking up there in the top five of our driest years, and you pair it with last year, 2020, which was also dry, and now you're looking at the second driest since '76, '77. Very extreme pair of drought years there.
Jim Morris: California state climatologist, Michael Anderson, describing our greater climate variability, which has contributed to this highly disappointing year for rain and snowfall.
Michael Anderson: We're a lot warmer now than we were in '76, '77. April, May and June, that was the warmest and the driest in 125 years of record. The narrative of climate change for California is that we see a warming in temperatures, more rain, less snow, and more extremes. And we're seeing that play out in this last decade.
Jim Morris: Drought impacts are being felt far and wide, including 100,000 fewer acres of rice planted here in the Sacramento Valley. What lies ahead for 2022? Only time will tell, but there's already a lot of thought being put into water management for the next year. Welcome to Ingrained, the California Rice Podcast. I'm your host, Jim Morris, proud to have worked with California farmers and ranchers for more than 30 years to help tell their stories. This year has been extremely dry with significant impacts. There is widespread hope that fall and winter will be wet, but of course that's far from guaranteed. So I think it would be helpful to hear from regional leaders about this critical subject.
Jim Morris: David Guy is president of the Northern California Water Association. He's been NCWA's president for 11 years. He also served eight years as their executive director. We spent time together a long time ago at the California Farm Bureau, and he and his family were in Yosemite living in the park from 2007 to 2010 as David was CEO of the nonprofit, Yosemite Association. And I will be forever jealous of that opportunity you had. So looking ahead, David, what can water managers do to prepare for the possibility of another dry year?
David Guy: Well, I think that as we look forward to 2022, there's still some work that has to be done on 2021. And I think the Pacific Flyway programs that are underway right now with the Rice Commission, with the water suppliers, with the conservation organizations are really, I think, stage setting for next year. The birds are so important and the species are so important. We'll be doing some more of that in the floodplain later in the winter for fish. And then as we start to go into the fall, obviously we need to start thinking about precipitation. And if there is going to be any precipitation this fall or early winter, we want to be able to capture that precipitation.
David Guy: So I think that's what the water managers in the Sacramento Valley and throughout the state do really well. So I think we want to pull as much water into storage as we can. I think we want to be able to recharge groundwater as much as we can, and we want to be able to get water out on the ground for birds and fish as much as we can. So I think there's going to be a real concerted effort to help make sure that we utilize our water this fall and winter the best we can because everything we do this fall and winter will set the stage for next year.
Jim Morris: To effectively do the most with such a precious resource, you need a lot of people with common goals. How would you describe the cohesiveness of water management in our region?
David Guy: Well, I think we're real fortunate in the Sacramento River basin and we have a real cohesive set of leaders that work very well together and our managers and council and everybody else work really well together, and I think that's critical particularly as we head into these next years that could be very challenging. I think every river system in the valley works together. We realize that we're all invested in the same types of actions and that we need to do the same types of things to be able to make sure that we have water supplies for the farms, cities, refuges. So we're going to be doing some scenario planning this year in the fall to start planning for 2022 in a way that we've really never done before, and I think that will even further bring the region together, hopefully to unify around some planning for next year, and then the actions that will be necessary.
Jim Morris: Northern California Water Association has a ridgetop to river mouth holistic water management approach. For someone not fully immersed in the water world, what does that mean?
David Guy:
Well, I think is what it really means is that the water obviously starts in the mountains and then it flows down through the valley. And the bottom line is this really calls on the managers in this region to manage the water the best they can. And they already manage water in this way. A lot of our agencies manage water from ridgetop to river mouth. And I think the other couple things that it does is water obviously flows from one area to the other, and we try to utilize that water the best we can and sometimes that water's used multiple times as it goes through the system and we want to be able to continue that.
David Guy:The other thing of course, that it really allows is that we know that salmon, for example, which is a big part of the region, you need to address every salmon life stage for them to be successful, and that means from the ridgetop to the river mouth. And then of course, we can't control what goes on in the ocean, but we can sure help influence what goes on from the ridgetop to the river mouth. And I think that's really just calling on the best of our managers to do what they really do well.
Jim Morris: There is some criticism that comes up on how much water is used by farms and ranches, and my belief on this is it's really not an either or that that water can help in many different ways. And taking rice, for example, that water is used to grow a crop that's America sushi rice. It also helps rural communities and our economy, and it also helps the Pacific Flyway migration of millions of birds. And now salmon are benefiting from rice farming too. So when you look at the collaboration, the multiple uses of water, what thoughts do you have about how effective that is going on right now in the Sacramento Valley?
David Guy: The Sacramento Valley does this better than anybody. Quite honestly, they use water for cities and rural communities. We get water out for the farms. We get water out for the refuges. And quite honestly, it's a lot of the same water. It's a lot of synchronized water management that happens in the region. So yeah, I find that when people want to say that one use is being used at the sacrifice of others, that's usually just a false choice. So we find that you can do all of that. You just have to be creative and you just have to get the leaders in the region to want to embrace that.
David Guy: And we do that in the Sacramento better than anybody. This last year, for example, most agriculture in the state really received zero surface water. And there were some areas that received maybe about 50 percent of their supplies, and I think to their credit, these water suppliers utilize that water to their benefit and they not only use the water for the farms, but they're now working to use that water for the birds and will be using it for water for the salmon later in the year. And I think there's a sequence there that could actually work well in the Sacramento Valley as well.
Jim Morris: And I'm glad you mentioned those surface water cutbacks because there was an incredible news cycle this past year, and maybe that was lost, but there were very significant, huge reductions in the amount of surface water available in our region. We've had dry years before and certainly will again. So what can be learned from our most recent dry year this year?
David Guy: Well, I think we just have to call on everybody's creativity and working together. I think that's what we've learned. We have a program, our dry year task force, where we've worked with state and federal agencies, and I think having that communication is just essential. We're going to be doing this scenario planning going into next year and really focusing on what are the scenarios that we may see in 2022? And let's be honest, some of those scenarios are fairly ugly for the region and some of those scenarios may involve a wet 2022, which we're all hoping for, but the bottom line is we have to be prepared for all of those scenarios and I think having the managers thinking about that together, I think we'll be really effective.
David Guy: I think there's also to a lot of actions that can be taken in the meantime that are not as high profile, but again, some of the things we talked about moving water into storage, moving water out on the floodplain, moving water out into the refuges, I think those are the kind of things that are happening and are really important as we head into 2022.
Jim Morris: Moving water out on the floodplains, that is a growing area of emphasis in our region, and talk a little bit about that. What does that look like and how does it help?
David Guy: Well, I think we've seen in the last 50 years in California, that we've used the same formula. How much water do we put into the Delta and who has to give up that water to flow into the Delta? Well, that path has led to declines in fish. That path has led to declines in water supply reliability. So I think a lot of people are saying, "Why don't we try something different?" Well, fortunately the scientists over at the University of California have been pointing to the floodplain for some time now and saying, "This is where we can get the best benefit for fish and wildlife." So I think there's a real concerted effort, big coalition, the Floodplain Forward Coalition, is working on how do we reactivate our floodplain? And of course, there's a whole lot of things that have gone into that, but I think we've seen that there's been success with waterfowl on the Pacific Flyway.
David Guy: We've seen that there's been success with spring run salmon on Butte Creek. And a big part of both of those efforts is this idea of reactivating the floodplain. So, we think that's the new approach and the best part about it is that we can do that in synchronicity with the farming and all the things that we do in the region, and we can also do it probably with a lot less water than just putting a bunch of water into the Delta that doesn't seem to be providing any benefits for anything.
Jim Morris: And it's interesting when you talk about reactivating the floodplain, it may sound like this incredible amount of water, but really it's a shallow amount of water that does get a lot of benefit from it. And we've seen that in the rice fields of the Sacramento Valley. So some of the issues in this past year we've had include voluntary agreements, water transfers, and groundwater. They came up a lot and those are pretty big topics. How do you feel those issues or maybe others may fit into 2022.
David Guy:Groundwater of course is the resource that people go to when they don't have surface water, and I think that will continue. Obviously there's a concerted effort through the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and the plans that are coming early next year to really manage our groundwater basin sustainably. So I think there's a real concerted effort at the local level to do that. So we'll hopefully get that in place and people can start taking some of those actions as soon as possible to protect the groundwater for future uses. The voluntary agreements, I think are really just essential for the region. We need stability in that Bay Delta process. And without that stability, we're just going to keep having supplies in Northern California threaten in various regulatory processes. So we need that stability and I think there's some interest in the Administration in moving that forward. So I think 2022's got a lot in store, but I think we're going to be prepared for the year no matter what it looks like with respect to precipitation.
Jim Morris: And you mentioned the word stability. How does that factor in when we look at the water rights system that is in place?
David Guy: I think the water rights system in California works quite well and it works very well in the Sacramento River basin. It's painful for some, because some get their waters curtailed and other there don't, but I think everybody knows how that works. I think people have certain expectations. They've built their business models around that. So in our view, the water system works really well. We're going to continue to work with the State Water Board to make that process even better, but I really think that making the water rights system obviously work is really important. And we know there's going to be critics and some academics and others who are going to want to suggest that we have to rewrite our water rights system, and obviously that would destabilize California water immensely. So we need to make the water right system work, and then we need to be able to put water into storage and let the managers do what they do best, which is obviously a big part of the water rights system as well.
Jim Morris: I am really impressed when I see the meetings in the Sacramento Valley. There are members of the environmental community, there's urban representatives, agriculture, water officials, of course. So what is your assessment on the willingness to find water solutions in our valley?
David Guy: You're right, Jim. I mean, we have an amazing group of folks who are working hard out on the ground to really implement solutions. And again, they're for cities, they're for rural communities, they're for farms and ranches, they're for the environment. And I don't think anybody's done that better than the Sacramento Valley. Kudos to the leaders and the rice community in the valley for really step up and doing all the work that you've done. I think as we go forward, we're going to continue to work with that group and I think that work is really proving fruitful.
David Guy: Unfortunately, we also know there's a group of litigators that are sitting out there, who their business model is not to solve problems. Their business model is to file lawsuits and to try to disrupt what we're doing in the Sacramento River Basin. So unfortunately we're going to need to be part of that process as well, to make sure that they can't in fact disrupt the Sacramento River Basin. And in the meantime, let's keep working with those who show up and get their nails dirty and want to work out on the ground, because that's how this is going to get better.
Jim Morris: What is at stake here? I've spent my entire life in the Sacramento Valley. Absolutely love it. But I think for a lot of people that are driving on I-5 or Highway 99, and they're just heading from one place to the next and don't understand the full beauty and importance of it. So what's at stake here in making sure this region stays whole?
David Guy: Well, Jim, you started off by mentioning my time in Yosemite and of course, I just have wonderful memories of Yosemite and our national park system is beyond equal in this world. But I think the Sacramento Valley is on that level as far as the grandeur and as what it is, it's just so vast and big, but we have what? 2 million acres of farmland, some of the best farmland in the world. We have seven national wildlife refuges, 50 state wildlife areas, four runs of salmon. We have cities and rural communities that really sparkle and have wonderful people in them, and I think it's water that really brings this region together in a special way, and I think that's what's at stake and I hope that we can all roll up our sleeves, continue to work together to make sure that we have water for this region for all of those purposes. It's not and/or. It's how do we do both? And I think that's what this region really excels at.
Jim Morris: I'm in Willows at the headquarters of Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District, the largest water district in the Sacramento Valley, covering 175,000 acres, much of it farmland. There are communities and several wildlife refuges here, as well. There were fields that went unplanned this year, including rice, the underground water table has been pressured, and they've had to deal with severe surface water cutbacks. Thad Bettner has been head of this water district since 2006. Of course, that's included several dry years. And as we get through this year, Thad, how taxing has it been?
Thad Bettner: I have to say that you have been here for 15 years and doing this water thing for over 30. I would say this has probably been the most challenging year Iâve ever experienced in my career. I look back and I've talked to other people about the COVID year of last year and how challenging that was, but honestly this year has been even more challenging than that. So just given the constraints, the challenging hydrologic conditions, the internal needs that we have for trying to meet water for our growers, for the environment, for the refuges that we serve, and then also the concerns about trying to protect salmon in the river, and just trying to balance all those competing needs has been very challenging this year. The good thing is we've kind of gotten through it. We're here in the fall, so that's good news, but certainly, we have another challenging year ahead of us going into next year.
Jim Morris: What are some lessons that might be learned from this year as we head into a potentially dry 2022, which could magnify all of these impacts?
Thad Bettner: I think certainly the challenge is just from a surface water standpoint, how do we manage the system to one, get water where it's needed for people, for the different crops that we grow, for certainly protecting fish and I'm not minimizing them at all by same fish. Thirdly, but just, I think in terms of just the environment, it's broader than just fisheries. We have birds that we're trying to manage for right now, et cetera. So I think the broader environmental needs are very significant. And then the other thing we're facing here in the Sacramento Valley is a lot of these groundwater sustainability plans are getting adopted in January. So we'll also be going into next year, once those plans are adopted, actually starting to implement them. So how we also manage our water supply for the benefit of maintaining our sustainable groundwater system here in the Sacramento Valley is going to be vitally important as well.
Jim Morris: How important is coordination and cooperation among all of the stakeholders?
Thad Bettner: It's very important. I mean, honestly I spend most of my day just working with other agencies, other managers, groundwater folks, talking to different regulatory agencies about operations, talking to our environmental partners on restoration projects, and then just trying to meet our own internal staff needs. We have about 75 employees here in the district. So just trying to make sure that just as an entity, as a company, we continue to have good bonds internally. So it's been most of our days, just trying to foster sorts of relationships.
Jim Morris: Longer term, it would be great, I think to have more water storage like Sites Reservoir, and how would that help in the long term for all Californians?
Thad Bettner: We've been an advocate for Sites for decades. It's right next to our district and certainly parts of our facilities would be used both to fill and drain sites. I think one of the most significant benefits of Sites, not just of the water supply, it would provide to those folks who are investing in the project, but the project would provide just a lot more flexibility to some of our backbone infrastructure like Shasta, like Oroville, which I'm sure everybody has heard are historic lows this year. So having additional storage up in sites could help some of these dry years to provide more water into the system and ultimately provide more water for environmental benefits.
Jim Morris: The purpose is not to try to get Sites filled in a dry year, but when we have those abundant rainfall years, to take advantage of that in a better way than we're doing now.
Thad Bettner: One of the things about the Sacramento Valley that a lot of folks don't recognize at least on the Sacramento River, is that it's really more of a rain-driven watershed than a snow-fed watershed. So, under climate change, a lot of the forecasts are saying actually that more rainfall will fall in the Sacramento River system, which could lead to more runoff, which, again, Sites Reservoir would be relying on those really wet years, high runoff years to fill Sites and then draw that water out of storage in the dryer years.
Jim Morris: What responsibility do you feel you're trying to have as much reasonable water to all the needs here in your district, but you also have to safeguard this resource for down the road? What kind of a balancing act is that?
Thad Bettner: Well, I would say it's a daily, weekly, monthly, and annually balancing act. I mean, we're always making those sorts of decisions about how best to manage and use our supplies and also looking for just broader from... A lot of these assets, like environmental assets sit in our backyard. So how do we make sure we're also providing and meeting those needs as well? So I would say for us as a district, we're very transparent in all the things that we do and would love to have other partners come alongside us and helping us make some of these key decisions.
Jim Morris: It's harvest time in rice country, including here in Colusa, the largest rice growing county in America. I'm visiting with grower Don Bransford, who in addition to farming is extremely active in his community and with statewide service. Don, first of all, how is harvest going this year and how has the drought impacted your farm?
Don Bransford: Well, so far harvest is going pretty well. This has been one of those years where we've had a few more breakdowns than we'd like, but we're progressing well and the moisture's holding up. As far as the drought goes, we fallowed about 25 percent of our ground due to our reductions in supply, according to our contracts.
Jim Morris: Thanks for taking time during such a busy time. It is windy today, but the harvesters and the bankout wagons are going and things are looking great. So how important is it when we look ahead to 2022, that there is some planning and coordination in terms of water?
Don Bransford: I think the planning and coordination is extremely important. For this cropping year, we started planning in early February for the potential of a drought. We worked with the regulators, NGOs and other water districts to see how we might adapt our systems to meet a lot of needs of the environment, the farms and the urban areas. So it was a challenge.
Jim Morris: What kind of pressures are there on water supplies? It's always challenging in California, but it seems lately to be exceptionally so. There will always be discussion, debate, and dispute. So what kind of challenges from a farming perspective, do you see on the water supply?
Don Bransford: The challenges are great as they were this year. There obviously is not enough water to go around. So the environment was shorted. Farming acreage had to be reduced because of the curtailments. Urban areas had a little better supply situation. So they have not experienced what agriculture has, but moving forward, I believe we have huge challenges in this coming year. A number of wells were used to make up for deficient supplies. I think moving into the new year, there's going to be concern about how much groundwater's available, which puts more pressure on surface supplies. And then you have urban areas who were able to get through this past year with... Their supplies are short.
Don Bransford: We've been contacted by a number of urban districts about the potential for water transfers. And then obviously, those growers south of the Delta that have contracts are most likely going to be very short of water. It's going to be tremendously challenging. We are going to start planning and actually this next month up here in the north state, we're going to work with NGOs, the state and federal regulators and the other irrigation districts to figure out how to best use every drop of water that we have available and hopefully some of that water can be used two or three times to achieve or meet needs of any number of demands.
Jim Morris: This is a really special area. The communities, Colusa, I love Gridley, Biggs, Marysville, Yuba City, Richvale, on and on. The farms, the environment, the unique communities, how important is it to have these discussions and try to maintain this special thing that we have in the Sacramento Valley?
Don Bransford: I think it's very important. We are all very proud of our little communities in the Sacramento Valley, many of which are dependent on a viable rice industry. We're here at harvest this year and the wildlife are everywhere. I mean, where else... What other commodity can you grow which has over 200 species of wildlife inhabiting a growing crop? And then once that crop is harvested, then you have the migratory waterfowl moving in for a winter feast. Just this morning, I also saw some sandhill cranes. They arrive about this time every year. In the same fields, the geese have started to move into the fields at night to forage the rice that's left behind by harvesters. About 50 percent of the feed for all migrating waterfowl are located in these rice fields. These fields are ecosystems and the only way to replace those ecosystems would be to build wetlands, which would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but here we have land that's producing food and habitat and they coexist wonderfully.
Jim Morris: Another sign of fall in our valley, the ducks and geese are coming back. I'm at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge in Willows, a great place for your family to visit. If we are fortunate to have abundant rain and snow in the coming months, perhaps everyone can exhale a bit, but at the moment, next year looks like it will be a major test. Hopefully with collaboration, cooperation, and creativity, we will persevere. Thank you to our interviewees, David Guy, Thad Bettner, Don Bransford, and Michael Anderson. We will, of course, keep you updated on this issue as we get farther into fall and winter. You can go to podcast.calrice.org to find out more. Please subscribe and spread the word. And thanks for listening.
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Even during difficult times like weâve been experiencing, it helps to look for the positive.
In Sacramento Valley rice country â two positives are unfolding. After a difficult year where drought left 20 percent of fields unplanted, harvest of Americaâs sushi rice is underway and early reports are favorable.
Although acreage is down, initial reports on quality and yields look strong.
âWeâre about thirty percent down from the total acreage that we can plant,â said Everett Willey, who farms with his dad Steve, at E.D. Willey & Sons in Nicolaus, Sutter County. âThe growing season went alright. It was a fight to keep water on some fields. Thatâs why we started harvest early. There was a lack of water on the bottom check of the sweet rice field weâre harvesting now. We couldnât push water down to it, so thatâs a big reason weâre harvesting this early.â
A second positive is thereâs help on the way for the Pacific Flyway â a program should provide emergency water to support the millions of birds heading to our regionâs rice country to rest and refuel.
âThe Drought Relief Waterbird Program is focused on providing extra water from groundwater pumping to shallow flood rice and wetland acres in the Sacramento Valley for waterbirds, commented Luke Matthews, Wildlife Programs Manager with the California Rice Commission. âItâs going to be particularly important this year, given the lack of habitat that we expect to see.â
In a normal year, about 300,000 acres of rice fields are shallowly-flooded after harvest, which breaks down rice stubble and creates vital environmental benefits. This year, current estimates are only about 65,000 acres will be flooded.
Thatâs where the program with the State Department of Water Resources can provide substantial help for this vital part of the Sacramento Valley ecosystem.
âWell certainly the current conditions truly heighten the importance of this landscape,â said Greg Golet, Applied Ecologist with The Nature Conservancy, one of the conservation groups that work with rice growers to maximize wildlife benefits from their fields. âThese birds, when they arrive here, typically are ready to rest and refuel before either they continue further south or they set for their winter period in this region. But this year, theyâre going to arrive in likely poorer condition, due to the lack of good habitat in their traditional stopover sites. In addition to malnourishment, they can be susceptible to disease, and thatâs exacerbated by crowded conditions.â
With such a dry landscape, rice field habitat is an even more important for the health of millions of ducks, geese and other birds.
âItâs really an incredible opportunity that we have,â Golet remarked. âThere are all of these levers, effectively, that we can pull to create the conditions that these birds depend upon. We know what they want, in terms of timing, depth of the water and how long it stays out on the fields. With this system of rice agriculture and associated infrastructure, itâs really very straightforward to create those conditions and then we see virtually an immediate response. The trick, of course, is getting adequate water to create that for the birds.â
The wildlife migration has begun. Shorebirds and ducks have already started to arrive. We will keep you updated on harvest and the amazing annual wildlife migration about to unfold.
Episode TranscriptJim Morris: COVID, fires, and drought. This year has been a rough one throughout our state. It helps to look for the positive where you can. And for me, what I'm looking at is a positive, the rice harvest in the Sacramento Valley. It's a momentary respite from the unrelenting news cycle, and it appears there's good news as well for the millions of birds that depend on the rice fields every fall and winter in this area.
Jim Morris: Welcome to Ingrained, the California rice podcast. I'm your host, Jim Morris, proud to have worked with California farmers and ranchers for 31 years. And it's funny how life can go full circle. Before, I was in ag communications. Ten years before, I was in the marching band at John F. Kennedy High School in south Sacramento, playing trombone alongside of Steve Willey. And this morning, I'm with Everett Willey, Steve's son, at ED Willey & Sons in Nicolaus, in Sutter County. And Everett and Steve have started harvest. So Everett, how have things gone with rice harvest to date?
Everett Willey: Pretty good so far. It's a lot of downed rice right now, just because of the nature of the beast. So we're trying to get it out of the field while everything else continues to ripen up.
Jim Morris: What varieties have you harvested so far?
Everett Willey: Right now, just Calmochi-101, which is a sweet rice, short grain, made for mochi balls, mochi ice cream. That's what that rice goes into, a lot of flour, rice flour.
Jim Morris: Yeah. And if anybody hasn't tried mochi, I suggest you go to Mikuni. And the mochi they have there wrapped around ice cream is phenomenal. It's well worth trying that out. So tell me a little bit about this year. It's been challenging in many fronts in California. So what did you see with the rice? You started off with not being able to plant everything. So talk a little bit about that, and then also the growing season.
Everett Willey: Yeah. We're about 30% down from our total acreage that we can plant. So there's quite a few hundred acres that's just dirt right now because of lack of water. Growing season went all right because, I mean, it was a fight to try to keep water on some fields. And that's part of the reason why we're actually harvesting right now is because the field that we're in, there was a lack of water in the bottom check because we just couldn't, we couldn't push the water down to it. So I think that has a big part in why we're actually harvesting right now.
Jim Morris: And it was very smoky throughout Northern California, in fact, still is. What impact did the smoke have on the rice, if any?
Everett Willey: The smoke this year wasn't as bad as last year timing-wise. Last year, it hit really heavy right when the rice was all flowering and I think that actually killed yields. The smoke this year, it came a little later. So a lot of the rice was already flowered. It'll slow down the ripening process probably a little bit because it'll keep the temperatures a little cooler. And we're definitely not getting any of the north wind, that's really what helps dry out and ripen the rice for harvest.
Jim Morris: In terms of the smoke, fortunately, rice has an external hull on it. So there's not going to be a damage to the kernel, but the lack of sunlight did slow some of the maturity down in parts of the valley. Also, to your point about not planning a full crop, we have about 100,000 acres less rice grown this year in the state because of the drought. So certainly, impacts have been felt there. So the rice harvest is interesting when you compare to other crops. Other crops are sometimes harvested late at night, early in the morning. Rice, not so much. So when do you start harvest and why do you start it at that time of day?
Everett Willey: In the morning, our operation, we clean off all the machines, all the harvesters, we blow it all, all the chaff and stuff off, really looking for problems with the harvester, and that way we can try to fix it. But we won't start actually cutting rice until the dew is lifted because any excess moisture that you're pulling through the machine makes the machine work harder. And then it can end up in the trailer to have a higher moisture and you don't want that because that could affect your drying cost. It could make it more expensive.
Jim Morris: What is the moisture range that you're looking for when you harvest the rice?
Everett Willey: Kernel moisture percentage would be like... 18-22 is a good quality to cost ratio. If you cut a little higher, so like if you're cutting 22 to 26%, you might get a little bit better quality, but the cost for drying also increases. So that 18-22% range is pretty much where you want to be.
Jim Morris: And how important is the high-tech machinery that you have?
Everett Willey: Having good equipment is extremely important. Compared to 10, 15 years ago, before GPS was really incorporated into these machines, it was not as efficient. Everything was smaller. You had to go slower. So when the rice was ready to come out of the field, you had to plan for it a lot more. Now, you can react and go. It saves a lot of money in the end.
Jim Morris: And the GPS, Global Positioning System, is important in other aspects of the growing season too. So how else is GPS technology helping rice farming?
Everett Willey: It's a big fuel saver because you're not... It knows exactly where your implement is going and has been. So if you have something that's 24-feet wide and you want to have a three-inch overlap, it'll do that for you. Whereas without it, you're going back and forth, so you have no overlap to a foot overlap. So having that consistent tillage is where you can really save some money, and it makes everything more uniform, which will make a more consistent yield.
Jim Morris: Other high-tech aspects include planting, which is done by airplanes, which are guided by GPS. So it's very high tech here in California, rice country. And it's water efficient as well. Water is a concern after harvest. There will be a shallow amount of water put out there, but it's very limited this year because of the drought. I've seen a lot of wildlife on your farm. What thoughts and concerns do you have about the months ahead and rice fields helping the Pacific Flyway, but with a very limited water supply?
Everett Willey: I think with the reduction in acres planted, a lot of farmers won't do a decomposition flood. Because on a fallow field, you'd be just putting water on dirt, which isn't benefiting either wildlife or the farmer. So the reason that we flood in the winter is to decompose the straw that is left over after you harvest it. So when we're done harvesting, we'll come in, we'll usually chop up the straw into smaller pieces to create more surface area, and then we'll till that ground up just a little bit to help add some air into the soil, and then we'll put a couple inches of water on it and hold that. And it'll decompose the straw, but it also provides a plethora of food and habitat for mostly waterfowl. I mean, we'll get all kinds of other stuff out here too. I mean, you got skunks, and raccoons, and coyotes, and all other kinds of things. It's a circle of life out here.
Jim Morris: I've seen minks as well out here. And talk about some of the birds that you've seen too, lot of birds of prey, and not only numbers, but a wide variety of species.
Everett Willey: We'll get bald eagles out here. The mink are actually pretty... They're cool. You see one of them run across and you're like, "Oh, that was a mink. I haven't seen one of those in a while." All the different varieties of geese, we'll get all the varieties of ducks. It was pretty cool. In one of our ditch systems, I actually saw a mandarin duck, which is super rare to see here, super, super rare. It looks like a wood duck, but cooler.
Jim Morris: At the moment, there's not a lot of water on the landscape, and the needs for wildlife will be great later in the fall and winter. I'm speaking with Luke Matthews, Wildlife Programs Manager with the California Rice Commission. fortunately, there's a new program the Rice Commission is carrying out with the state Department of Water Resources that should help. Luke, tell us about the program.
Luke Matthews: The Drought Relief Waterbird Program is focused on providing extra water through groundwater pumping to flood rice acres and wetland acres in the Sacramento Valley for waterbirds. And it's going to be particularly important this year, given the lack of habitat that we expect to see.
Jim Morris: How much of a shortfall going into this program are we expecting in terms of the amount of shallow flooded acres in the Sacramento Valley?
Luke Matthews: In a typical year, there's about 300,000 acres of flooded rice lands in the winter. And that provides an amazing source of food and habitat for ducks, geese, shorebirds, and more. This year, we expect, if conditions don't change, to maybe see about 60,000 acres flooded. So a very, very significant decline in flooded habitat.
Jim Morris: And I imagine there's careful consideration when it comes to groundwater use.
Luke Matthews: Absolutely. Yeah. We're being very sensitive to areas that may be experiencing depletions or issues with groundwater wells going dry. We also have considerations for proximity to rivers and streams, things like that. So we're considering all the options, but really focusing on providing the habitat for the resource of concern right now.
Jim Morris: The Pacific Flyway is amazing, 7-10 million ducks and geese, many other birds coming through. It is really a jewel for the Sacramento Valley, important for our environment and something so many people enjoy. And how much is this water needed? Because I believe the birds are already stressed, correct?
Luke Matthews: The water is really needed more this year because of a significant drought throughout the west. The Great Salt Lake is drier than it's ever been in recorded history, itâs very dry up in Oregon, and Klamath as well is almost dry. So these key areas that migrating birds in the Pacific Flyway typically utilize are dry or drying out. So they're in a worst-body condition when they arrive here and they're going to need the water even more than normal.
Jim Morris: As we've heard from Luke Matthews, the drought is a significant concern for the millions of birds that are heading our way for the fall and winter months. I'm speaking with Greg Golet, an applied ecologist with the Nature Conservancy, good friends of rice growers and the California Rice Commission. And Greg, as you look at the stresses that the birds have already had as they're heading our way, how much more important is the Sacramento Valley to provide food and a resting place?
Greg Golet: Well, certainly, the current conditions truly heighten the importance of this landscape. These birds, when they arrive here, typically are ready to rest and refuel before either they continue further south or they set up for their winter period in this region. But this year, they're going to arrive in likely much poorer condition due to the lack of good habitat in their traditional stop oversights.
Jim Morris: What concerns do you have for the wildlife? Disease and even death are possibilities unfortunately?
Greg Golet: Yeah, that's definitely the case. In addition to malnourishment, they can be susceptible to disease. A lot of that's exacerbated by crowded conditions. So you get transfer of the disease through the aerosol when the birds are taking off and landing. And when they're in tight quarters and you have those high temperatures, it's just that much worse.
Jim Morris: Let's talk about something optimistic. There is a program in place that's being unveiled that hopefully we'll get more water on the landscape. And we've talked about this recently, that rice fields are surrogate wetlands. And so does that give you optimism or some degree of optimism that we're going to get through this fall and winter in reasonable shape for the wildlife?
Greg Golet: Yeah, it definitely does. It's really an incredible opportunity that we have. There are all these levers effectively that we can pull to create the conditions that these birds depend upon. And we know what they want in terms of the timing, in terms of the depth of the water, in terms of how long it stays out on the fields. And with this system of rice agriculture in the associated infrastructure, it's really very straightforward to just create those conditions, and then we see virtually an immediate response. The trick of course, is getting adequate water to create that for the birds.
Jim Morris: I have to tell you, after a year like this, I cannot wait to see the birds. And I've been talking with the rice growers. They're keeping an eye out because it is such a joy for me to see it. What does that mean to you, when you see that wildlife come in to the Sacramento Valley every fall and winter?
Greg Golet: It's extremely uplifting to see these species drop into our valley. And that's already happening for the shorebirds whose migration is earlier than for the waterfowl typically. But for me, it provides confirmation that the network of habitats that these migratory species have evolved to depend upon that stretch from the Arctic all the way to South America are still functioning at least in some way. Because they're depending upon that. It's if you take out a link in that chain, the whole system can break down. So when they show up, I have that affirmation that, "Hey, we still have this incredible natural phenomenon in place." And it's just so rewarding and personally gratifying to be part of making that possible.
Jim Morris: As the migration intensifies and this innovative program takes shape, we will keep you updated on the progress. Thank you to our interviewees, Everett Willey, Luke Matthews, and Greg Golet. You can find out more @podcast.calrice.org. Please listen, subscribe, and comment. Thanks for listening.
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What is shaping up as the most significant drought in decades has impacted much of the West.
A lack of adequate rain, sizzling temperatures and a snowpack that all but vanished have led to major cutbacks in surface water deliveries, including to Sacramento Valley rice fields. This yearâs rice acreage is about 20 percent lower than normal as a result.
A massive challenge is fast approaching. Thereâs a growing concern that there will be little water on the landscape after harvest. That water helps break down rice stubble, but most importantly, it is vital to the health and survival of millions of birds that spend their fall and winter in our region. Shallow-flooded rice fields provide more than 60 percent of the fall and winter diet for 7 to 10 million ducks and geese during their annual stay in the Central Valley.
The lack of water for wildlife is a major concern for those who see and appreciate the Pacific Flyway on a regular basis.
âMy concern is that there isnât going to be any water to put out there,â said grower Kurt Richter of Richter AG in Colusa. âWhatâs so critical to me is all of the surrogate habitat rice fields provide in that time of the year to the Pacific Flyway. You have shorebirds and waterfowl that are migrating from Canada all the way down to South America. We are a stopping point; a truck stop for them so to speak. They need that water out here, to in as a place for shelter and a food source. This is a deep concern to all of us.â
âIt is super challenging right now,â said Manuel Oliva, Chief Executive Officer of Point Blue Conservation Science, a key conservation partner with California rice growers. âMillions of birds will be arriving. Theyâre going to be tired and looking for a place to rest, looking to refuel or settle in for the winter. Thereâs likely not going to be enough habitat for them. Some are going to try to move, and theyâre going to use energy they do not have. That makes them more vulnerable to predation or other hazards. As they are squeezed in to reduced habitat, it can increase opportunities for outbreaks of diseases like cholera or botulism.â
âWhat weâre seeing is an unfolding disaster right in front of our eyes, from a waterfowl perspective,â remarked Jeff McCreary, Director of Operations for the Western Region of Ducks Unlimited, another longtime conservation partner with rice. âDesperate times call for desperate measures, and weâre going to need to do something more than just pray for rain. Typically, when we talk about disaster itâs from a social standpoint â people are suffering. This is an environmental disaster in which people and wildlife are suffering.â
Currently, our California Rice Commission survey indicates less than 25 percent of the usual acreage will be shallow-flooded. Thatâs insufficient to support our flyway visitors.
As a result, a coalition of conservation, water and agricultural groups are seeking $10 million from the Legislature and Governor, to fund groundwater pumping for wildlife later this year.
âHopefully weâll have some opportunities to utilize surface water in those areas where itâs available,â remarked Northern California Water Association President David Guy. âWe know it will be limited. Hopefully, thereâll be some opportunities to pump groundwater in some other areas, to help spread waters out across the region, help the birds spread out across the region to avoid some disease issues that weâve seen in the past. Hopefully, we can do our part in this valley to help birds. This fall we want to make sure we do everything we can to help the birds.â
Among those concerned about the health of the Pacific Flyway is Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins.
âI think we should all be concerned,â Atkins said. âWeâve seen the devastating wildfires, the smoke, the strain on our energy supply, and now weâre certainly in the middle of another historic drought. We seem to say that more and more frequently. Climate change is here. Itâs real, and itâs challenging our ability to produce food and energy. We have to work together to find solutions that are going to protect vital habitats, while at the same time maintaining a healthy agriculture industry. I think rice farmers know as well as anyone that itâs not fish or farms. Protecting ecosystems is just as critical for our own health, our own sense of well-being as it is for wildlife that call California home.â
Episode TranscriptEileen Javora: Right now we are seeing an intense drought across the Western United States.
Jim Morris: Meteorologist Eileen Javora.
Eileen Javora: More than 90% of the land in the west is in drought conditions and nearly 60% or so is in extreme or exceptional drought.
Jim Morris: Northern California Water Association President, David Guy.
David Guy: Well, it's really an extraordinarily dry year. And is what we're finding is that it almost just keeps getting drier. There's just less water out on the landscape. Than at least we've seen in any of our lifetime.
Jim Morris: An immediate focus in the Sacramento Valley is finishing the growing season and harvesting crops, which provide widespread benefits. Next up, averting a potential environmental disaster by seeking creative ways to get water on a parched landscape.
David Guy: Hopefully we'll have some opportunities to utilize surface water in those kind of areas where it's available. It's going to be limited this year. We know that, and then hopefully there'll be some opportunities to pump groundwater in some other areas to help spread waters out across the region, help the birds kind of spread out across the region to avoid some disease issues that we've seen in the past. And that hopefully we can just do our part in this valley to help birds. That as we all know this valley is very committed to the Pacific Flyway and both the waterfowl as well as the shorebirds. And I think this fall, we want to make sure that we've done whatever we can to help the birds.
Jim Morris: The stakes are high, but many are focused on this critical subject.
Welcome to Ingrained: The California Rice Podcast. I'm your host, Jim Morris, proud to have worked with California farmers and ranchers to help tell their stories for the past 30 years. And this is no doubt. One of the most challenging years during that time, a lack of adequate water is a growing problem, and it is getting drier on the landscape. I'm in, Calusa visiting with grower, Kurt Richter. And Kurt, where are you with the growing season? And how's the rice looking?
Kurt Richter: The rice looks good. We are coming out of the weed control stage of the season and working our way into heading.
Jim Morris: Tell me about heading and what that means?
Kurt Richter: Heading is when the rice is what we'd call heading out. That's where the plant goes into the reproductive stage from the vegetative stage and produces its seed. Every grass plant produces seed, rice is technically a grass plant. And when it produces its seed that comes in the form of rice kernels.
Jim Morris: And the Sacramento Valley is a good place to grow rice and the warm days and cool nights worked very well for it. It has been extremely hot, but we are into a more mild stretch. How does that help the heading process?
Kurt Richter: We have been recently in some pretty extended periods of a hundred plus degree days, and we are trending downward now. You're in the heading stage like we are now, which is followed by the pollination stage. You want temperatures to be a bit more mild, the hotter it is the more devastating it's going to be to the pollination process. And that's going to be difficult for kernels to fill properly in all those little seedlings that the plant produces when it's in high heat.
Jim Morris: And it has been a challenging growing season with about 20% of the rice not planted this year in the Sacramento Valley because of the dry conditions. And we're also entering another critical time. So after harvest a shallow amount of water is normally put into the fields which breaks down the rice straw and it times perfectly with the Pacific Flyway migration, but there are serious questions about the availability that water. What concerns do you have about that?
Kurt Richter: My concern is that there isn't going to be any water to put out there. Several of the irrigation districts that rice farmers use in this part of the valley have already announced that there will not be any winter water available and that's hugely concerning. I mean, from the farming side of things, that is how we decompose our straw, but that's really secondary to me because we have other methods that we can go about doing that. What's so critical to me is that all the surrogate habitat that rice fields provide in that time of the year to the Pacific Flyway, you've got shorebirds and waterfowl that are migrating, from Canada down to all the way down to South America, we are a stopping point, we're the trucks stopped for them, so to speak.
And they need that water out here to have as a place for shelter. And they also, the waterfowl at least, utilize the food source of rice residue that gets left behind in the field. Just little kernels of rice that fall off the plant when you're trying to harvest it, they find those, they root them out in the mud and they eat them. Not to mention the fact that the shorebirds who don't eat rice grain so much as they eat organisms. Well, you have a flooded field, you've got all sorts of bugs and invertebrates swimming around out there. And that's a fueling station for those birds too. So they rely on this area for generations as a place to stop, refuel, rests, nest, all sorts of things like that. But if this is a dry landscape, it's not going to work and I don't know what's going to happen, but it is something that is of a deep concern to all of us.
Jim Morris: Millions of ducks depend on the Sacramento Valley for food and arresting place. And the water situation is currently dire. Jeff McCreary is a biologist and director of operations for Ducks Unlimited's Western Region. Jeff, your concerns in this area?
Jeff McCreary: We're facing an unprecedented drought. This is not just a drought that's in California. It's a Pacific Flyway drought. It's a Western drought and it's affecting birds all across this part of the country. What we're seeing here is an unfolding disaster, right in front of our eyes from a waterfowl perspective, waterfowl need water, and that water is typically in wetlands and winter flooded rice. This year we're seeing reductions in both of those, in the acres of both of those.
Currently I see two issues. There's the ongoing issue in the Klamath Basin, where birds that are breeding in the Central Valley of California are flying to the Klamath Basin, where there is very little water and the risk of a botulism outbreak is imminent. And I would expect that we will see really bad news in the papers sometime soon on that. The second issue is what happens when the rest of the birds and those birds and Klamath Basin come to the Central Valley and the Sacramento Valley to winter. Is there going to be water on the landscape? All signs point to very, very little. Shasta, Oroville, Folsom, record lows. Some small irrigation districts will have water for rice, but really desperate times call for desperate measures. And we're going to need to do something more than just pray for rain.
Jim Morris: That something more we'll hopefully include help from the legislature and the governor to get more water for the flyway. A coalition of conservation, water and agricultural groups seeks $10 million to provide water for wildlife. Our California rice commission survey of growers indicates at the present time, less than 25% of the usual shallow flooded winter rice acres will have water on them this year. That is not enough to adequately support a healthy Pacific Flyway during peak migration.
Jeff McCreary: Well, there's an opportunity that hasn't existed in California for quite some time with some extra revenue that can be utilized to help with disaster. And typically when we talk about disaster, it's from a social standpoint, people are suffering. This is an environmental disaster in which people and wildlife are suffering. One opportunity and one of the few levers that we have, and it's a desperate lever to pull is to subsidize groundwater pumping, to supplement what little surface water is going to be available for both rice lands and many dwellers.
Jim Morris: Our conservation partners are so important for protecting wildlife in rice fields. And I'm in Petaluma at the headquarters of Point Blue Conservation Science, happy to see at the nearby park, some rice birds, a squadron of pelicans this morning, that was really cool. And a visiting with Manny Oliva, Chief Executive Officer of Point Blue. Manny has degrees in mechanical engineering. He's worked at the Foreign Ag Service, at USDA, and his passion for nature was fueled while growing up in Guatemala. Manny, thanks so much for your time. And I know we don't have [Matts 00:08:44] or Scarlet Macaws in our local rice fields, or I haven't found them yet, but what are your thoughts about the Pacific Flyway and the important role rice fields play for habitat?
Mani Oliva: We're very lucky here in California to have these amazing birds here as part of the Pacific Flyway and rice fields are mainly important to these species and these birds. One of the things that we have to remember is that the Central Valley has lost over 90% of its wetlands over time. And I think that's a really important number to remember, 90% of the wetlands are gone. And the idea that these birds are a declining species in North America, the Central Valley hosts over 5 million waterfowl and half a million shorebirds. And having this concept are having these rice fields. These flooded rice fields work in tangent or work in width. These natural wetlands provides this amazing habitat for these birds. It's really critical. And we've already proven that flooded rice fields are amazingly powerful wetlands for these birds. I also want to sort of, as a tangent, bring these birds being part of the local areas and local systems brings, is big for the economy, it's big for culture and for producers as these birds are also helping to decompose rice straw and creating that healthy environment that we want.
Jim Morris: We have a concern this year because of the drought. And what thoughts do you have as we're going to head into the big migration time, millions of birds depending on rice and some water out there. And it's super challenging right now.
Mani Oliva: It is super challenging right now. And millions of birds will be arriving and they're going to be tired and looking for a place to rest or look into refuel or looking to settle in for the winter. And there's likely not to be enough habitat for them. So some are going to try to move, and they're going to be using energy, energy that they do not have, and that makes them more sort of vulnerable to predation or other kinds of hazards. As well as these habitats, also, as they're squeezed in, are opportunities for diseases like cholera or botulism that we have to be careful for. But one of the things that we have to remember, it's not just this one year that we're dealing with, we're dealing multiple dry years, and that has a cumulative effect on these species. So we're all looking also, trying to understand what is the long-term effects of all of these dry years on these species over time.
Jim Morris: Through our partnerships and creativity, we're trying to help this drought situation to get a little more water on the landscape. How much do you value these creative partnerships between rice growers and organizations like Point Blue.
Mani Oliva: Honestly, none of this work could happen without these partnerships. We all have these gifts to bring, we all have these diversity of thoughts that are really important to solve these complex problems. We really needed this as all of us are the diversity of thought to really think through what are the opportunities and what are the challenges to the solutions that we can offer? Droughts to hard for everyone. They're hard for people. They're hard for birds, fish, even the bugs, all of these in it. What we need to do is we have this diversity of thought around how can we best resolve these issues? And come up with the proper solutions. Point Blue as an organization, we believe in this multiple benefits solutions, how can our natural resources provide multiple benefits? But the challenge is really is, how do we do this in continually growing pressures? And that just puts more emphasis on collaboration and diversity of thought and just working together. And we're proud to offer our science to the community and work together to help make this happen.
Jim Morris: Visiting with Senate President pro Temp Toni Atkins. And you've met with rice growers, and you've been out to the fields. There's certainly more to California rice than providing America's sushi rice. What are your thoughts about the important role Sacramento Valley rice fields play for wildlife?
Toni Atkins: Well, first and foremost, let me tell you, I love sushi rice, Jennifer and I partake a lot. I think California rice fields make an ideal environment for so many species of fish and birds. I'm proud that our state is home to a long stretch of the Pacific Flyway and millions... We know millions of migratory birds make their way through our skies every fall, every spring, and they need a place to rest and recover on that journey and rice fields support native fish as well. And I think it's important that people know that Chinook salmon, it mimics the floodplains that historically have served as breeding grounds provides a rich source of food for fish and birds alike for thousands of years before even the area being reshaped by development. So there's so many reasons to recognize the role that rice plays in California.
Jim Morris: And our ecosystem is very special in California, and it certainly is a challenge this year with the drought. So what concerns do you have specifically for those millions of birds that are traveling through the Central Valley later this year and the potential that there may be little water on the landscape during this peak migration period?
Toni Atkins: I'm very concerned. I think we should all be concerned. We've seen the devastating wildfires, the smoke, the strain on our energy supply. And now we're certainly in the middle of another historic drought. We seem to say that more and more frequently. Climate change is here, it's real. And it's challenging our ability to produce food and energy. Particularly as we face immediate climate impacts, we have to work together and we have to work together to find solutions that are going to protect vital habitats, while at the same time maintaining a healthy agriculture industry. I think rice farmers know as well as anyone that it's not fish or farms, protecting ecosystems is just as critical for our own health, our own sense of wellbeing, as it is for wildlife that call California home.
Jim Morris: I mentioned about working together. There is a legislative option that could provide additional water to rice fields this fall in case the drought continues. And what are your thoughts about working to ensure that we do not have a collapse of this invaluable ecosystem in the Sacramento Valley?
Toni Atkins: I'm really proud that this year, the legislature and governor have made truly historic investments in climate resilience, certainly protecting wetlands and working lands, conserving ag land and advancing historic funds for a drought package to help farmers through these trying times. But I think it's really likely that this drought will continue into the fall. I know that we have some optimism that next year will be an El Nino year, which will bring more rain. But the reality is that we're likely to experience more sustained droughts as the world gets warmer. That's the impact of climate change. I think we're going to face some very difficult decisions ahead because of it. We're going to have to engage the ag industry, even more so than we have in the past. We're going to have to look to science and we're going to have to work with community and my counterparts here in the Capitol to see what we can do to protect farmers and to maintain critical habitat. So I'm committed to that. I remain committed to that. I think it's important. And I really appreciate the time to talk about this things.
Jim Morris: Hopefully help for the Pacific Flyway will come from the legislature. Hopefully the drought will end sooner than later. Thankfully, passionate people are committed to do what they can to help wildlife endure this challenge. That we'll wrap up this episode. Thank you to Senate pro Temp Toni Atkins, Manny Oliva, Jeff McCreary, Kurt Richter, David Guy, and Eileen Javora for their comments and expertise. You can find out more at podcast.calrice.org. We also have a special drought page set up at calrice.org, which has a lot of information on impacts to California rice. We appreciate your comments, please subscribe and thanks for listening.
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The driest year in decades has been a jolt to much of California. Challenges extend beyond cities and farms, as wildlife is impacted by a sharp drop in habitat.
One saving grace in the Sacramento Valley is the continued creativity and collaboration between rice growers and conservation groups.
Millions of ducks depend on areas rice fields and adjacent wetlands, and there is a concerted effort to help them make it through the drought.
One helpful program from the California Ricelands Waterbird Foundation in partnership with the California Rice Commission and California Waterfowl involves protecting seasonal upland nesting habitat on rice farms and tracking nesting ducks that use the fields. One of those working to help ducks is biologist Marina Guzman of California Waterfowl; who is passionate about helping wildlife.
Marina and colleagues spend many hours in the field, chronicling ducks and their nests. Small transmitters are even placed on some hens, to track their movements and behaviors. Every observation is key to building a better understanding of how to provide these beautiful birds their best chance of survival.
âWeâre learning a lot,â she commented. âThis study documents nesting ducks in ag, which hasnât been done since the 90s, so getting all of the information, all of the pieces and having everyone work together will help the birds in the long run. Itâs a lot of work, but itâs all worth it.â
Another key conservation partner is Ducks Unlimited. Regional Biologist Craig Garner is among those working hard to help maintain healthy duck populations. He says Sacramento Valley rice fields are critical to ducks.
âThe Sacramento Valley ecosystem is extremely important for waterfowl.â Garner said. âItâs primarily important for wintering waterfowl. The ducks that migrate south to overwinter in more milder climates hang out here in the Sacramento Valley, and then return north when it's warmer up north.â
Garner works with rice growers to improve habitat conditions on the ground, including water use efficiency â especially important when water is scarce.
A future area of concern is ensuring sufficient water in rice fields during the peak Pacific Flyway migration. After harvest shallow water helps decompose rice straw â providing vital habitat. There is a lot of discussion to try to ensure ducks and other rice field visitors will have a place to rest and refuel during their long journey later this year. December is the peak month for ducks in our region.
âThe Sacramento Valley is unique for many reasons,â he remarked. âThe complimentary benefits from having natural habitat and benefits provided by rice are just amazing. The agricultural community is very important for many reasons, but fall-flooded rice fields provide benefits to numerous species â not just ducks. Itâs amazing to see, not only the ducks out here, but the wading birds, the amphibians and frogs - everything that uses these wetland habitats.â
Episode TranscriptMarina Guzman: We're heading out to do some trap tries. We're going for a Mallard and two Cinnamon's.
Jim Morris: It's another busy day for Marina Guzman, Biologist with California Waterfowl at Conaway Ranch, a rice farm in Yolo county. Marina and others are studying duck nests in cover crops on this rice farm and the news is not always good. Today has been a tough day, but this is key research, especially during this drought.
Marina Guzman: We found this nest about seven days ago, she's incubating around two days, so now she should be about nine days. She still has about 20 more days ago, a little less than that, 19 more days ago. She got depredated.
Jim Morris: What got the eggs?
Marina Guzman: I'm assuming the way it's dragged out and how the eggs are, it could be a little mammal that comes and just pokes his nose right through the egg. They're all on the side, right? So usually avian birds, raptor birds will carry the eggs away where a mammal will come and eat it at the nest. So hopefully the hen got away. It looks like she did.
Marina Guzman: This field has about 13, 14 checks. It's 176 acres. So it just goes on forever.
Marina Guzman: Oh no. Oh no.
Jim Morris: Too close for it to be�
Marina Guzman: Yeah, for it to be there. We know that these fields are getting hit hard by something, and so we want to figure out whether it's a coyote, a fox or ravens, and if it is, how can we help?
Jim Morris: Have you always been an optimist or have you learned to be one when you're out here looking at the nests?
Marina Guzman: I started off really well, like I was like, "Yeah, all the birds are going to make it, all the ducklings are going to make it." And then reality hits and it's like, but you can't give up you know. Sometimes they do make it and you get really excited, yeah, that made it, yeah. But there's no point in giving up
Jim Morris: Welcome to Ingrained, the California Rice Podcast. I'm your host, Jim Morris, proud to have worked with California farmers and ranchers for more than 30 years to help tell their stories. And there are no two ways about it, this is a tough year. It will take ingenuity to get through. But fortunately there is plenty of that in our region. Marina Guzman is a biologist with Cal Waterfowl and Marina, before we get into the work that you're doing in the field to help ducks, let's talk a little bit about your background. You're the first one in your family with a college degree. Can you tell me about that?
Marina Guzman: My family migrated from Mexico out here. I'm one of the first among with some of my cousins to be the first with a degree. I decided to go in the wildlife degree direction and then it's turning out well for me, actually. My whole family came out and there's a bunch of us, like 50 cousins and everything. So it was really exciting to have everyone there, especially my grandma to see her second generation to go and get a degree, you know, the reason why she came out this way, this far and worked so hard.
Jim Morris: So, tell me about what the work is that you do.
Marina Guzman: So we are doing a nesting setting, so we're basically seeing how many nests are using cover crop fields.
Jim Morris: Tell me about working with ducks. What do you like about that? Just spending some time with you, it's clear you have a big passion for them.
Marina Guzman: I love ducks. I'm so in tune with the nesting settings and the way mallards are using this land that I actually know where habitat or like I'll flush a bird, right? I'll flush a bird off a nest and to find the nest, you have to actually be like, okay, if I was a mallard, where would I hide? How much shade would I like, and what would I use? And so once you find those little key pointers, you're able to find these nests a lot quicker.
Jim Morris: While more is learned, there are successes that more than balance the challenges seen this year. The day after my visit with Marina, they found more than 10 active duck nests at Doherty Farms in Dunnigan, and they even placed a transmitter on a mallard. So researchers are soaking up additional knowledge that will pay dividends now and into the future.
Marina Guzman: Getting all the information, all the pieces and having everyone work together will help the birds in the long run. Whether this is like a sad year, a lot of depredation, it would be better in the future.
Jim Morris: How important are rice fields to the whole equation?
Marina Guzman: I was surprised to know how many rice fields and, just having those rice fields, birds really came into to that water. They really come and look for that water. You can have the most gorgeous fields, but if there's no water around and that's what rice fields provide is the water. If there's no water around, there's no birds. So rice allows the birds to come and key in to the land, whether it be on the side, the levees, or even the field adjacent to it, or like you see now across even a road like this, they'll travel up to three miles. We know like they'll travel up to like a mile, mile and a half, up to three miles to get to water. So having those rice fields close to dry upland fields like this, is super important for their survival, not only when they're laying, but once the duckling are hatched.
Marina Guzman: Ducklings, as soon as they hatch, they're little snacks for anything that can put them in their mouth. The faster they're able to go into water, like a rice field, they're able to hide from predators and use that water to feed and to hide. So keeping both the ducklings and the hen safe from predators, especially since rice grows so quickly and so tall, it's able to protect them.
Jim Morris: I've learned a lot in our short amount of time, driving in the ATV, including the cinnamon teals are the fastest of the ducks that you work with. So what are some facts that people may not know about the ducks that you look at?
Marina Guzman: Cinnamon teal, mallard and gadwall would lay an egg one day until their average cut size. So normally mallards we'll do nine eggs. GAD will do 10, 11, maybe. And then cinnamon's would do a little more than that. Then once they have their clutch size or whatever clutch size they feel comfortable with, they'll start incubating and they'll incubate. Cinnamon teal will incubate to 24 days and then mallard and gadwall to 26. They'll take a nest break in the morning and a nest break at night. That usually starts around two, and then they'll come back right before dawn to keep those eggs warm at night and then stay throughout the night.
Marina Guzman: Tell me about transmitters that are put on ducks. That's wild.
Marina Guzman: Transmitters are always fun. If you're doing a nesting study, like obviously you're going to try to get some backpacks out. That's the whole point, right? And that's the key is having a backpack on a hen so that we can disturb her less. If once we have her in hand, we look at her, her age, we know her nest scene. And so we can put a backpack on her and then see where she goes, whether she is using this field, or is she using that field or where she's going. And then once her ducklings hatch, we know where they take them and whether they survive or not.
Marina Guzman: So say she has nine ducklings and she goes out, takes the nine ducklings and for whatever reason, something picked them up, they didn't like the water she'll come back and lay again. And we'll know where she nests already because she has a backpack. So backpacks are vital, vital, vital, vital for these projects.
Jim Morris: People may have the wrong impression of a backpack. It's not like the one my son would wear when he goes to school that's like 30 pounds or something. How small are these backpacks?
Marina Guzman: They are very small. The mallards, usually they take the backpack and they're just off, this does not bother me, I don't mind having this on me. And Gaddy's same thing. They'll just take the backpack and take off. So we always look for that, when we put a backpack on her, how well they're flying when they leave; it's suited nice so we have no future problems and then we can continue to get information for that hen for years, hopefully if she stays in the sun, because it's solar powered, those backpacks are solar powered.
Jim Morris: The drought will pass, we'll get to a better spot, and thanks to work that you're doing and others, these beautiful birds will still be here. So what joy do you have in all of this?
Marina Guzman: Oh, it's so much fun. I mean, people always tell me like, "Oh, you get paid to do this." And sometimes I forget that because I do get paid to do this, and it's a blast. I come out here every day with a positive attitude. I look forward to seeing these mallards, seeing how they're doing and how far along their nesting comes and whether they do walk away with ducklings, that's important to me. I want them to walk away with ducklings, that's the key is to have these nets hatch. Just being grateful to be out here and having fun, especially with good coworkers and good teammates that's what makes it everything. It's being able to get the data we get and then having a good time, having everyone in a good attitude.
Jim Morris: You have to be honest, have you ever dreamed about ducks?
Marina Guzman: No, I don't think so.
Jim Morris: You surprised me.
Marina Guzman: I mean, I go to bed thinking about my nest cards and I wake up thinking about my nest cards all day. That's literally the only thing. But no, usually during the field season, if I hit that pillow, lights out. I'm so tired after just running around, trying to catch these birds. A lot of people don't think how much work I am putting into these fields. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of work to try to catch these hens, but it's all worth it.
Jim Morris: I'm at the Norton Family Rice Farm, which is just about 10 miles from the State Capitol, visiting with Craig Garner, Regional Biologist with Ducks Unlimited. Craig, thanks for your time. Tell me a little bit about your background and the work that you do in the Sacramento valley.
Craig Garner: I'm originally from South Carolina, I'm a Clemson graduate. After graduation I moved west and started working for Ducks Unlimited. I started working for them at a Western regional office in 2006. I did a short time working around the Great Salt Lake, about four years working for Ducks Unlimited. I moved back to California in 2012, and I've been here ever since then.
Jim Morris: How does the Sacramento Valley ecosystem compare to the others that you've seen?
Craig Garner: The Sacramento Valley ecosystem is extremely important for waterfowl and there are numerous areas around the country that are important for waterfowl.
Craig Garner: The Sacramento Valley is primarily important for wintering waterfowl, the ducks that migrate south over winter and more milder climates, they hang out here in Sacramento Valley and then return north when itâs warmer up north. The Great Salt Lake is primarily a migration habitat, so as the birds are migrating south, they need places to stop and refuel and rest. Areas like the Great Salt Lake and other migration habitat areas provide food resources while they're migrating to the wintering areas.
Jim Morris: As a regional biologist, what are some of the projects that you have, and also Ducks Unlimited to try to maintain this duck population, particularly in a year like this it's really challenging with the drought.
Craig Garner: So my responsibilities are delivering DU's conservation mission in the Sacramento Valley. Simply that means working with private and public landowners to improve habitat conditions on the ground.
Craig Garner: We do a lot of habitat improvement projects, which includes improving water use efficiency. When you don't have much water, you want to use that water in the most efficient manner as possible. We do earth work projects, install infrastructures to help fill wetlands, drain them quickly if you need to get the water on and off fast, and use your water in the best way possible.
Jim Morris: How cooperative are the growers that you're working with on these steps?
Craig Garner: The growers are very receptive to that. Water is the most important thing to wetlands and rice. If without water, you don't have wetlands or rice habitat. So being able to use water is very important. In years like now when you don't have much water, it's even more important.
Jim Morris: As we look towards the fall and winter, that is a critical time with millions of ducks coming through here, what are your concerns about the state that we're at right now? I know we want it to improve, but it's a little bit daunting to think about the Pacific Flyway migration in a dry year.
Craig Garner: On an average year, the Sacramento Valley supports approximately three to 4 million waterfowl. These are ducks, and another three to four million geese. We primarily support those from managed wetlands and fall flooded rice fields. There's about just under 70,000 public and private managed wetlands in the Sacramento Valley in a normal year and about 350,000 acres of fall flooded rice lands in an average year. With that amount of habitat, we can support that population, no problem. Now, if those acres decrease to a certain level, then it becomes more challenging to support those high numbers of water fowl and geese for the entire winter that they're down here.
Jim Morris: Will there be an effort in the coming months, depending on how the weather shakes out to make sure there's at least a minimal amount of flooded acreage to make sure the duck population stays healthy?
Craig Garner: One important factor everybody can do, and they did this back when we had the five-year drought, if you're not going to get rice decomp water, put your boards in anyway, and when the rains come in November, December, you can capture that water and provide that habitat. The highest number of ducks and geese that arrive in the Sac Valley peak in December. So if you can capture some of that rainwater, we can still provide some of the habitat needed by these birds.
Jim Morris: And you mentioned decomp. So at the end of harvest, a little bit of water is put in the fields and that helps decompose the rice straw, which is an important part of the growing season. When we look at the ducks and you were out here in the fields and you see them, what goes through your mind? I saw several pairs this morning. It always gives my heart a little bit of a rush to see that.
Craig Garner: The Sacramento Valley is unique for many, many reasons, but you know, the complimentary benefits from having a natural habitat and benefits provided by rice is just amazing. That agriculture community is very important for many reasons, but fall flooded rice fields provide benefits to numerous species, not just ducks. So that was amazing to see not only the ducks out here, but the wading birds and all the amphibians and frogs croaking and it just everything that uses these wetland habitats.
Jim Morris: That wraps up this episode. Thank you to Marina Guzman of Cal Waterfowl and Craig Garner of Ducks Unlimited for their time and comments. We also appreciate Ducks Unlimited, Cal Waterfowl and our many conservation partners who are helping rice fields be the best they can to help the environment. You can find out much more at Podcast.CalRice.org. We appreciate your comments, please subscribe and thanks for listening.
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The driest year California has experienced since the 1970s will have wide-ranging impacts in the West.
In the Sacramento Valley, a reduced water supply will lead to about a 20 percent reduction in rice plantings.
The loss of about 100,000 acres of rice fields has implications well beyond the farm level. The reduced plantings will impact rural communities that depend on agriculture as their foundation. Itâs also a concern for wildlife, which greatly depend on rice fields for their habitat.
Fortunately, rice growers are collaborating with conservation groups to get the most out of whatâs available.
âOver the last 150 years, over 90 percent of the wetlands that used to be in the Central Valley have gone,â remarked Julia Barfield, Project Manager with The Nature Conservancy. âThey've been lost to development and agriculture, and there's a shortage of habitat that birds migrating along the Pacific flyway need. And that is wetland habitat, specifically shallow wetlands for migratory shorebirds, which is a group of species that have declined precipitously in the last 50 years. And we are working hard to make sure there's enough habitat, especially in years like this that are really dry -- and there's not going to be much habitat on the landscape when they're migrating this fall.â
The Nature Conservancy has spearheaded two key rice conservation programs, BirdReturns and Bid4Birds, which have helped during past droughts.
âWhat we've found in the last drought,2013 to 2015, which was a critical period, was that the incentive programs, such as BirdReturns, provided 35 percent of the habitat that was out there on the landscape and up to 60 percent in the fall period during certain days,â said Greg Golet, a scientist at The Nature Conservancy who has spent years working to maintain and enhance shorebird habitat in Sacramento Valley rice fields.
This cooperation wouldnât be possible without rice growers being willing participants. For decades, rice fields have provided a vital link to the massive Pacific Flyway migration of millions of birds.
âI've been doing this for 40 years now, every farmer that I know is an environmentalist at some level,â said rice grower John Brennan, who works at several places in the valley, including Davis Ranches in Colusa. âWe're the ones that are out there in the environment. We're the ones that get to enjoy the birds. We're the ones that get to see habitat and all the excitement that it brings to the landscape. But on the other side of it, we need to make sure that rice stays relevant in the state of California. And so, we're not going to be able to maintain this habitat, as habitat. There's not enough money in the state of California to do that. We need to come up with a farming program that does both, that provides food and provides habitat.â
As summer approaches, the value of rice field habitat â especially during drought -- will grow right along with Americaâs next crop of sushi rice.
The rice fields, complete with their diverse ecosystem, are a welcome sight to Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, who has worked on several fronts to bolster such conservation.
âIt makes me feel relieved,â she said. âIt makes me feel like there's hope. It makes me feel like there's the beauty that we have all around us in Northern California -- and then to appreciate every single moment of it, and not to take away, but to help enhance what we have and to continue it for our future.â
Episode TranscriptCBS 13 Newscaster 1: The drought impacting much more than how you water your lawn, but the way food is grown in the Sacramento Valley. CBS 13's, Rachel Wulff shows us the changes to a multi-billion-dollar industry that supports 25,000 jobs.
Fritz Durst: Farmers are eternal optimists. You have to be, to risk so much with so many things out of your control.
Rachel Wulff: Fritz Durst, trying to keep his spirits up in a down year.
Jim Morris: The past year plus has been difficult for our world, and now a significant new challenge has hit much of the west. Precious little rain and snow fell during fall and winter, leading to the driest year California has seen in generations.
As a result, there will be less rice grown in the Sacramento Valley this year. That has wide ranging impacts, including to birds that migrate along the Pacific flyway. But as the newly planted rice emerges and more birds arrive, there's at least a momentary lift during this difficult time.
Welcome to Ingrained, the California Rice Podcast. I'm your host, Jim Morris. I've worked with California farmers and ranchers for more than 30 years helping tell their stories. I'm at the historic Davis Ranches in Colusa, and even though drought has taken out about 20 percent of normal rice acreage, it is a beautiful time in our valley and an important one as well. Julia Barfield has been with the Nature Conservancy since 2010. After her undergraduate degree in English Literature and German, her early career was in publishing and editing, and then she made a big shift getting her graduate degree in biology with thesis work, including a field endocrinology and behavioral study on a nocturnal endangered species in a very remote field station in a desert grassland environment.
And Julia, you need to go back to publishing after you write that book because I'll buy two copies of it, it sounds like a wonderful book. So we went from pandemic to drought and that is certainly challenging for protecting the environment, but let's start with something positive being out here in the country. What are your thoughts when you're in and around the rice fields and you see all the wildlife?
Julia Barfield: Oh, it's so refreshing to get out, up here in the rice fields. And there's such a diversity of birds and we're out here today on Davis Ranches, and you can hear bird song in the background, and it's just such a release after being cooped up in the last year.
Jim Morris: The Nature Conservancy has been contributing to this effort for many years, as well as some other conservation partners, and we're very grateful for that. So why is the Nature Conservancy using its time and expertise and resources to help wildlife in rice fields?
Julia Barfield: Well Jim, over the last 150 years, over 90 percent of the wetlands that used to be in the Central Valley are gone. They've been lost to development and agriculture, and there's a shortage of habitat that birds migrating along the Pacific Flyway need. And that is wetland habitat, specifically shallow wetlands for migratory shorebirds, which is a species that has declined precipitously in the last 50 years. And we are working hard to make sure there's enough habitat, especially in years like this that are really dry and there's not going to be much habitat on the landscape when they're migrating this fall.
Jim Morris: The Nature Conservancy has two specific programs they've worked with regarding rice farming and the environment. Tell me about those.
Julia Barfield: Back in 2014 during the last drought, we developed a program called BirdReturns. I just mentioned that there's been a huge loss in habitat in wetlands, in the Central Valley. And during migration season, which is early fall and late spring for migratory shorebirds, there's often few places for them to stop and rest and feed on migrations that can go anywhere from Alaska down to Patagonia. So these birds are long distance fliers and they need to refuel along the way. And so, to make up this habitat shortfall, we developed this program called BirdReturns, where we work with growers to flood their fields for a few weeks at a time during the most critical times of year. And we call these pop-up wetlands. And another way to talk about it is we often refer to them as an Airbnb for birds.
Jim Morris: And now there's a Bid4Birds. So tell me a little bit about that.
Julia Barfield: So, the Nature Conservancy is part of a formal partnership with two other conservation organizations, Point Blue Conservation Science and Audubon, California. And we are working closely with the California Ricelands Waterbird Foundation to create a BirdReturns like program called Bid4Birds. It's the same kind of concept where we ask growers to submit bids to participate in the program, and we select growers who have the best quality habitat for the lowest price.
Jim Morris: Tell me a little bit about working with growers, that's obviously a key element to make sure these programs are successful.
Julia Barfield: Yes, the growers are a key component and since the beginning of doing burn returns, we work closely with the rice community and rice growers have been close partners for us. And the idea is that this is a win-win approach. So, by working with the growers, we are able to help promote their long term farming operations and also create habitat for birds. And we are kind of both an organization, if you will, where we want to have benefits for both people and nature, and rice growers are a very important part of this work.
Jim Morris: Also here on the farm is Greg Golet, who has a PhD in Biology and an MS in Marine Sciences, and you spent time in Alaska with the US Fish and Wildlife Service as a wildlife biologist studying seabirds, sounds fascinating. And what type of birds did you study, and tell me a little bit about that Alaska experience.
Greg Golet: I went up to go to Alaska after finishing college in Maine, because I wanted to go to one of the wildest places I could possibly find and do research biology. And there I studied blackleg kitty wakes and then pigeon guillemots out in beautiful Prince William Sound.
Jim Morris: How long were you in Alaska and what was the most unusual thing that you saw, because Alaska is a very unusual place?
Greg Golet: They say you judge your time in Alaska based on the number of winters that you spend there. And I will confess that early on, I was going to Alaska for field research and then returning to warm Santa Cruz for grad school. But I did put in four and a half winters there before heading back to Northern California. The wildest thing I think that I ever saw in Alaska was out at my field camp, which was tucked up in a fjord with a tidewater glacier at the head. The snow melted out beneath an avalanche cone and exposed this bear that had been taken out by a slide in the winter. And over the days we would go there and look at the various animals feeding upon it, including wolverines.
Jim Morris: Oh, my goodness, Julia has a second book, she's going to need to work on too. So that's pretty amazing. And the rice ecosystem, doesn't have what you just described, but it is very diverse, and I think surprising to people. So tell me a little bit about your time in the rice ecosystem and some of the things that you've seen.
Greg Golet: In Alaska, it was incredible because I had these remote experiences out in wild country where I saw incredible nature spectacles. But in the rice landscape, we see that as well. What's interesting to me about it, is that here it's a human dominated, managed, highly altered ecosystem. As Julia was mentioning, 90 percent of the historic wetlands are lost, and what's here is all tightly controlled with water allocations and specific management practices. But yet, when you do things right, you can see incredible responses of wildlife in spectacles, really as powerful as those that I had in Alaska with fields absolutely teaming with shorebirds. And of course the huge goose populations and so forth.
Jim Morris: Let's talk a little bit about shorebirds. Rice fields provide internationally recognized shorebird habitat, and tell me some of the species that you've seen out here.
Greg Golet: Well, we've seen many different species out here, and I'll tell you about a couple that I find to be extremely interesting. One is the Western Sandpiper and another is the Dunlin. And they're pretty similar, when you look at them, especially to the untrained eye, they might look just like these little brown birds. The Western Sandpiper only weighs about an ounce and the Dunlin isn't much bigger. Both of them breed up in the Arctic. Dunlin have a circumpolar distribution, whereas the Western Sandpipers are more just out on western Alaska, out by the Bering Sea. But what's really interesting and different about them, is that they have strikingly different patterns of migration. And so what that means is that when they head south for the winter, which both of them do, the timing is different. And so, the Dunlin typically come down, not until October, and then they spend the winter in the Central Valley and the rice country is extremely important to them.
Whereas the Western Sandpiper comes down early. They come down, they peak in July when they move through the central valley on their way south, and then they don't come back until April. So there's really hardly any overlap between these two species out in the field. And what that means for us as conservationists, and what we really have to pay attention to, is that we can provide habitat over that broad range of time so that we can meet the dependencies of both of these species.
Jim Morris: I find those shorebirds very interesting too, because I think almost every time I've seen them, they're eating. So they feed out of the rice fields as well as a place to rest. And so we are unfortunately in a drought situation. So how valuable are the rice fields in a year like this?
Greg Golet: Rice field habitat is phenomenally important to these birds in droughts, as well as in regular years. What we've found in the last drought 2013 to 2015, which was a critical period, was that the incentive programs, such as BirdReturns, provided 35 percent of the habitat that was out there on the landscape and up to 60 percent in the fall period during certain days.
Jim Morris: We've seen these dry years before, so do you have a degree of optimism that we're going to get past this, at some point?
Greg Golet: I absolutely do. One of the things that we have on our side is that this is a highly managed system. And so therefore we can pull the levers that we need to, to put the habitat out there, where and when it will be most valuable to the birds. And what we also have now is this emerging science that tells us specifically what the habitat needs are and therefore where to best place them for maximum return on investment.
Jim Morris: Essentially the Pacific flyway, that massive migration of millions of birds, even if we have a drought, you can't take a year off in terms of giving them the habitat in the Central Valley, right?
Greg Golet: When these birds stop in here, it's likely that they need to replenish their reserves rapidly. They need time to rest. They need to have the time with their other members of the flock to establish the social connections that they do at these stopover sites. Or they need to just have the opportunity to set up for an extended period as they overwinter.
Jim Morris: John Brennan is a rice grower, farm manager, Ag Business Management graduate from Cal-Poly, and one of those who has embraced wildlife friendly farming. John, why go the extra steps to help wildlife?
John Brennan: I've been doing this for 40 years now, every farmer that I know is an environmentalist at some level. And we're the ones that are out there in the environment. We're the ones that get to enjoy the birds. We're the ones that get to see habitat and all the excitement that it brings to the landscape. But on the other side of it, we need to make sure that rice stays relevant in the state of California. And so we're not going to be able to maintain this habitat, as habitat, there's not enough money in the state of California to do that. We need to come up with a farming program that does both, that provides food and provides habitat.
Jim Morris: And it is amazing any time of the year, but particularly in the fall and winter, the staggering amount of wildlife that are in rice fields. Is it something that you're used to? Is it still pretty impressive when you drive by and you see tens of thousands of geese in a field?
John Brennan: Oh yeah. I don't think you'll ever get used to it, especially when they lift off. And then I think the one thing that we talk about is when we first started talking to the migratory bird partnership, they would quiz us or quiz our growers because we manage a lot of different farm land, if we see shorebirds out there. And I would say, "Well, we see Killdeer." And I didn't realize that everything that we thought was a Killdeer, was a lot of different shorebirds, right? We just didn't recognize the difference. And now 10 years later, most of our growers have bird cards and can identify different birds, and they can tell you exactly where they see those birds, right?
John Brennan: Those birds are in one inch of water. Those birds are in mudflats. Those birds are in fields with deeper water. When we give the Bird Day out here at Davis Ranches, we've gone to a flooding program that we just fill up the field. So we fill it up fairly deep, 8 to 10 inches, and then we just shut it off and go to the next field and let it kind of draw down. So when you're out there at Bird Day, you'll see fields that are swans, pelicans, egrets, and then the next field, it'll be geese. And then the next field, it'll be ducks and the next field will be shorebirds. And the next field will be the little shorebirds. And you can just follow them around based on the depth of the water.
Jim Morris: Oh, that is awesome. And those who love Japanese cuisine know Nigiri is fish over rice. And the Nigiri Project is a little different. It's an innovative way to help salmon. This project with Cal Trout has been around for a long time and it has yielded promising results. So how can rice fields help salmon?
John Brennan: So, this whole discussion about getting fish out of the river onto the floodplain started in the late nineties. So the idea was we'd get more fish out of the river and onto the floodplain. And so, we actually bought the Knaggs Ranch to do the science out there. When they were talking about getting fish out of the Sacramento River and onto the floodplain, in the old bypass, all of the discussions were to put them over seasonal wetland habitat. And our argument was that, "Hey, we're in the rice business, these are the surrogate wetlands. We really just farm rice in the off season, the exciting season's the winter. There's no reason that the fish wouldn't do the same over rice fields in the winter that they do over seasonal wetland habitat."
John Brennan: We named it then the Nigiri Project just to keep rice in the discussion, because we were going to do all the science on rice fields, and we didn't want people to forget about the rice, that's why we named it, the Nigiri Project. And so what the project has really shown is that when you get water out there on the floodplain, even though it's been farmed to rice, we still maintain all of those same benefits or can establish, or can garner all those same benefits that you get out there over the traditional floodplain.
Jim Morris: And I know that with our Pilot Project at the Rice Commission, that we're also working with UC Davis and Cal Trout, very encouraging results. And there's also growing fish food in the rice fields of the Sacramento Valley and returning that to the river. So very exciting work for salmon. And hopefully there will be progress there, and rice fields will be able to serve salmon just like they are birds right now. So it's a great time for the environment, when you look at Sacramento Valley rice fields. And on that subject, what do you think the future is for wildlife friendly farming in the Sacramento valley?
John Brennan: I think for the rice world, there's a tremendous amount of promise.
Jim Morris: We've been talking about helping out, not only growing the crop, which supports a lot of different communities and infrastructure in the Sacramento Valley, there's also the environmental needs, birds and fish. So it's a pretty big juggling act this year, I would imagine considering we have a drought.
John Brennan: This year, it started off dry and it stayed dry. And so we have all of these environmental conditions that we want to meet on our farm with flooding and some of the habitat that we create and provide here. But then also in the river system where our water supplies are dependent on meeting certain environmental factors with the cold water pool and flows and everything else, and so navigating that and being part of that discussion. But we're rotating out of rice on about 20 percent of our acreage and that complicates things. And that a lot of this is contracted, we have a lot of specialty varieties out here, we're moving fields around. And not knowing exactly which fields are going to have water and which fields aren't going to have water, is also a complex issue for most of the mills to stay up on.
And then we have the infrastructure. I mean, we own the dryer there in Robbins. We're going to be at about probably two-thirds capacity. Most of the mills are probably going to be at about two-thirds to 80 percent capacity. And so, keeping the industry healthy and then serving all of our clients, I mean, people buy this rice every year and once we lose out on markets or don't supply rice to the markets, they go somewhere else. And then if there's water next year and we're in business again next year, we have to go out and try and get those markets back again. It's a roller coaster ride and there's more than just the fields to think about.
Jim Morris: We're at Conaway Ranch in Yolo County and California Waterfowl Association just released Mallard ducks. They're trying to maintain and enhance that population. Assemblymember, Cecilia Aguiar-Curry is out here. How important are rice fields to help the whole process of preserving our environment, particularly in a year like this, where water is so short?
Cecilia Aguiar-Curry: Well, the importance I think is just that number one is that after we collect the eggs and they grow and our little ducks grow, there's got to be a place for them to go into the water. And today we just released them into the water, but I'm concerned that with the drought, if our rice farmers are going to be able to do that, and to help us during this period of time. But that's why winter flooded rice is so important.
Jim Morris: And in Northern California, in the Sacramento Valley, in particular, when you see that wildlife in the rice fields, all the birds, how does it make you feel?
Cecilia Aguiar-Curry: It makes me feel relieved. It makes me feel like there's hope. It makes me feel like there's the beauty that we have all around us in Northern California and then to appreciate every single moment of it, and not to take away, but to help enhance what we have and to continue it for our future.
Jim Morris: That wraps up this episode. Thank you to CBS 13 Sacramento for granting us use of an excerpt and the rice coverage. And thank you to our interviewees, Assemblymember, Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, Julia Barfield and Greg Golet with the Nature Conservancy and rice grower, John Brennan. You can find out much more information about California rice, including a link to all of the podcast episodes, and you can also find a special page we've set up with the latest on impacts of the ongoing drought. All of that, and more are at calrice.org, that's calrice.org. Thanks for listening.
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The coming weeks will be busy in the Sacramento Valley, as highly-skilled pilots plant this yearâs rice crop.
Farmers are no stranger to challenges, and this year is no different. Below-par rain and snowfall have led to water cutbacks of at least 25 percent valley wide, which will lead to an as yet undetermined drop in rice plantings.
âThere are a lot of fields that wonât be planted on my farm and throughout the state because of a lack of water,â said Sean Doherty, rice grower in Dunningan. âThatâs what you do in years like this. You cut back and work with what you have.â
Less rice planted has repercussions beyond farms and mills. Rice is an integral part of the Sacramento Valley, providing more than $5 billion to the economy and 25,000 jobs. Rural communities that depend on farming will be impacted, as well as the environment â fewer rice fields planted means less habitat for hundreds of wildlife species.
âEvery year, weâre concerned about species that are already listed as threatened, endangered or species of concern,â said Meghan Hertel, Director of Land and Water Conservation at Audubon California. âUnfortunately, in a drought, itâs not just the species of concern that weâre worried about â the ones with the low populations â weâre also worried about common birds.â A recent study from Cornell University study estimates a plunge of the overall bird population by three billion over the last 50 years.
She said rice fields are vital for wildlife, especially in a dry year like this one.
âEvery year, rice fields are important for habitat,â she said. âThatâs because, in the Sacramento Valley, weâve lost 90 to 95 percent of our natural habitat, so much of the ground that birds and other wildlife are using is actually in active rice production. We call it surrogate habitat for birds and wildlife, and in some cases itâs providing two-thirds of the diet of wintering waterfowl.â
She said this dry year will mean birds will have to congregate on the fewer acres where water is on the landscape, which means less available food for wildlife.
Hertel said there is excellent collaboration in the Sacramento Valley, to support farms and the environment. âPartnerships, communication and collaboration are key. Working together, we can make the best of what we do have.â
Collaboration is also a key to helping the stateâs struggling salmon population.
Jacob Katz, Lead Scientist at Cal Trout has been working with rice farmers and water districts for years now, and said tremendous progress has been made to help salmon. He said rice fields can be used to mimic the incredibly productive wetland habitats that were in the Sacramento Valley before it was developed.
âIt means slowing water down across the floodplain,â he remarked. âIt means spreading it out, creating the puddles that typified the floodplain wetlands before development of the valley, thatâs similar to the surrogate wetlands that rice fields are managed as. What weâve found is those fields fill up with fish food, with bugs. It only takes three weeks or so to go from a dry field to a shallow, wetland-like environment, and three weeks later itâs teeming with bugs, with fish food. Weâve been working with farmers, water suppliers and reclamation districts to grow the food on these fields, but then to actively drain it back to the river where fish can access it in dry years like this. Thatâs a really important piece.â
âThereâs extraordinary room for optimism,â he added. âWeâve shown that the Sacramento Valley can be resilient, can produce benefits for both people and for the environment. Look at the bird response over the last 30 years, as rice growers and water suppliers came together to offer our feathered friends some semblance of the habitat that they evolved in, that they were adapted to. And those birds recognized those flooded rice fields as wetlandsâŠ. We can do the same thing for salmon. We have every evidence to suggest that thatâs true. That if we hit every link in the salmonâs life history, if we connect their juvenile and adult life phases, we can have a phenomenal response from our fish populations.â
Water management is always a balancing act, but the job is especially challenging this year.
Thad Bettner is General Manager of the Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District, the largest water district in the Sacramento Valley, spanning 175,000 acres, including rural communities, many rice farms and three federal wildlife refuges. He is navigating through several subjects, including potential voluntary agreements and water transfers.
He said longer term additional water storage would pay major dividends in future dry years.
âWater storage would be huge,â he said. âWe are looking at Sites Reservoir⊠we believe the time is now for that. One of the great things about Sites Reservoir is itâs downstream from Shasta Reservoir, so it provides this midstream benefit of being able to regulate the system and really manage for multiple benefitsâwater supply, meeting the needs of the environment and carryover storage. Sites would help meet all of those goals.â
Jim Morris: May in the Sacramento Valley involves an interesting sight - high speed, low flying airplanes planting America's next crop of sushi rice. In fact, I have an airplane heading my way right now! And there is excitement with a new season, but this year is not without its challenges. Welcome to Ingrained the California Rice Podcast. I'm your host, Jim Morris. Proud to have worked with California farmers and ranchers for more than 30 years to help tell their stories. I'm in Sutter County, watching precision GPS guided planting, and it is an amazing site. Even with the benefits rice has to our cuisine, economy and environment, we are not immune from impacts of a dry year.
Jim Morris: There will be many things to keep an eye on during this dry year. One of them is the environment. And here in the Sacramento Valley, we're on the Pacific Flyway, so virtually every trip through this area, there are wonderful sites. I was at a farm this morning and they had a bald eagle sighting. So, that's great. However, this dry year won't be easy, not just for the cities and farms, but there are certainly pressure on our diverse ecosystem. Meghan Hertel is director of land and water conservation at Audubon California. And Meghan, as we have this dry year unfold, what are some of your concerns for wildlife?
Meghan Hertel: Water is essential, not just for human life, but also for wildlife. And here in California, we have a really interesting water cycle. So the rain falls in fall and winter, and it creates water in the ground, it feeds the habitat and it feeds the wetlands and the rice fields that birds are using. And then most of our waterfall is in the form of snowpack. And that snowpack is released throughout the year and used for our farms and cities, and also to create river flows and to serve the habitats throughout the year. And this year we didn't get rain and we don't have much snowpack. And that means impacts to our habitat and to our wildlife.
Jim Morris: Are there particular species you'll keep a watch on as the year unfolds that you're especially concerned about?
Meghan Hertel: Every year we're concerned about species that are already listed as threatened or endangered or species of concern. So great examples of this are the salmon, least bell's vireo, from the bird example, or yellow billed cuckoo. Also, the giant garter snake, which we find frequently throughout the Sacramento Valley associated with rice fields and wetlands. But unfortunately in a drought, it's not just the species of concerns we're worried about, the ones with the low populations. We're also worried about common birds. So, Cornell University, last year released a study that showed in the last 50 years we've lost three billion birds, and it's not just the rare ones, it's actually the common birds. So in a year like this, where there'll be less habitat on the ground and less food for birds, we worry about those common birds as well.
Jim Morris: How important are rice fields in the equation, particularly when you're looking at a year when there's not going to be a lot of water naturally on the landscape?
Meghan Hertel: Well, every year rice fields are important for habitat and that's because in the Sacramento Valley we've lost 90 to 95 percent of our natural habitat. So, much of the ground that birds and other wildlife are using is actually in active rice production. We call it surrogate habitat for birds and wildlife. And in some cases, it's providing two-thirds of the diet of wintering waterfowl. So that's a big amount. Unfortunately in a year like this, we are seeing cutbacks, not just in race, but also in our wetlands. The water system that serves our rice serves our remaining wetlands as well. And so as we see the reduction of habitat, that means birds are going to have to concentrate in fewer areas and they're going to have less food.
Jim Morris: One of the ways I hope that is helpful, are these great partnerships between organizations like yourself, rice growers, and other interested parties in the Sacramento Valley. Comment a little bit, please on those partnerships and how valuable they are, particularly in a year like this.
Meghan Hertel: Absolutely. Partnerships, communication and collaboration are key. When there are not enough resources, particularly water, that's so important to all of us, to go around, we need to sit down and talk about how we use the limited amount of water that we've got. And that means using science to understand the trade-offs and then maximizing what water we have to reach multiple benefits. And so that's supporting farms, but also saving some water to support habitat, or looking for ways to put water out on the agricultural landscape that both grows food and also supports habitat. The choices won't always be easy, and we certainly are all going to feel a pinch this year and see cutbacks, but by working together, we can make the best of what we do have.
Meghan Hertel: One of the things we learned during the last drought, is that it's very important to work together, to come up with scientifically sound collaborative solutions, to put water on the landscape when and where birds needed. A great example of this is the Migratory Bird Conservation Partnership, which is a partnership between Audubon, the Nature Conservancy and Point Blue Conservation Science. We've been working with rice growers and water districts for almost a decade. And when the last drought hit, we were able to put special practices out, putting water on rice fields in spring and early fall to support migratory shorebirds. And there were days where it was the only water on the landscape for birds. And this just shows the importance of collaboration in hard times like drought.
Jim Morris: The farm we're at here in Sutter County, is dry, they're working the fields, but it will have rice in it. And this is one of the places that I have seen cattle egrets in their marvelous breeding plumage. It is exciting to see the wildlife. And one of my favorite times is nesting season of shorebirds. Tell me a little bit about that. Obviously there will be a little pressure with less land available, but it is a marvelous sight to see the avocets, stilts, et cetera. So what are your thoughts when you see shorebird nesting?
Meghan Hertel: It really gives me hope. It shows that, when we are able to provide habitat here, that nature responds and it wants to have a fighting chance. What we do on the landscape will decide the future of the Central Valley, both for people and birds. And the nesting is a perfect example. So when they are able to find suitable places to nest, that means future generations of birds will be here, and that's a hopeful sign.
Jim Morris: It's a very busy time here in the Sacramento Valley rice country with planting underway. I'm with Sean Doherty, a third generation family farmer headquartered here in Dunnigan, near the Yolo Colusa County line. And he farms in Yolo Colusa and Sutter counties with his wife, Melissa, their three kids and famous rice dogs Skeeter and Miss Vegas. So, Sean, what's happening on the farm right now?
Sean Doherty: Mainly right now, we are focusing on just putting water on the ground and getting the rice fields ready for water. We are not hurrying like we do in normal years, just because we're just not planning a lot of fields because we don't have the water for them. And so, consequently, we're just getting it done and we're not rushing and we're not working overtime, we're just watching our costs and trying to get this crop in as best we can. There's a lot of fields that aren't getting planted this year across the state, not just on my farm.
Jim Morris: When the water goes on to the rice fields and then seeding occurs, people may drive by and they see that water out there, but they may not fully understand the efficiency and the care that's involved in that water. Can you comment a little bit about that?
Sean Doherty: That's what we're doing today in these fields right now, in a lot of them as we are going out there and running these GPS controlled drag buckets and leveling our fields to level. And so when we flood it, that way we can cover the soil with as little water as possible. You're talking less than ankle deep. If you don't sink in the mud, just an inch or two skim across these fields is all we need.
Jim Morris: You mentioned the muddy conditions out there and I've had a shoe or two lost in a rice field when I didn't wear the right mud boots. So how important is that kind of condition for growing rice and using water efficiently?
Sean Doherty: It's bathtub out there. I mean, it holds water like no other soil. You just fill up the soil profile and it doesn't go anywhere. It doesn't go percolate deep underground into the aquifer. In most places, it takes forever to do that. It's just because our ground is heavy, heavy clay, and it's the same type of ground when it gets wet and you try and walk on it and you get 10 pounds of mud on each boot, that's the type of ground that we're growing our crop of rice in. And it's the best ground there is for growing rice because we don't lose the water deep. It just, you're filling up a shallow bowl, like a milk saucer, if you will, with a skim of water and then you're flying your rice seed onto that. And that's what we're working with. So it's really efficient for using that water. And there's a whole lot of multiple efficiencies that we're using across the state here to make the most of our water.
Sean Doherty: In my particular irrigation district, where I farm a fair bit of rice, is RD-108. And we have a recirculation system in this district where we can take water from the bottom of the district, and with two pumps, with two lifts, we can take water three quarters of the way back up to the top of the district and we reuse it again. And it allows us to a much more flexibility in these really dry years and to take less water off the river and leave more for the Delta outflows and for fish and for the environment when we operate this recirculation system. It's not something that you can do year in year out, because you'll have degrading factors with using multiple uses of recycled water, but in these really dry, critically dry years, this is something that we can do to benefit the environment as well.
Jim Morris: I'm continually impressed with the diversity of creatures that are out this way. And you've been great to send me photos. And we had a game camera up that captured a lot of the nighttime activity. So you live and work in this environment. Tell me a little bit about the wildlife and some of the things that you see.
Sean Doherty: Just this morning, a big flock of pelicans riding the wind, giant garter snakes are the hardest animal to get a picture of, because as soon as you see them on the side of the road or side of the ditch bank and you stop to take their picture, they're gone, they are so fast. Gopher snakes, all kinds of reptiles aplenty. Beavers, otters, wild turkeys, along the riparian corridors alongside where we get our water and where we deliver water out to the fields, pheasants, ducks, shorebirds, herons, cranes, you name it. There's muskrats. I really like being out here and being a rice grower, just because you can see all of that. And I'm happy to provide that for the animals and make a living doing it as well.
Jim Morris: And it is going to be a challenge for wildlife too. So, how important are the rice fields this year? Because there's even less opportunities for birds and all the other species that you talked about. It is very helpful to have that rice ecosystem in place.
Sean Doherty: I'm worried about having water for the waterfowl this fall and winter coming back into the Valley. And if we don't have the water to put on these fields and these ducks and geese and swans and all the raptors that prey upon those on the flyway, if the habitat doesn't return, I'm worried about what happens to them and the lasting damage it could cause. We have to figure something out, because you can't have the primary wintering habitat for the Pacific Flyway not show up one year. If I'm going to stress about anything more so than the farm, it's what's to happen to the flyway.
Jim Morris: I'm in Willows speaking with Thad Bettner, general manager of the Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District, the largest water district in the Sacramento Valley, covering about 175,000 acres. A significant part of that is rice ground. And GCID recently celebrated their 100th anniversary. And in the time I've known Thad, he's not one to stand still very long, especially in a year like this. So how does your work change during a dry year like this one that we're facing?
Thad Bettner: Jim like you said, there's no time to stand still. These years are certainly one of the craziest ones that we face. There's just a lot of work that we have to do both externally and internally, obviously just from an external side, really looking at the drought conditions, how they're affecting the state. We look at things like Shasta Reservoir, status of fisheries, our operations, and then we look internally about, well, what choices are landowners making? How do we serve the multiple needs that we have within our district, from crop needs to environmental needs, to making sure we're being good stewards of the groundwater. So, in a year like this, there's just a lot of decisions that need to be taken into account. And a lot of those decisions happen daily. So it's not just, you can make a decision, expect the rest of the year to play out, but we have to make those decisions on a daily basis.
Thad Bettner: We have about 175,000 acres, included in that is the three federal refuges. So working with them and their needs for water and getting water to them on a secure basis is a really important, but then all of our growers who need water from us, we need to make sure they have the information to make the decisions that they want to make this year. In these types of years, we know land is going to have to be idled because we just don't have enough water. So we want to make sure they have the tools to figure out how much land can they farm, what crops do they want to grow this year? How much water do they have to grow those crops? And then, we're also anticipating water transfers actually, which help us with operations and benefit the fishery.
Thad Bettner: So, do they want to participate in water transfer? So trying to get all that information out to them so they can make that decision is really important. And then obviously, the decisions they make affects decisions that we then make. And so, it is sort of a process where we have to kind of do a constant level of feedback with them, just to make sure they're up to speed on decisions that we're making and they're making.
Jim Morris: Water transfers, as you mentioned very likely this year, how helpful are they in terms of overall water management, including for the environment?
Thad Bettner: Well, first look, water transfers are tough. Certainly, there's economic issues resulting from that, there's jobs that may be affected, there are some impacts that water transfers cause. And so I think we want to make sure we're careful in how we consider them as a potential solution to some of our problems. And one of the unique things that water transfers off offer for us as a district, and I think for our customers, is that when we're trying to benefit salmon and particularly this case, winter-run salmon, the thing that we can do with water transfers is, landowners, when they fallow their field, they don't take that water. And what happens is we take that water and we actually leave it behind Shasta Reservoir through the season. And then we move that transfer water in the fall.
Thad Bettner: And one of the big benefits that we get is it actually increases the amount of water stored behind Shasta, where it also increases the amount of cold water thatâs store behind Shasta. And then that asset can be used to provide cold water downstream to the river, to protect winter-run salmon as they spawn. So, it helps her eggs incubate and then it helps out migrating juveniles. So it really has a huge benefit to the system overall. So, in these types of really tight years, water transfers provide that benefit of being sort of a reasonable balance of protecting fish and then making sure the balance of our lands within the district continue to be farmed.
Jim Morris: Another way you protect fish is your amazing fish screen. I believe it's the largest of its kind in the world. Can you comment about that?
Thad Bettner: In high school, I used to be able to run a quarter mile in a minute. And so, if you could run that fast, you could basically cover the length of our fish screen. So it is a pretty big feature. I have to say predecessors before me got that project done, it's been in existence now for almost 25 years and it's been just a solid asset for the district. I think one of the interesting things is, as that project came about, there just wasn't a lot of knowledge known about fish screens, how to build them, how to make sure that they would provide a benefit to the species. So, I think our fish screen was kind of one of the first of its kind and really was a test case and a testbed for a lot of decisions that fishery managers had never needed to make before.
Thad Bettner: And I think one of the exciting things is, one, that it's been a successful project. And then two, a lot of the other fish screen projects that are built on the Sacramento River, and I think other places in the country, have actually utilized a lot of the information that was gleaned from the actual construction of our project. And as well, some of the adaptive management. It was built, I think they got probably 85 percent of it right, but there was some about 15 percent of things that we've tweaked along the way to make it a better operating facility and continue to provide better protection for fish. And I think those lessons learned have helped other projects again, like in our area and other parts of the United States.
Jim Morris: Besides fish, there's also a really vibrant environment in the Sacramento Valley with the Pacific Flyway. How important is it to maintain that environment?
Thad Bettner: We take seriously a lot of managing the trade-offs and decisions that we have to make. And certainly continuing to protect the Pacific Flyway and the needs of birds moving up and down this part of the Western US, is important. And the Sac Valley plays a huge part of that. So we talked about fallowing earlier. We don't take lightly the fact that when we fallow lands, a good chunk of that is rice. And so, that's the food that these overwintering birds are relying upon. And so really our goal is to make sure that we leave as much land in production. So, while we're doing transfers, some land's coming out, but really the goal is to keep the maximum that we can to provide that food base for the Pacific Flyway.
Thad Bettner: So, when we do years like this, we make sure acreage is spread around. So birds have places to fly. We coordinate with the local refuges and ask them, "Hey, where do you want lands? Where would it be okay to fallow lands or idle lands in here, versus what lands would you want to be in production?" Just because we know that every night you see birds fly off the refuge, they go out and they forage out in the rice lands. And during the day they fly back to the refuge. So the managers know how these birds are moving back and forth locally. So we really tried to make sure as we do some of the fallowing, we're focusing on the needs of the Pacific Flyway and what those birds need.
Jim Morris: Our environment is impressive in the Sacramento Valley. I saw two bald eagles this morning in Willows, and we also offer significant habitat for the threatened giant garter snake. So, so glad that this effort is continuing. And in a dry year like this voluntary agreements have come up as a topic of discussion. Can you comment about what they are and how they may help?
Thad Bettner: Voluntary agreements is really what we believe is the right solution for the State Water Resources Control Board update of the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan. And the board has really been looking at what they've called their unimpaired flow approach, which is, "Hey, we'll just take a percent of the flow in the river, we'll leave it in the river. And that'll fix a lot of the fishery problems that we have." And we just don't believe it's that simple of a solution to fix. It's a lot more complicated in terms of timing of flow, we need a lot more habitat that we currently don't have. And then we need a solid base of funding to get a lot of these projects done. So we've put together voluntary agreements as a proposal, and as an alternative, and we think our preferred alternative to that unimpaired flow approach, in 2020 the state had put out a proposal, what they believed was a voluntary agreement package.
Thad Bettner: And then unfortunately we got COVID, a month and a half later we had fires, and fortunately no floods this year, so we're in drought. But I think we had about everything else pop-up that sort of just distracted us from getting back in the room and trying to get voluntary agreements done. So starting in about August, we got together with the water user community, and we really worked on our own version of what we thought was the right package to move forward and kind of had been working on that and telling the state we're ready to meet with them and kind of waiting for them to get back to us.
Thad Bettner: And then oddly enough, right in the midst of a lot of this drought, decision making that we need to do, the state called us week and half ago and said, "Hey, we're ready to start meeting and let's get going on this." So, now as we speak, we're actually starting the conversations back up with the state to see if we can get a voluntary agreement package moving again. And obviously, we're hoping not to do this in the midst of a drought because it just means that we're trying to tackle other problems too, but we're trying to add this to our plate and see if we can't get this done.
Jim Morris: Sleep is overrated this year, I guess. So we have the short-term issues that we're talking about, voluntary agreements, water transfers, obviously always maximizing efficiency. Looking longer term, how helpful would additional water storage be and who would benefit from that?
Thad Bettner: Water storage would be huge. I think obviously we're looking at Sites Reservoir, one, it sits next to us. We've been involved in this project for decades. So we believe kind of the time is now for that. And I think one of the great things about Sites Reservoir is, it's downstream of Shasta Reservoir. So it kind of provides this middle, midstream benefit and being able to regulate the system and really manage for multiple benefits. So, we've talked about water supply, meeting needs of the environment, carryover storage. So looking at not just this year, but next year. Sites would really help meet all of those goals. So we really think it provides a lot of benefit. And, in a year like this where we're challenged with temperature and flows for a winter-run, Sites Reservoir would help integrating the system and provide those benefits too.
Jim Morris: I'm in Knights Landing, one of the areas that's a hotbed for some interesting and promising research to help salmon, not only a key part of our environment, but a key indicator of water issues in our state. Jacob Katz is lead scientist at Cal Trout, an important partner in preserving and enhancing salmon in California. Jacob has a PhD in Ecology from UC Davis. And I have to say, perhaps a greatest opening line, short of âCall me Ishmael,â your bio starts with, âJacob was born with gills.â That is so cool. And Jacob, pivoting to the dry year we're having, there are some concerns. And what are your thoughts for our Sacramento Valley as we head into a dry year?
Jacob Katz: A dry year like this is a tough year to be a salmon. We've got used to the fact that it's our flood years happen maybe every two, maybe four lucky, three out of every 10 years, that prop up our salmon populations. And it's years like this one that are really rough because the Sac River and the other tribs are down low in their levees and those rivers are just real tough places to be a fish, when there's very little habitat, when the water is low and clear and tends to be warm pretty early. So yeah, this is exactly the kind of conditions where we really have to think out of the box, out of the levees, to get those fish as much food and habitat as we can.
Jim Morris: How can you do that?
Jacob Katz: Well, the field that we're standing in here, Jim, is one that River Garden Farms has been letting us trial some ideas with over the last four or five years. They've been a great partner as have a lot of the other growers in this region on the west side of the river, as well as over on the Sutter side, a lot of folks have been getting together to look at how we can use farm fields to mimic the incredibly productive wetland habitats that were here before the development of the Sac Valley for farms for our rural communities. So what's that mean? It means slowing water down across the floodplain, it means spreading it out. It means really creating the puddles that typified the floodplain wetlands before development of the Valley.
Jacob Katz: That's similar to the surrogate wetlands that rice fields are managed as, but what we found is those fields fill up with fish food, with bugs. It only takes three weeks or so to do that, to go from a dry field to a shallow wetland like environment. And three weeks later, it's teeming with bugs, which are essentially fish food. But unlike the ducks and the geese, which have rebounded because of their use of these surrogate wetland habitats, the fish don't have wings. They can't access that fish food out here on the floodplain. And so we've been working with farmers and water suppliers and reclamation districts to grow the food on these fields, but then to actively drain it back to the river where fish can access it in dry years like this. That's a really important piece.
Jim Morris: The very field that we're in. I have seen you and your colleague, Jacob Montgomery in there with beakers and the fish food, the zooplankton is absolutely unbelievable. You don't have to guess, you can actually see how much there is in there that could really help the fish. And how important is that this year when it's so dry out there?
Jacob Katz: You can just ask the fish, the fish that we have reared in these fields, they swim around with their eyes closed and their mouth open. We call it floating filet if you're a salmon, they are just... They're gorging on the protein production from these fields. These fields are really mimicking the incredible productive capacity of wetlands. Sunlight is being captured by plants, those plants then are broken down by microbes in the shallow water that's out here in a flooded field. Those nutrients then are taken up by bacteria. The bacteria are grazed upon by zooplankton, by small bugs, and those small bugs then are the foundation of the food web for fish. That's how the Valley makes salmon, how it once made salmon.
Jacob Katz: And so in a dry year like this, when there's very little out of bank flow in the river, when most of the river flow is stuck within those levees, it's critically important that we reconnect this energy source with the river, that we reconnect the floodplain food web, the energy that comes off these flooded fields back with the river. And that's exactly the program that we've been doing right here with RD-108 and River Garden, where we've been pumping this fish food-rich water back into the river and seeing how fast salmon grow on that
Jim Morris: RD-108 meaning, Reclamation District 108, which is about 30 miles north of Sacramento, and a very key player in terms of making things happen to help the environment. And it's going to be a difficult year, but is there reason for optimism when you look at some of the partnerships that have been formed here?
Jacob Katz: Oh, there's extraordinary room for optimism. It's already right here. We've shown that the Sac Valley can be resilient, can produce benefits for both people and for the environment. Look at the bird response over the last 30 years, as rice growers and as water suppliers came together to offer our feathered friends some semblance of the habitat that they evolved in, that they were adapted to. And those birds recognized those flooded rice fields as wetlands. And, in the midst of all of this doom and gloom, you hear about the environment. We're here in the Sac Valley, in the midst of this amazing recovery of waterfowl and waterbird populations, where when I was a kid in the Valley 30 years ago, not only was the sky black with smoke, but the birds were at all-time lows. And now, year in and year out, we get these really great counts.
Jacob Katz: The work that I've been talking about really can do the same thing for salmon. We have every evidence to suggest that that's true, that if we hit every link in the salmon's life history, in that chain, if we connect their juvenile and their adult life phases, we can have a phenomenal response from our fish populations. We've seen that in Butte Creek, and we can see it again in the Sacramento River, even in dry years like this, if we can re-imagine and re-operate our water and flood infrastructure to mimic natural processes to get this incredible food resource that is now stuck on the dry side of the levees, in these dry years we see that we can make it out here and move it back to the river where the fish can take advantage of it, where they can grow big and strong and have a chance even in dry years like this one.
Jim Morris: That wraps up this episode, but we will keep you posted as the year progresses. Thank you to Meghan Hertel, Sean Doherty, Thad Bettner, and Jacob Katz for their time and expertise. We appreciate you listening and we value your comments. You can go to podcast.calrice.org to find out more.
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Taro Arai has an electric personality. As Chief Dreaming Officer for Mikuni, with nine popular restaurants and sushi bars in Northern California, his enthusiasm and generosity are well known throughout the region.
But it wasnât an easy road to success. After arriving from Japan, the Arai family opened their first Mikuni restaurant in 1987. Reverend and Mrs. Arai prepared food in the kitchen, while Taro and siblings Noamichi and Keiko worked as greeter, busser and server. After a lot of hard work and perseverance, Mikuni continued to grow and prosper.
Their success has left an indelible imprint on Northern California.
Before the pandemic slowdown, Mikuni served more than 1 and a half million customers a year, utilizing about 20 tons of California rice every month.
Taro said he is continually humbled by their success and vows to maintain their approach of giving back to the community.
Mikuni has supported more than 80 charities. Their rescue rolls have raised tens of thousands of dollars for many who have suffered through disasters. Their golf tournament has raised millions of dollars for charity.
Why do so much?
âWithout God and our community, weâre not here right now,â Taro remarked. âWe need to give back. To be here, share the joy and help charity, Iâm living a dream right now. The least I can do is to go out every day, spread the joy and help others as much as we can.â
Episode TranscriptJim Morris: Welcome to a special bonus episode of Ingrained. I'm Jim Morris with the California Rice Commission, visiting with one of my favorite people on the planet, Taro Arai, Chief Dreaming Officer at Mikuni, a fantastic group of restaurants and sushi bars in Northern California. Taro is an author, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and one of the kindest people I've ever met. And I've often suspected you don't sleep, Taro, and now you're planning your daughter, Chiyoh's, wedding. So how do you balance all that?
Taro Arai: Ooh, I'm so excited. I've been waiting. I had a tuxedo ready two years ago, and also a speech for the wedding. I have been ready, so I'm excited about it. My wife keeps telling me, "It's not your wedding," so that's the thing I have to remind myself every day.
Jim Morris: That's awesome. Tractors are working in the fields, airplanes are flying over seed, there's a new season underway in rice country in the Sacramento Valley. You have seen this process firsthand, so what are your thoughts as we're starting a new season for rice in California?
Taro Arai: I love it, and also itâs a new season for my family too. Right? So getting marrieds great, but for me having a grandchildren, next generation of workers, that's exciting too. I love always something new.
Jim Morris: You have more than 50 different sushi rolls, so how important is it to have local, affordable, high-quality rice to work with?
Taro Arai: I mean that's everything. Sushi without sushi rice, that's not sushi! Of course, I grew up in a culture that rice is the most important thing in the food culture. Then I can't imagine without having rice, and also having a rice in our backyard, how blessed are we? We're spreading all over the love of rice to United States too. Right?
Jim Morris: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah.
Taro Arai: I mean I'm so proud of California rice, and I'm so fortunate to be here.
Jim Morris: You have seen the rice fields in Japan and probably have a lot of experiences when you grew up, so tell me a little bit about being a child in Japan and some of your experiences in rice.
Taro Arai: We used to play baseball on the rice field. Oh, I get yelled at because we make it dirt so hard while baseball season. And here when I went there, you see the big truck, the big airplane. I mean it's totally different way of raising rice here.
Jim Morris: And we owe so much to the Japanese culture, not only as one of our big customer bases, but also the Japanese varieties, Koshihikari, Akitakomachi, on, and on, so we are incredibly grateful for that relationship. Let's get to the here and now. We're sitting at your restaurant in Roseville and there's people here eating. It is so refreshing to see. But tell me a little bit about how the pandemic has been. It has just been really tough for restaurants.
Taro Arai: Toughest thing is we had an unknown future, so we couldn't plan anything. That was the hardest things for us. We don't know if we can open the restaurant, close the restaurants, and then all the employee are going through COVID protocol. I don't know. Every day we have a new challenges. It was a really long time suffering or overcoming this COVID thing. But meanwhile, my job was to encourage my managers. We don't want to just survive, but let's thrive in this, let's keep our hope, so that was my message to our managers all through this COVID season. And then we got a lot of benefit too through this. We learned so much about each individual managers, and also even sushi class too. I used to do 35 people max. Now I do a virtual, so we learn how to do the virtual sushi class. We did for 300 people the other day.
Jim Morris: Oh wow.
Taro Arai: So a lot of things. Through this we learn positive things, too.
Jim Morris: We are getting closer to maybe a full reopening, so how excited are you to get more people back in the restaurants?
Taro Arai: I'm excited, but I just want to focus on thanking our community since we're closed a long time, we had amazing support in to-goâs, curbside, I mean delivery. We never seen anything like it in the past. Like two, three hours of waiting they waited for us to deliver food. I mean I can't thank enough to our community. I can't wait to give back as much as we can in the future too.
Jim Morris: And you have given back considerably, tens of thousands of dollars to charities with your Rescue Rolls, and also I believe more than 80 charities Mikuni has supported. Why do you do it to that degree, especially in a time when it's hard to run restaurants?
Taro Arai: Without God, without our community, we're not here right now, so at least we can do is give back. For example, last August we had a golf tournament that was 25th annual. Middle of the pandemic, heat waves, smoke from the fire, they told us, "Please, you should just cancel it." But I said, "People still need money, help, so we have to have it. If we can get together, we do 4x4, just nine-hole tournament." So we pushed forward, and then we raised $300,000. That was a record breaking with a nine-hole tournament because people are so supportive here, and we ended up raising $2.5 million just from the golf tournament for charity. So anything we do, again, we can't do ourselves. We just make sushi. The community has to come together and support. That's why we could do amazing things.
Jim Morris: You have been rolling sushi for more than 35 years. Mikuni has more than one-and-a-half-million customers every year. That's pre-pandemic, and I'm sure you'll be back to that. So what keeps you motivated and positive? Our world needs more positivity right now.
Taro Arai: Every morning I wake up, first thing I thank God for, my life and then also people around me. I don't know. I kept thinking so many things that I can't wait to go out there and spread the joy that I have in me. So every morning I'm so passionate about it, just meeting people. I do a lot of private parties nowadays. I just can't wait to go out there and then share Mikuni's story because we don't deserve to be here. Coming from Japan with nothing, no friends, no language, to be able to be here and share the joy and help the charity, I'm living in the dreams right now. So at least I can do is go out there every day to spread the joy, help others as much as we can.
Jim Morris: Don't ever change, Taro. Thanks so much, Taro, for your time, and thank you for listening to this bonus episode of Ingrained. You can find out more at podcast.calrice.org.
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Tractors are working ground in the Sacramento Valley, as the 2021 rice season is underway.
Whether itâs farmers, those in cities or for the environment, this year will pose challenges due to less than ideal rain and snowfall during the fall and winter.
At Montna Farms near Yuba City, Vice President of Operations Jon Munger said they expect to plant about one-third less rice this year, based on water cutbacks. As water is always a precious resource in this state, rice growers work hard to be as efficient as they can. Fields are precisely leveled and will be flooded with just five-inches of water during the growing season. Rice is grown in heavy clay soils, which act like a bathtub to hold water in place. High-tech planting and harvest equipment also help California rice farms and mills operate at peak efficiency.
Expectations of less rice acreage will impact other parts of the valley â rural communities, allied businesses and the environment â birds and fish.
âThe Central Valley is arguably one of the most important waterfowl areas on the planet,â remarked Jeff McCreary, Director of Operations for Ducks Unlimitedâs Western Region. âItâs because of all of these birds coming down the Pacific Flyway⊠and when we think about the drought, itâs going to affect that wintering habitat. Is there rice on the landscape? Is there water for wetlands? How do we make sure that those populations are in as good enough condition that when they go back to the breeding ground, they can have a successful year.â
McCreary said rice fields are critically important for wintering waterfowl, supporting 60 percent of the food energetics these birds need. He said of all of the duck species, the Mallard is perhaps the most impacted by dry weather in California.
Another environmental concern during dry weather is the wild salmon population, which faces significant challenges. However, farmers, water districts, conservationists and others are working hard to find solutions.
âThe salmon rice work is among the most exciting work Iâve ever been a part of, âsaid Andrew Rypel, an associate professor and the Peter B. Moyle and California Trout Chair in Coldwater Fish Ecology at UC Davis in the Department of Wildlife, Fish & Conservation Biology. Rypel is one of the key participants in pilot salmon research, including raising juvenile salmon in winter rice fields, then releasing the fish into the ocean. So far, results with the project have been very positive.
Another key project to help salmon is putting a shallow amount of water on rice fields in the Sacramento Valley after harvest, which creates âfish foodâ- zooplankton â which is then released into the river to help feed wild salmon runs.
Water managers always have a balancing act to meet the needs of their customers, and dry years provide even more careful consideration. Lewis Bair, General Manager of Reclamation District 108 in the Sacramento Valley, is one of those navigating through this dry year, which includes creative approaches with water, including the likelihood of transfers.
âIn a dry year, our folks would still love to farm, just like they always love to farm,â he said. âBut in these types of years, we end up kind of sharing the pain by doing water transfers. Sometimes, itâs better to move water around for the whole system. You end up being able to achieve other benefits. It really is a short-term solution. We need to have a more reliable water supply for California, and Iâm hoping that the long-term vision and long-term investments will help reduce the need for those sorts of transfers.â
Bair said building Sites Reservoir would be a major help to the stateâs water future, providing new storage and flexibility to re-operate the system for water use efficiency.
âI think itâs the most promising thing we can do from an infrastructure perspective,â he added. Munger, McCreary, Rypel and Bair all have different responsibilities, but they share a common goal- to help our region withstand dry years, including a healthy ecosystem and sufficient water for cities and farms. They all agree that the level of cooperation is great in the Sacramento Valley, as evidenced by the scores of voluntary, collaborative projects that have been done to help maintain the Pacific Flyway and enhance the wild salmon runs.
Episode TranscriptJim Morris: Tractors are in the field and work is underway to prepare ground throughout the Sacramento Valley for rice planting. An old challenge has returned, one we faced in the past, that will impact virtually all Californians. The question before us, how to navigate through a dry year with subpar rain and snowfall?
Jim Morris: Welcome to Ingrained, the California Rice Podcast. I'm your host, Jim Morris, proud to have worked with California farmers and ranchers for more than 30 years to help tell their stories. Over that time, there have been years of abundant water and dry years, which provide challenges, and this is one of those years. I'm in the Yuba City area, one of many areas of our valley where fields are being prepped for rice planting. Jon Munger is with Montna Farms. John, what's happening out here today?
Jon Munger: Today we're starting our field prep with chiseling. It is opening the ground up. It's the first piece of equipment that we use since the rice fields have been flooded for the wintertime.
Jim Morris: Jon, looking at it from a longer-term perspective, what are your thoughts as you are going to enter your very busiest time of the year?
Jon Munger: Over the years, we've had many dry years. We've dealt with a COVID pandemic and, like we did last year, we quickly implemented the policies to keep all of our workers safe in the field and our workers that we have here, they're spread out quite well. They're driving their own tractors and we implemented policies last year that worked very well to keep everybody safe and we're planning to do the same this year. So, it's no different now rolling into the drought that we're currently facing. We've had dry years in the past. We always will get through them. It does affect our local rural communities. A lot of folks depend on the farming activities that we have out here. For our farm, we're looking at potentially growing a third less of our acres this year and that's definitely an impact.
Jim Morris: One thing people may not know about rice is of course we have this season coming up, the harvest will be in the fall, but rice is stored and milled according to order essentially year round. So Jon, tell me a little bit about how rice is milled and marketed right now and what it means for the consumer.
Jon Munger: Each and every year during harvest rice is delivered to many different dryers throughout the valley. It is then dried and stored until millers and marketers make orders, and then rice is shipped onto mills and milled and shipped out there to whatever buyer or whatever location it's going to. Last harvest crop 2020 is being stored and will be used all the way through this year. Then come this fall, the 2021 crop will go back into storage and will be used in during the year of 2022.
Jim Morris: That really helps in a year like this because there is rice, it's already in storage, it's already going to be shipped to consumers at home and abroad. So that helps us during dry years like this.
Jim Morris: It's important when looking at a dry year to talk with someone who manages water on a daily basis. Lewis Bair is general manager of Reclamation District 108 on the West side of the Sacramento River, about 30 miles north of Sacramento, and they represent about 75 square miles of agricultural land and rural communities. Lewis, how does your job change during a dry year?
Lewis Bair: Most of it stays the same. I mean, watershed management is a long-term vision, a long-term exercise in how you manage water. But, during a dry year, a lot of people are interested in that and the impacts are more severe because we don't have enough water to go around. So, I do a lot of education during these years to explain the reasons why we're making the trade-offs that we're making with water management. There are things that we do to help spread the water around a little bit more during these dry years.
Jim Morris: The decisions made in a dry year aren't always easy. You obviously want to make sure that the needs of your district are as whole as they can be, but will you also try to reach out and help some of your neighbors, if that's possible?
Lewis Bair: In a dry year, our folks would still love to farm just like they always love to farm, but, in these types of years, we ended up kind of sharing the pain by doing water transfers. Sometimes it's better to move water around with those transfers for the whole system. You end up being able to achieve other benefits. It really is, though, a short term solution, right? We need to have a more reliable water supply for California and I'm hoping that the long-term vision and long-term investments will help reduce the need for those sorts of transfers.
Jim Morris: How helpful would Sites Reservoir be if it can be constructed and available down the road?
Lewis Bair: Well, Sites Reservoir does something that climate change is kind of unwinding right now, right? So climate change means water, more precipitation as opposed to snowfall. What happens with that is we lose our storage over winter. Sites Reservoir is kind of perfectly situated in the middle of the system to provide both some new storage and some flexibility to re-operate the system. So, you can kind of think about it as a storage and a water use efficiency project rolled into one. I think it's the most promising thing we can do from a infrastructure perspective.
Jim Morris: The Sacramento Valley is a unique place and one of the ways it is, is the Pacific Flyway and the amazing wildlife we have. There's also really an emphasis on helping salmon, too. How important is it from a water management perspective but also for someone who lives here to try to help the ecosystem as much as possible?
Lewis Bair: I think it's super exciting right now because we have a long-term vision for the Sacramento Valley that I think supports a reliable water supply, a healthy environment, and an economy for the State of California. It's really dependent on that reliable water supply. So, in the Sacramento Valley, what that means is taking a look at what impacts some of the flood control system and water supply system development created. It impacted species and those species impacts are affecting water supply. What's exciting is that we found out we can unwind some of those flood control impacts. We can restore those floodplains that are really the energy that kind of fueled our amazing environment in the Sacramento Valley. So if we can do that, I think we have a very positive outlook for the future.
Jim Morris: This isn't something that happened yesterday. I mean, these things have been in works for many years with millions of dollars behind them. So how long has this been an area of dedication and how important is it to you personally as well, to try to have the best environment we can here?
Lewis Bair: Well, I think everybody loves the Sacramento Valley up here. Everybody is super excited. Two decades ago, we started with the bird programs and that's really what I think woke folks up here in the Sacramento Valley, that these wetlands are so important to kind of fueling our environment. We've seen now that that applies to fish too, and that's really the door that's been opened, that's changing things for water supply reliability. The floodplains that were separated from the river when we constructed our flood control system, we now believe they're extremely critical to restoring the fisheries. If we can restore the fisheries, that sure takes a lot of pressure off of the water supply system.
Jim Morris: Throughout the Sacramento Valley over the last 20 years, there have been about 155 different projects that have voluntarily been done cooperatively to aid salmon. One of the interesting ones here in Reclamation District 108 that may be happening again later this year, hopefully, is getting some water on the floodplain to provide fish food. Can you comment a little bit about that? It's a really interesting concept, but perhaps even more valuable this year than normal because of the dry year.
Lewis Bair: Yeah, so historically we built a flood control system and drainage systems that essentially kept water from staying on the land long enough to produce food, phytoplankton, that we all hear that fish eat. But what we've learned is that the rice fields that we farm in work perfect during those winter months to hold water. So, we have a program where we will flood and hold water, produce phytoplankton and drain that back to the river to help support the fishery. This can also be done on the floodplains in the bypasses. So it's really an exciting program. We think fundamentally it's one of the biggest things affecting juvenile salmon out migration.
Jim Morris: One thing that is clear in the Sacramento Valley is the collaboration that's happening between agriculture and the environment, communities, water districts. How important is that approach in a year like this?
Lewis Bair: Well, it's super exciting. We have so many talented partners that are coming together to push forward on these floodplain efforts, at the fishery efforts. It's really wetlands with birds and the fisheries. So we have NGOs, state and federal partners, local water agencies, and landowners all on the same page and driving this forward. I think it's the kind of partnership that's going to make change in the Sacramento Valley.
Jim Morris: The environment is an important part of the Sacramento Valley, and there are some challenges heading into this dry year. Jeff McCreary heads up the Western Region for Ducks Unlimited and Jeff, before we get into that, a milestone for Ducks Unlimited with 15 million acres conserved throughout North America. That's awesome news. Can you comment a little bit about that?
Jeff McCreary: Yeah, Jim, it's fantastic. The 15 million acre mark is a remarkable achievement for the Ducks Unlimited family of organizations, that includes Ducks Unlimited Incorporated here in the United States, Ducks Unlimited Canada and DU de Mexico, which covers Mexico. So we've got from Los Mochas, Mexico to Yellowknife, Canada and everything in between has been conserved, whether it's protected, restored, improved up to the 15 million acre mark. We're just really proud to be able to celebrate that with our partners and our members and our volunteer leadership.
Jim Morris: That is awesome. We are heading into a dry year. We're going to need all of those skills. You're a wildlife biologist. What are some of your thoughts heading into this dry year? Your concerns about waterfowl health in the Sacramento Valley.
Jeff McCreary: Well, Ducks Unlimited takes a continental approach to waterfowl conservation, and, when we look at the Pacific Flyway, we think about where are the birds coming from, where are they going to, and then where are they going back to? So, they're coming from Canada and the breeding grounds, and they're coming to California for the winter. The Central Valley is arguably one of the most important waterfowl areas in the planet, and it's because of all these birds coming down to the Pacific Flyway here in the Central Valley, in this narrow band of habitat that is comprised of wetlands and agricultural working grounds. When we think about the drought, it's going to affect that wintering habitat. Is there rice on the landscape? Is there water for wetlands. How do we make sure that those populations are in as good enough condition that, when they go back to the breeding ground, they can have a successful year?
Jeff McCreary: The remarkable thing about waterfowl is that they have a large clutch sizes, like up to 12 eggs, so they can be responsive to the good times and the bad times. Our job this year is to make sure that they're in good enough condition in these bad times so that when the good times come around, they'll be able to respond and grow at their population.
Jim Morris: So as we head into this year, how important are rice fields in this equation when you talk about ducks along the Pacific Flyway?
Jeff McCreary: Rice fields are critically important for the wintering population of waterfowl. They support 60 percent of the food energetics that waterfowl need during the winter. Now, rice and wetlands have this interplay. So the birds move back and forth between both types of habitats, but with rice, what we are doing now with our planting, we're getting ready to get out in the fields and get the rice planted, so that's really going to drive how much energetics is out there in eight months from now.
Jim Morris: Are rice fields more important than a drought time? About the same? Do you have a thought on that? How much do we need rice to keep the population healthy?
Jeff McCreary: Well, we certainly need rice to keep the population healthy and ducks are just one of the waterfall guilds that we have. Of course, geese and white-fronted geese are growing in numbers and so rice certainly play an important role for those birds as well. When we look at the Sacramento Valley, wetlands and rice agriculture use the exact same water infrastructure and water delivery system the rest of the valley uses. So, it's important to look at both wetlands and rice as a whole unit, because the water comes from the same place.
Jim Morris: Is there one duck species in particular that is especially dependent on the Sacramento Valley habitat?
Jeff McCreary: Yeah, I'd say the iconic California bird is the Mallard, and over the last 10 years and the last 10 year drought, we saw significant declines in the California Mallard population, nearly by half from what it was. We went from 400,000 to somewhere around 200,000 birds. If you drew a graph of that and you paralleled that graph with the graph of the water years, you would see this decline over time. In the last several years where we had some better water years, we've actually seen an increase in the Mallard population. So that's a concern going forward.
Jim Morris: How important are the partnerships between rice growers and conservation groups like Ducks Unlimited?
Jeff McCreary: The partnerships are everything. Ducks Unlimited never does anything by ourselves. It's always with somebody else, whether it's a grower or whether it's with an association or whether it's with a federal or state or local agency. Everything that we do is by partnership. In times like these, when drought and stress is going to be out there, it's all that much more important for stakeholders to come together and find those innovative entrepreneurial solutions to deal with some of these challenges that we're facing.
Jim Morris: What are your thoughts when you see that big flock of birds that's taking off from a rice field? I mean, to me, I just have a big smile on my face when I see that.
Jeff McCreary: It's a spectacle of nature, and if no one's been to the Gray Lodge Wildlife Area or the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge to see the waterfowl fly offs in the evening, I really strongly encourage you to do that. We are blessed to be in this part of the world, with this amazing waterfowl population that comes here and they're here for a reason and the things that we do on the landscape with our wetland management, with our working agriculture and riceland management, that's what keeps those birds here, that's what keeps them coming back, that's what sends them back to the breeding grounds to be successful and do it all over again.
Jim Morris: What does this dry year mean for fish in California? Probably a lot of unanswered questions, certainly a big subject, not just for environment, but it also impacts water to cities and farms. Andrew Rypel is an associate professor and the Peter B. Moyle and California Trout chair in cold water fish ecology at UC Davis in the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, and that's probably the longest title I've ever seen, but that's all important. Andrew, what are your comments as we head into this dry year, concern for the wild salmon population, and maybe what we can do here in the Sacramento Valley?
Andrew Rypel: Droughts are difficult times for fishes in general. However, our native fish fauna in California are well adapted to cyclic climate patterns where they are adapted for dealing with drought cycles and wet cycles, and that's part of the business of living in the Mediterranean climate for these species.
Jim Morris: You're participating with many others in some pretty interesting research that I think could help in the long run. Can you comment a little bit about some of the work that you're doing with rice farmers and how it may help in the longer term?
Andrew Rypel: The salmon rice work is some of the most exciting work I've ever been a part of. It's based on the idea that the Central Valley was once a giant floodplain wetland ecosystem complex, and the water originated in the mountains much like it does today, and would spread out over the valley floor and the native fish and wildlife really evolved to capitalize on those resources. It's abundant food for fish, abundant for birds, for Tule Elk, things like that. Of course, much of that is gone. However, there's an increasing awareness that we've got a lot of acreage, roughly 500,000 acres of rice, which is not a perfectly natural wetland, but it can approximate some of the important wetland processes that can facilitate the life cycle of native species, particularly fishes in my case.
Andrew Rypel: So, there have been a lot of really interesting work done with migratory waterfowl and highly successful NRCS programs that were developed that, in my opinion, it looks like it has arrested the decline of migratory birds on the Pacific coast. So a lot of people have been looking at that and saying, "If we can do that for birds, why can't we do that for fish?" So we've been working with the California Rice Commission, with other science partners to really kind of pilot how this could work for fish in the Central Valley. So we've been growing salmon on bypass rice fields, looking at how well they grow, how well they survive in these fields when they're flooded in the winter time, and also how well they survive out in the Pacific Ocean.
Andrew Rypel: To sum it up in a really short way, the results are very positive. Salmon grow really well in these habitats. They put on weight very fast. Just within a month they can go from 30-40 millimeters in length all the way up to 70-80 millimeters in length. So they get big, fast, and that's important because it tends to time these fish up with the natural flow regime that these rivers experience. So baby salmon tend to have better survivorship when there is more water in the rivers and more food in the rivers. If we can grow them bigger, faster so that they get out on the high tide of the rivers earlier in the year rather than later in the year when the river is low and doesn't have much food and it's full of predators like striped bass, that's just a good thing. So, we think that rice fields could play a role in fish conservation in California, much like they have for bird conservation before.
Jim Morris: Not only raising salmon in rice fields, but also fish food. How positive are you on that approach and how important would it be in a year like this to have more food in the river for the wild salmon?
Andrew Rypel: Both concepts are extremely important. There are certain fields, rice fields, that flood naturally, so fish can come on those fields and off those fields in a volitional way. They want to be there and they want to spend time in these fields. But that footprint is finite and so there's a lot of other rice field that could be useful in other ways. One of those ideas is to grow fish food in those fields. So I'm extremely positive about this idea because what we know is that these are productive habitats to just grow a ton of zooplankton, which is basically the fish food that we're talking about.
Andrew Rypel: Most of those 500,000 acres are on the dry side of the levee. They're not exposed to regular flooding. If we could learn how to grow fish food, and then drain those fields strategically so that fish that are actually moving through the river system and the river network will have food resources when they need them, when they're migrating, when they're vulnerable, we think we can also leverage the fitness and the health of populations that way as well. So it's a bit of a jigsaw puzzle, but these things fit together and we think they fit together fairly nicely. There are probably other ways to use these habitats that we haven't thought about yet. So we spent some time thinking about that as well. So it's exciting. Something like this only happens when you have a lot of partners at the table that are willing to work together and help the situation.
Andrew Rypel: Obviously I'm a scientist, I'm at UC Davis. There's a whole team of scientists at UC Davis that are interested in this. California Trout is an NGO that we work with quite regularly that's been at the forefront of this project as well. The California Rice Commission, obviously, a crucial partner for linking in with the actual growers, with the landowners. USDA-NRCS program has been funding a good chunk of our pilot research, trying to figure this out with the goal that we could eventually have a practice standard that growers could enroll in, to participate in these practices to really actuate these conservation practices at scale. Then we work with so many of the agency scientists, managers, partners, whether that's NOAA Fisheries, CDFW. We spend a lot of time communicating with CDFW, DWR, water managers throughout the Central Valley. Everybody's kind of involved at some level and we communicate with all those folks quite regularly, and need them.
Jim Morris: The Sacramento Valley is a one of a kind place with great natural resources and another strength, a lot of people, including those you've heard today, dedicated to keeping it that way. Dry years are challenging to be sure, but there are many people devoting a lot of time to doing the most with the water that is available.
Jim Morris: We'll, of course, keep you updated on planting, the growing season, harvest and much more on future episodes of Ingrained. For now, that wraps up this episode. Thank you to Jon Munger, Jeff McCreary, Lewis Baer, and Andrew Rypel. You can find out much more and listen to past episodes at podcast.calrice.org. Thanks for listening.
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Sushi is often a high culinary art form and its popularity continues to grow. Since the countries first sushi roll was served in Little Tokyo Los Angeles in the 1960s, is has grown into a multi-billion dollar a year industry. Interest in the cuisine is fueled by creative chefs, who push boundaries and take painstaking steps to ensure the best customer experience.
One example is Billy Ngo, founder, chef and partner of Kru Restaurant in Sacramento, whose innovation and emphasis on quality has garnered loyal customers and rave reviews. As Leilani Marie Labong from SacTown Magazine put it, Billy âhas fine-tuned an unofficial M.O. to bring as-yet-uncharted experiences to his hometown.â
Billyâs ascendance as one of the regionâs top chefs is remarkable, considering his journey.
âWe were very lucky to have the life that I had and the opportunities I had growing up here with my parents coming over here,â he remarked. âMy parents are Chinese, but they're from Vietnam. Born in Vietnam. They had to flee because of the Vietnam War. And my mom was pregnant with me when they got on the boat, escaped, landed in a refugee camp in Hong Kong, and that's where I was born.â
Billy arrived in Sacramento as a baby, and he admits his early work career was more focused on earning money for stereo equipment than being a top chef. As a teen, he spent many laborious weekends preparing shrimp for later use. Other jobs included busing tables and washing dishes.
However, over time, Billyâs interest in sushi grew. This spark was fueled by his work with high achieving chefs, including Taka Watanabe, Taro Arai and Randall Selland.
Through this experience, he saw changes in how sushi was being presented. From a rigid, predictable menu came food with a flair, and a chance for every chef to roll something amazing and unique.
He founded Kru Restaurant in 2005, putting optimism over a firm foundation of success. As he put it, âit was all done with band-aids and pennies.â Fortunately, Kru has grown, as more people became enchanted with Billyâs groundbreaking cuisine.
Billy cited using great ingredients as a key, and that includes the foundation of sushi â rice. In fact, California rice is used in virtually every roll of sushi made in America. Billy gets his rice from grower Michael Bosworth in Yuba County, and said heâs impressed with the sophistication of farming; the scale and hi-tech nature that one must see to fully appreciate.
He has carried forth this approach of sourcing local ingredients, and forging relationships with the farmers and ranchers that grew them.
âWe're so lucky to be in this region in Sacramento with so many things being grown here locally,â he said. âKnowing where it's coming from and having the relationship with the grower or the rancher or the farmer. Any questions you have, it's easy.â
Billy said his current priorities are to keep Kru and his other businesses, including the employees, going as reasonably as possible during the COVID-19 restrictions, although he canât wait for a better day.
âThis is so different,â he commented. âIâm very thankful that we're still able to offer food to-go. But part of the magic and why I fell in love with this industry, is seeing the faces, hearing the sound, hearing the laughs of the dining room and the clang of pans in the kitchen, you miss all that. And I can't wait for that and I think hopefully soon we'll have that energy again, inside the building.â
Episode TranscriptJim Morris: The first sushi served in America was in the 1960s in little Tokyo, Los Angeles. From its humble beginnings here, it is now a powerhouse generating billions of dollars a year. The Sacramento Valley provides virtually all of America's sushi rice, and this region has some outstanding sushi. Ian Scharg and his family are regular customers at Kru Restaurant.
Ian Scharg: We like the freshness and quality of their food. Everything is very interesting that they make. Sushi is, to us, a form of artwork, fresh fish, and we feel like it's a healthy choice for lunch or dinner that we like to enjoy as a family.
Jim Morris: Time to take a closer look at sushi and a fascinating chef, Billy Ngo. Welcome to Ingrained, The California Rice Podcast. I'm your host, Jim Morris. Proud to have worked with California farmers and ranchers for more than 30 years to help tell their stories. And along the way, I've had the good fortune to visit with culinary icons like Julia Child and Thomas Keller.
Jim Morris: I first met Billy Ngo 14 years ago, and continue to be amazed at his work ethic and pushing culinary boundaries. Billy, do you ever get a chance to sleep?
Billy Ngo: I try to as much as I can. I mean, definitely not 24 anymore when I first opened the restaurant.
Jim Morris: Yeah. You have come a long way since then. So, I want to ask you about the very beginning. And I know you've immigrated to America at a very young age. You were from China, then in a Hong Kong refugee camp, and then you came over now to be a star of Japanese cuisine in Northern California. So, from what you've heard from your family, can you tell me a little bit about their existence prior to getting to America?
Billy Ngo: Yes. Absolutely. I don't remember much because when I came over I was a baby, so I don't remember much. But the stories I hear from my sisters and my parents was, it was a struggle. We were very lucky to have the life that I had and the opportunities I had growing up here with my parents coming over here. So, my parents are Chinese, but they're from Vietnam. Born in Vietnam. They had to flee because of the Vietnam War. And my mom was pregnant with me when they got on the boat, escaped, landed in a refugee camp in Hong Kong, and that's where I was born.
Billy Ngo: And then from there, we were able to come to the United States, to America. And just hearing their stories though, just really, really, really grateful and thankful to be here and to be able to have the opportunity to do what I wanted to do. I know it was funny, going along with that whole thing, with the story, you're like, "Oh, you're Chinese-Vietnamese doing Japanese food." But I mean, I joke around with this all the time. Well, the first job I ever had was at a pasta shop, Kru might be a pasta shop.
Billy Ngo: But actually, first job I had was at Fuji's as a bus boy, and then dishwasher, and then sushi prep. And actually it was just a job at first, but then I actually fell in love with the cuisine.
Jim Morris: So, we're both from South Sacramento area. I went to Kennedy High School, but I graduated in 1981, when I think you were actually born in 1981. So, tell me about this area. I have a lot of memories about South Sacramento. It's kind of a gritty, hardworking area. And did that shape you in any way, the fact that where you lived?
Billy Ngo: Oh, definitely. I grew up in South Sac. It wasn't easy, but a lot of experience growing up in that kind of neighborhood just makes... I don't know. It makes you a little tougher, a little stronger. It kind of made who I am, I feel like.
Jim Morris: Some of those early jobs, you've mentioned some of them, but Fuji, which was a great restaurant, and then Taka's and Mikuni. Tell me some of those early jobs you had and some of the different things you did in the restaurants.
Billy Ngo: First off, at Fuji's was actually just being a bus boy. Got a job there as a bus boy/dishwasher. Fuji's amazing. Wish they were still open. The food was so good there.
Jim Morris: It was awesome.
Billy Ngo: So good. They were around for a long, long time. But just, you get to see how the food scene changed in Sacramento over the last 20 years. Fuji's was huge. They had a elevator, full bar, they had downstairs, they had upstairs that fit giant parties. But they had this tiny sushi bar that sat seven seats, sushi bar. And it just shows even though Japanese cuisine was really, really popular, sushi wasn't really popular back then. I think this idea of eating raw fish or whatever it is. And then to see it expand, explode the way it is now, it's everywhere.
Billy Ngo: And then I think a big part of that was with Taro at Mikuni's helping blow it up and then making it fun and exciting. And it was really, really cool to have a opportunity to work with Taro's at Mikuni's to see what they were doing there. It was very, very outside the box at the time, what they're doing. And that's what's good about the whole culinary scene. Things change, evolve, and then it's not competition. There's never bad competition, it's good competition because it pushes everything, everyone to be better.
Jim Morris: Can you remember the first fish you ever cut, and some of the things you learned from that?
Billy Ngo: First fish would have to be... I would say salmon. That's the easiest fish, salmon. And then shrimp. People see all the other sushi Ebi. You see at sushi restaurants, the boiled shrimp, it looks so simple, but it's so much work. At Fuji's, the first position I got in the sushi bar was just sushi prep. And I remember I had to go in there at 8:00 AM every Saturday, Sunday to prep all the shrimp for the week for the two sushi chefs that was working there.
Billy Ngo: And the shrimp doesn't come straight like that. They come with their shell on, head, everything you have to... And this was cases of it. You have to sit there and skewer each shrimp so when you boil it, they stay straight. Because otherwise when you cook shrimp, it the curls up, right? So you sit there, you have to skewer hundreds of shrimp, and then you have to boil them, then you have shock it in ice water. Then once it's cool, then you got to peel it, then devein it, then you got to split them open. And then you have to cure it and then you have to package it, wrap it up. And then, at the time, freeze it and then the sous chefs will pull it out as they need it. And that was done every week.
Billy Ngo: But it was something so simple that... That's what makes sushi so cool, or hard too, that a lot of people don't understand. Sometimes like, "Oh, sushi chef. You don't even cook anything. What do you do?" But a lot of it is what you see being done at the sushi bars, is all the prep's done. But 95% of the work is done before all that.
Jim Morris: Man, I would have a nightmare about being surrounded by shrimp at night or something like that. So, when did you know you wanted to be a sushi chef and go out on your own?
Billy Ngo: I would have to say when I actually worked at Mikuni's. I hate to say it, but at first, when I first got the job, it was fun, but it was just a job. I didn't care. I think I first got my job was 15 and a half with a work permit. And when I was in high school, being the busboy/dishwasher. And then started learning sushi probably right when I graduated high school and I was going to Sac City College. I didn't care, it was just a job.
Billy Ngo: I was super young, I just wanted to get a paycheck to go hang out and buy parts for my car, buy a stereo system for my car at the time. And I was working at Fuji's. And I think during that time, Mikuni's was just opening up Roseville and everybody's talking about Mikuni's and sushi. And I had a friend that worked there. Actually, I think they were looking for more staff members because they just opened [inaudible 00:07:12]. I think they were looking to expand some other spots.
Billy Ngo: And he just hit me up. He's like, "Hey, why don't you come check out this place? We need sushi chefs. Just come and check it out." And he got me an interview. And the interview was the craziest interview I ever had because it wasn't an interview. I got the date and time, I went there, I was ready to sit down, get asked all these questions. They sat me down at the sushi bar, and Taro was working. And he was like, "Hey, what do you like to eat? Do you like to eat this stuff?" And he just started feeding me. And then he was like, "Okay, when do you want to start" And that was it.
Billy Ngo: But then just seeing the ambiance, the atmosphere was really cool because working... I didn't have much experience in sushi or even food at the time. I grew up really, really, really poor, right? So, we ate a lot of home cooking at home or a lot of junk food. I loved junk food growing up, fast food and all that stuff. So, a lot of stuff was different to me. And was working at Fuji's, that's my first experience of Japanese cuisine or seeing how everything was done there.
Billy Ngo: The chefs that I worked with, trained with, were super, super traditional, super old school. And that's how I had it ingrained in my head. This is how sushi should be. This is how food should be. You need to do it like this. No sauces, nothing. It's like this. It's like very formal. And I go here and then all these guys have bandanas, bleached hair, they're like rock stars, they were like bartenders behind the sushi bar. And everybody looked like they're having a great time.
Billy Ngo: Seeing all these young people eating or hanging out, then you see the chefs I was like, "This looks fun." I was like, "Yeah, I want to work here." And I think that was the turning point and actually working there. It was just seeing all these things. I was like, "What are you guys doing? You guys are putting this hot mayonnaise on this." And doing all this. It was just different, but then it tasted good. And it was cool. And that's when my mind kind of opened up. It was like, "Oh, this is actually fun." And that's when I was like, "I want to do this." And I want to learn as much as I can about it, instead of just being a job."
Jim Morris: And you were at the California Culinary Academy I believe, about 20 years ago? And how did that help the whole process?
Billy Ngo: It was something I wanted to do for myself. I think the culture has changed a lot too in this industry. Everything's changed a lot, from the food scene to just the culture. I think back then it was crazy, it was really hard. I mean, doing it ourselves, but back then there was no iPhones with cameras on it, there was no Instagram or all this stuff or YouTube. So, back then, it was really hard.
Billy Ngo: You really had to learn what you needed to learn by working under chefs, or you wanted to see what a chef or another restaurant's doing, you literally have to drive there or fly there and make a reservation, eat there, and then take notes in your little notebook. Probably at that time, I just wanted to learn as much as I can, to be as good as possible, bounce around, work in different places.
Billy Ngo: And at one point, I just felt stuck and I couldn't... It was hard to learn too at the time. A lot of chefs were still old school. They don't really teach or whatever it is. Why? I don't know. Job security, whatever it is. You usually just get stuck doing the same thing at each place. And I just felt I wanted to get better and I wanted to learn how to cook as well, not just do sushi. So, I went to culinary school.
Jim Morris: I think one of the formative things that occurred to you early on, was working at The Kitchen with Randall Selland, which is an excellent restaurant in Sacramento. Tell me about that experience.
Billy Ngo: It was really cool. It opened my eyes there. I think right before I went off to culinary school, I had dinner there. Taka actually bought me dinner there for my birthday right before I went off to culinary school. Going there blew my mind what they were doing. And it was fun, but it was super serious. And I remember after dinner, I talked to Randall. I was like, "Hey, I'm going to culinary school. I'm moving going to be back in Sacramento 16 months. I have to do internship. I would love to do it here."
Billy Ngo: He said, "You just come back here when you're ready, when you're done." And I took him up on the offer. Came back, worked with him, internship for three months. And I ended up staying I think another six more months after that to work with them. And there, just learned the importance of ingredients. They never skipped on quality at the kitchen. They only wanted to bring in the best and treat it the best. And their relationships with their farmers and purveyors was awesome, seeing that interaction.
Billy Ngo: Because working at a lot of these other old school restaurants I worked in before, some of them... Restaurants ultimately is a business, but everything's a business, down from the farmers, to the ranchers, to your purveyors. And I always see some of the old chefs or owners I worked with, they like to haggle with prices, this and that. And working at The Kitchen, I learned that I've never seen them haggle. All they would say is, "Just make sure you give us the best."
Billy Ngo: And that was the big thing I've learned is everybody needs to make a living. If you're going to haggle about stuff, it should be about the quality, not the price. And that's a big thing for me that I learned from there. You get what you pay for. You should never, ever haggle. And then good cuisine, good food starts with good ingredients.
Jim Morris: I'm going to ask you a little more about working with local farmers in just a moment. But first, I'm visiting with Michael Bosworth, rice grower in Yuba County, who supplies Billy his rice. And Michael, how long has that happened? And tell me a little bit about your friendship and working relationship with Billy.
Michael Bosworth: We've been supplying Billy since 2006, and that's the year that we started direct marketing our rice. He was our first customer, I think Randall Selland at The Kitchen was our second customer. It's been a great relationship over the years. We've worked with Billy at Kru and then also on all of his other restaurant ventures.
Michael Bosworth: I've learned a lot from him. We actually transitioned from supplying him organic medium-grain rice, to organic Calacarri short-grain rice, because he wanted to elevate the food that he's doing and we wanted to help him do that. So, it's been really great to work with him and we've all learned a lot. Because we're at that same age and kind of started getting going 15, 16 years ago. And so, it's been great just to watch him grow as an entrepreneur and a restaurateur. And his food was always amazing and it just keeps getting better and better. And so, it's great to be working with somebody that is constantly striving to improve.
Jim Morris: What's your favorite dish at Kru?
Michael Bosworth: That's really tough. He has a really great sushi roll that's kind of off-menu called the Ziggy Roll. It's wrapped with soy paper. Obviously has some really good rice in it, avocado, soft-shell crab, and fish eggs. So, yeah. It's really great. And it's just one of my favorite things. The texture components are awesome, the flavor's really great. So, yeah. That's my go-to.
Jim Morris: So Billy, you have taken the effort to go to the farms directly and seeing how it's grown. Michael Bosworth in particular with rice, that's a key ingredient in sushi. How important is it to understand how that is produced, and to get the best quality for what you're doing?
Billy Ngo: I think it's very important. And we're so lucky to be in this region in Sacramento with so many things being grown here locally, and just knowing where it's coming from and having the relationship with the grower or the rancher or the farmer. Any questions you have, it's easy. You're not talking to a rep.
Jim Morris: What's your first impression when you saw the rice farm? I mean, when I take people out for tours, their mouth is normally open about the space that is involved, the technology. What were some of your observations?
Billy Ngo: I would say exactly the same thing. Blew my mind the whole process of how huge the fields are and even the technology, the GPS, everything that's going into it. I just thought it was a big pond. But seeing how everything operates, it's really, really cool.
Jim Morris: And it's really important to be as efficient as you can in a place like California with land values and other factors, the water situation, so that the growers do a great job with their efficiency. Before we learn more about the restaurant, its dishes, and even a discussion about fast food, I wanted to talk with another top chef in Sacramento to get his impression of Billy Ngo.
Jim Morris: I'm visiting with Patrick Mulvaney, one of the outstanding chefs in the Sacramento region, a pillar of farm-to-fork, somebody very passionate about what he does. And that also seems to feed Billy Ngo. Tell me a little bit about your experience with Billy.
Patrick Mulvaney: Well, we love Billy's food, right? And it's just so great to be going... We call Kru the chefs restaurant, right? Because you go, not only is Billy welcoming and all his staff bring you in, but what you see is a lot of chefs who are off work, who want to go somewhere for really good food, clean, and not have to ask for what you're looking for. Billy is probably one of the kindest, most gentle chefs that I know. Always gracious with everyone that he goes to.
Patrick Mulvaney: Sometimes when I come into the restaurant with my daughter, he'll bring out a little appetizer for us and usually has some kind of shellfish, which I'm allergic to. And he'll put it down in front of me and say, "Oh, I'm sorry, you can't eat that." And my daughter immediately grabs it from me and says, "That's quite all right, we'll have another."
Jim Morris: Billy, Let's talk about Kru. You opened the restaurant in 2005. What does that name mean?
Billy Ngo: It means raw in French, but with C so we just changed it to a K. A lot of the guys that worked with me when we first opened the restaurant, we've been friends for years. The whole staff. When we would get off work so, we always hit up these places with a group of five of us or seven. So it was kind of like the crew. And then when we opened the restaurant, that was like the crew, crew. So, that and [inaudible 00:16:40]. That's what the meaning behind it is.
Billy Ngo: And also I wanted a French word because it is sushi, but we impact so many other techniques and cuisines into our food too. We just wanted to make really good food.
Jim Morris: The old location was a different atmosphere, a great one, but a different atmosphere than what you have at this new location. And I remember coming in several years back and John C. Reilly was sitting in there. I don't know if you remember that, but...
Billy Ngo: I do remember that, but I can't remember... I was just so star struck. I remember you were still in there that time that... yeah, it was really cool to have him sitting right there in the corner table.
Jim Morris: I wanted it to say hello, and I was too chicken to do that. Do you have a favorite John C. Reilly movie?
Billy Ngo: I love all his movies, actually.
Jim Morris: I'll name a few and tell me if you like these. Talladega Nights was awesome and Chicago, which was way different, but that was great too.
Billy Ngo: Yeah. Oh yeah. Well, it was funny meeting him in person because he was so chill instead of... It was completely different than what I thought he would be like. But it was awesome having him in.
Jim Morris: So this new location of Kru, it feels very big city to me. What were some of the goals as you got the restaurant together that you wanted to accomplish?
Billy Ngo: That restaurant was the first location. Opened that place when I was 24 years old, crazy budget. I don't even know how we did it. To think of it now, how we opened that place up. It was all done with band-aids and pennies. And to be here, I'm really grateful and thankful. We wanted a space that matched the food and also a bigger kitchen for us to make the food even better.
Jim Morris: Tell me about the dishes that are here at Kru. How much are planned, how much are kind of freelance and what are some of your goals? Because there are some pretty interesting combinations of food that you offer.
Billy Ngo: The factual food is just a combination of everything that I like. And just me growing up in Sacramento, California, being a Chinese-Vietnamese immigrant, that's what culinary school learned classical French, but then worked in a Japanese restaurants, but then ate Chinese food and Vietnamese food at home. But loved happy meals McDonald's and stuff like that. So, we just want to do a really, really good food, but still adhering to what the basis should be in the sushi.
Billy Ngo: But the small plates want to do really cool stuff, utilizing local ingredients, pushing the boundaries. And wouldn't be here to this day without the team, from employees of past and present. Everybody really helped to turn this place into what it is.
Jim Morris: The Sunshine Roll, I think is one of the most popular that has apples in it as well. Tell me a little bit about that roll.
Billy Ngo: I would say a signature dish for the sushi bar, it would be that roll because that's our top selling roll, but it's kind of what we do. When you read the ingredient lists, a lot of people are like, "What's your favorite roll? What do you suggest?" I'll suggest that roll. Wow, that seems like a lot. But it's sounds a lot when you read it, but you can really taste all the ingredients. You can taste apple, you taste lemon, you got to taste spicy tuna, there's fried leaks, there's cilantro, there's fish. It's not just the mesh, it's cool because there's a lot ingredients, a lot of textures, a lot of flavors, but you can actually taste each one.
Jim Morris: So sushi, correct me if I'm wrong, literally means vinegared rice. So how important is rice in the equation?
Billy Ngo: This is something that a lot of people don't know and understand. They think of sushi and the first thing you think about this raw fish. But even the word sushi is straight up means rice and vinegar. Rice is the most important ingredient in sushi. You can't have a good sushi without good rice. And then sushi is without the rice and then the fish is [inaudible 00:20:11] or, I mean, compliments to really... In Japan, sous chefs have to learn for years, you just have to wash and make the rice and prep veggies, before putting stuff together. So the rice it's very, very important, most important that a lot of people forget about.
Jim Morris: So tell me about some of your other ventures, everything from dog food to other restaurants. You're a busy guy. Tell me about some of those please.
Billy Ngo: We have Kodaiko Ramen, a ramen shop in downtown, then we have Fish Face Poke Bar, and then we have Healthy Hounds Kitchen, where we actually do human grade dog food. All these restaurants, I just want to do projects that I feel that actually could help the community instead of just opening another business, just to open the business, just to do something. If you already have something, we don't need to do it. That's how I think about business-wise like Healthy Hounds.
Billy Ngo: We all love our pets. Our animals are like our kids, so we want to do something really good food for the pups. And it's fun doing that project too, because even the dog food I work with Michael on the rice, and we use his rice there too.
Jim Morris: It has been a difficult time with COVID and restaurants have been really hard hit in terms of the businesses that have really had some challenges. So, tell me a little bit about that and some of your priorities and staying open, and you have dozens of people that work for you too.
Billy Ngo: Yeah. I think that the biggest priority was actually just trying to keep as many of our staff employed as possible. And then at some of the other business was a little harder than others. Kru, we're very fortunate, we've been here for 15 years, we have a very loyal following, we're very, very thankful for that. And just even just doing our to-go business was good enough to keep a lot of our staff employed. That was the main goal.
Billy Ngo: And the other places that were like Kodaiko we just opened that very new. And even that area got hit very hard with Golden 1 not being open and all the venues, so many places closing. And over there, the goal there was to keep our managers employed, but there's no way to not lose money. It's just lose as little money as possible, but don't close the shop down. You want to... I don't want to go induced coma. I was like, just go to sleep, have a heartbeat, but don't die.
Jim Morris: How much will you rejoice when things are much, much better? And hopefully that day is coming soon.
Billy Ngo: I can't wait. This is so different. Putting food in boxes, very thankful that we're still able to do that to-go. But part of the magic and why I fell in love with this industry, is seeing the faces, hearing the sound, hearing the laughs of the dining room and the clang of pans in the kitchen, you miss all that. And I can't wait for that and I think hopefully soon we'll have that energy again, inside the building.
Jim Morris: I can tell you have a lot of compassion. So, tell me what drives you because you work a lot, you have a lot of different business endeavors, and you keep charging up that hill. So, what motivates you?
Billy Ngo: I just want to keep pushing, do good. And before younger had a lot of energy, but now I see so many people working with such great employees and team members. And like I said, Kru would that be the way it is or where it's at without employees of the past and present. And then you see a lot of people with so much talent and stuff, you can see the next generation. And now I want to keep pushing, keep doing cool things to help the next generation if they want to open a restaurant or do this, or be the best chef.
Jim Morris: So we're doing this interview outside with masks and distance outside of Kru. And I can see another sushi sign, just a few feet away. So, the popularity of sushi is that going to change? Do you think it's going to continue to grow?
Billy Ngo: I think it'll continue to grow, because it's just such a different food and the social aspect of the experience, is really fun and just the food it's anything you want. It could be really healthy for you, or it could just make a roll with cream cheese and deep fry it, and then it'll be delicious. It's anything you want to get this it's just so vast I don't think it's going away anywhere.
Jim Morris: And you mentioned healthy and things that might not be fully healthy. So, you have to tell me what's your go-to junk food?
Billy Ngo: I'd say Mexican food, Jimboy's. It killed me when there was a Jimboy's right here on 20th street. They had a drive-through and I used to hit that up multiple times a week on the way to work. And when they closed, it broke my heart.
Jim Morris: Oh yeah. Jimboy's is the best. And for those that aren't in this area, they have the cheese on the outside. It's just a little greasy, actually it's way greasy, but it's awesome. So, have you ever had a Happy Meal or a Big Mac or what are some of the other favorites?
Billy Ngo: I just had a quarter pounder a few days ago.
Jim Morris: Yeah.
Billy Ngo: I'm a junk food King.
Jim Morris: You got to live.
Billy Ngo: Yeah. But also I live also one thing is too, that I'm sure a lot of people don't know, but finding out more now, there's a lot of these chefs they don't like to cook for themselves. We do all this cooking and prepping at work, when we get off, we want something quick. We'll throw a hot pocket in the microwave or stop by McDonald's and we just want to scarf that thing down and then lay down.
Jim Morris: That will wrap up this episode. Thank you to Michael Bosworth, Ian Scharg, Patrick Mulvaney and of course, Billy Ngo for his time and expertise. Remember, you can find out more and listen to past episodes at podcast.calrice.org. We welcome your comments. Thanks for listening.
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Chances are you may never have visited Richvale or even heard of it. This small town south of Chico and west of Oroville in Butte County boasts a population of 244. This is quintessential rice country, with the community surrounded by rice fields and allied businesses, where many of their streets are named after rice varieties.
Itâs also where the Rystrom family has farmed for generations.
Before Peter took up farming full time, he graduated from UC Davis with an International Relations and Spanish double major, then traveled to Guatemala and worked to help indigenous Mayan women start businesses that brought basic items like graduated reading lenses and water filtration systems to their rural small villages.
With time on his hands thousands of miles away, Peter spent long hours cultivating his love for classic literature, including Steinbeck, Dostoyevsky and Gogol. The international travel and a deep dive into the classics fundamentally affected his outlook on life; strengthening the value of forgiveness - to let go of resentment and move forward in life.
âEvery human being has something that they are capable of that can help others,â Peter said. âEverybody has a unique skill that they can use to love and serve other people.â
Peterâs wife Carissa moved from Washington, D.C. to learn about agriculture from the farm level. After a few âtractor dates,â they began a strong marriage based on love, hard work, encouragement and relationship building.
Peter said he has had two excellent role models in his father, Steve, and grandfather Don, the later who has been an active participant in their rice harvest for more than 70 years.
What has Peter learned from his 96-year old grandfather?
Don RystromâYou canât control everything that happens, and to be content in every season, no matter whatâs going on,â he commented. âWhether we see great yields or poor yields. Terrible weather or great weather. My grandfather is so calm. He just has a palm open approach to life and I have loved that so much from him.â
Don continues to participate in the rice harvest and said heâs living a highly-fulfilled life.
âI enjoy working with all of our family,â Don said. âWeâre all doing something thatâs worthwhile. Itâs a joy!â
Episode TranscriptJim Morris: Life moves at an ever faster pace. And sometimes we don't take the time to take a deeper view. For example, how does classic Russian literature intersect with compassionate service in Guatemala, longstanding Swedish traditions in a tight-knit family in the Sacramento Valley? You're about to find it.
Jim Morris: Welcome to Ingrained, the California Rice Podcast. I'm your host, Jim Morris, proud to have worked with California farmers and ranchers for more than 30 years to help tell their stories, including the last 14 with California rice farms and mills. I'm in one of my favorite parts of the Valley, Richvale, quintessential rice country in the Sacramento Valley, here in Butte County. And I'm meeting with Peter Rystrom, part of a family rice farm. Peter, thanks so much for your time. Tell me a little bit about winter in this area, some of the things that you see and do.
Peter Rystrom: One of my favorite things in the winter out here is actually what made you late to this interview, the bald eagles, flying around the fields, perched out there beautifully on trees or on levees. I love the wildlife and the winter. Whether it's 10,000 geese flying through the air, or whether it's just being out there watching a couple of ducks swim by you. It's beautiful.
Jim Morris: You're right. I saw three bald eagles this morning. So, I was delayed and winter is gorgeous with all the birds. And have you participated in some of the conservation programs out there? Can we talk a little bit about that?
Peter Rystrom: We have, I've actually really enjoyed over the last few years, trying to get a handle on what different programs are out there, who is valuing waterfowl habitat. And we've actually gotten to participate with the California Ricelands Waterbird Foundation and their Bid4Birds program last year. And that was really fun to get some fields flooded after we would normally drain to try to provide that critical habitat, once most farmers have already drained their fields and preparation for the spring.
Jim Morris: It is a quieter time, although we will have tractors in the field in early spring. So when we're in winter here, what are some of the things that happen? I believe I saw seed rice has gone out. So, some of the things that are happening this season.
Peter Rystrom: After harvest, before planting, there actually a lot of things to do. Some people joke and say, "What a rice farmer is doing in the winter?" But they just don't see it. One thing that we farmers all do in the winter, myself included, is to sit down and see if you were profitable. And if so, how profitable? What the differences are between different fields? What the differences are between different varieties? Just trying to break things down, both in cost and profit in ways that can help us actually better run our operation. There's lots of machines to work on, the harvesters that we use out in these fields, that you may have heard about in other podcasts, those are incredibly complicated and the rice is truly like sandpaper inside of them. It wears them down.
Peter Rystrom: So there's so many replacement parts needed inside those combines. All of our fields for the most part are flooded all winter long. And so, there's maintenance of infrastructure for irrigation, making sure the levels are right, coordinating that with rainfall, that can actually take a lot of work out on some muddy roads. We ship seed rice out of our bins. We're part of a seed growers group. So, we dry that ourselves and then we send it over to be cleaned mid-winter so that it's already at the co-op in spring to be distributed.
Jim Morris: Interesting on the seed rice, because, if you like that consistently high-quality California rice, you really do need strong seed to begin with. And how seriously is that taken and how important is it for the whole process from the farm here to the end consumer at the sushi bar or wherever you enjoy California rice around the world?
Peter Rystrom: It's incredibly important. We hang our hats on quality and we feel like we have a premium product here in California rice. So to have pure seed is incredibly important. It's actually a requirement now, because of something called weedy rice that is an invasive species that has gotten into California now and can threaten how we farm our rice. So, it's incredibly important to start with clean seed that doesn't have any foreign things in it.
Jim Morris: What have you learned from your dad, Steve, about the necessary evil, if that's the right term, of the paperwork?
Peter Rystrom: It's character building, Jim. That may be what I spend the most time on. I know why they're important. I also know how hard it is to do them. But I really see that as a way to grow as a farmer, as a human being, as a worker.
Jim Morris: Prior to being full-time on the farm, you had an interesting educational track. Tell me a little bit about that.
Peter Rystrom: Jim, I actually did international relations and Spanish at UC Davis. That was not something, while I was doing it, that I thought would be useful on the farm, but it's what I loved. It's what I wanted to pursue. I really enjoy it. I got the chance to go to Spain, to study for a semester, practice my Spanish. I got a chance to study tons of different cultures, geography, maps, political relationships, how actors work from state to state. I thought maybe I'd want to work for the State Department or live abroad.
Jim Morris: That's fascinating. And by the way, my son, RJ is in his first year of Spanish. So I may be contacting you. We have different terms in the house now, our a new dog, Perse, is now known as the Perro. If I am I saying that, right?
Peter Rystrom: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jim Morris: So tell me a little bit about... From there, I believe, or maybe it was before UC Davis, you have also traveled pretty extensively, I'm fascinated by that. So what are some of the places you went and what were you doing when you traveled?
Peter Rystrom: Right after college, I still did not know what I wanted to do. I actually went to Guatemala with a group called Soluciones Comunitarias that worked with indigenous Mayan women there. And they help them start businesses that would bring things like graduated reading lenses and water filtration systems to really rural small villages. So I got to live there for a season and work with those women. And I got to ride in the back of pickup tracks into these tiny communities and see people try on reading lenses and just cry because they'd never thought they'd be able to see like that again. That was pretty special. I mean, that was a cool thing. Also, on that time in Guatemala, anytime you're living abroad, you can get pretty lonely, you are alone. And I really developed a love that I've had till this day there, which is reading. I began to just go to a used bookstore, read books in my apartment, developed a real love for Russian classics, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Gogol, books with a lot of soul and just things I never thought I would have been into.
Jim Morris: What is your favorite book? Is that too hard of a question for you? Can you narrow it down to a few?
Peter Rystrom: My favorite book, I actually just re-read, as part of a book study with some old friends over Zoom, The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky. An incredible book that combines religion, philosophy, family, relationships between brothers and friendships, love in a way that's just incredible. Another book I absolutely love is John Steinbeck's East of Eden. It is the most powerful book that spans multiple generations in a family. And it's so much about forgiveness that thou mayest choose to forgive, to let go of resentments to move forward in life. And I read that at a time in my life where that was really powerful and there were things I needed to let go of. And it was really life-changing for me.
Jim Morris: And that's a powerful lesson, perhaps for many in our country and our world right now. Also, the Steinbeck Center in Salinas is absolutely phenomenal. Could not recommend that enough. So let's get back to your international travel for a bit. How does that shape your mindset when you see people that don't have some of the things that we perhaps take for granted here in America?
Peter Rystrom: One thing that I think about is, for example, in Guatemala, when I was working with those Mayan women, was just this idea that every human being has something that they're capable of that can help others, every human being. These are the most marginalized women that get flack for even thinking that they could work or go out into the community to help other people, and seeing them change lives in their own country and their own community that really inspired me, and just helped me see back at home. Everybody has something that they're capable of. Everybody has a unique skill they can use to love and serve other people.
Jim Morris: As you look at life on the farm and also the world that we're in right now with some of the challenges that we have. Is there anything from your literature that kind of sums up your feeling on moving forward as a core philosophy?
Peter Rystrom: One of my favorite quotes from The Brothers Karamazov, it's the story of when Ilyusha goes to another woman's house, a woman with a bad reputation as being kind of mean-spirited person. That's all we know about her at that point in the book and something that's really been impactful in my life is the way he handles this situation. He chides the other person he's with for being so hard on her and says, "And the person insulted the day before yesterday must forgive her too. She will, when she knows, and she shall know this soul is not yet at peace with itself, one must be tender with it. There may be a treasure in that soul." When I read that, it immediately stood out to me. But over the years it's really come, and sometimes this is hard learned, but try to let go of my judgments of other people, try to stop thinking that I know what they're going through, that I know what their life is like, and that I can make a judgment on why they are the way they are. And also seeing that there's no time where I feel more grateful in life than when I'm given the benefit of the doubt by another person, that when a friend supersedes everything to believe in me and what I'm capable of, even if they don't see evidence of that on the surface. And so I would say as far as life philosophy goes, that has been a very impactful scene and literature for me, is that heart of mercy and forgiveness and to let go of judgment towards other people.
Jim Morris: Not only in society, that's phenomenal, but also farming is a lot about relationships, too. So does this have application in your day-to-day life on the farm?
Peter Rystrom: Farming can be kind of high stakes sometimes, and there's a lot of risk. We can get kind of in a panic sometimes, and sometimes we see the worst of each other out there in the fields when we're trying to get something fixed before a rain comes in and sometimes people can snap or be short with each other. Relationally, I feel like it's been so important, both for myself and for other people with me to give each other a pass, to believe the best about each other, even when we lash out or are angry or frustrated or scared. So yeah, that's been huge because it happens every year. There's things we need to let go. We need to choose to accept people, however they happen to manifest themselves that particular day, because we just don't know what's happened before they came to us and what's going to happen after. What they're worried about. What their fears are.
Jim Morris: Which brings us to the pandemic that we're in, a lot of challenges out there. How does it affect the farm and how does it affect you in a personal way?
Peter Rystrom: There's certainly been some practical things that's changed. It caused some supply problems in the spring when we were trying to get our crops planted. It slowed us down a little bit. And a lot more hand sanitizer, masks and spreading out. Although, on a personal note, I will say that farming is one of those beautiful jobs where if somebody is within a mile of you, most of the time, that means something's wrong. Typically, people are out on tractors alone. I'm out in my fields alone working with the rice. We're part of teams, but we're often in our own machines. Usually, my phone battery dies by lunch. It's just a lot of phone conversations, even before COVID. So to be honest, in a lot of ways, life has gone on the farm, as we continue to grow food and work as teams, we just are able to do it at a distance naturally.
Jim Morris: So, let's segue into some of the full-time work you have on the farm. What are some of the things you do depending on the time of the year? Planting season and harvest - those are really the tremendous workloads, I suspect.
Peter Rystrom: We kind of divide our year up into four parts. One is planting, and that's typically April and May. And that's where we're working, the biggest days of the year, maybe 14 hours a day, trying to get our fields prepared to flood and then put seed on. In the summer, that's a pretty hard transition going straight into long days of irrigation. The crop is the most sensitive in the first month of its life. So we spend a lot of time out in the fields just babying it, if you will. And, typically by late summer, we'll get a little bit of a break. The rice is pretty self-sustainable at that point, we just give it a little bit of guidance.
August is typically a time where we could take a little trip or go somewhere for a week. And then we get right into harvest in September and October, sometimes it goes into November, we always hope it doesn't, it gets rainy, it gets muddy. That's when everybody's spirits start to drop. And, then we hit winter, which is November through February. And that's where we're doing long-term things, all the different stuff, long-term projects that we had just put down for the rest of the year. We have to pick those back up.
Jim Morris: Family operation. Let's start with your wife, Carissa, who is delightful. What are some of the things that she does on the farm and how understanding is she, when you have these days where you're going to be gone for 14 hours or more?
Peter Rystrom: My wife is amazing. Carissa is a really special woman. I am so lucky to have met her. She actually moved out from Washington DC, where she was working and she had done a consulting project for USDA. And just this little thought popped into her head saying, "I want to get out into the country and learn something about it." And her friends teased her about it and made jokes, but she did it. She moved across the country. She had some friends in Chico. She moved in with them. And, pretty quickly I was introduced to her as someone who was in agriculture and lucky me, I quickly invited her on a couple of tractor dates. And for those of you that don't know, that's where you invite a pretty girl out to the tractor to get to know her.
She is not overly hard on me for the hours that need to be worked. We've gotten into a great rhythm where we communicate well. And, we each know in season there's certain hours that need to be worked. But what really helps honestly, Jim, is that Carissa is out here with me, that she actually wants to engage in the farm. In spring and fall, especially she's out every day, supporting the crew, getting us whatever we need, keeping the tractors running. She's got a couple of specific jobs where she's totally responsible for, and I'm super proud of her. And I've just loved getting to work with her. And one of the most amazing things is, honestly, she has gotten to know everybody that we work with so well. All of the employees, all of the family members, she talks to them every day and builds real relationships. And that's helped to bring our family farm closer together.
And the last thing I'll say for Carissa and having her out here, she's an incredible encourager. Several years ago, I had had a back injury that had really lingered and I had back surgery. And I just had a hard year, mentally, just dealing with not only the pain, but also the idea that what I loved doing, which is farming, was in question. And could I even handle this? A lot of doubt about, can I do this job with this level of pain? And, she came out with me all throughout the year. She came out to the field, she helped me irrigate. She helped me lift heavy things and much more than that, she encouraged me and she really helped me see that that doubt needed to be let go, that I can't control what happens. I can't control what has happened. I can only control how I respond, letting go of any anger or resentment for an injury that I could not control, letting that go and just believing that things are going to be okay.
And all of that type of encouragement is something that I could have never even hoped for in a wife. And as a farmer and someone who's worked through physical injury, there's no one better I would want to be a life partner with.
Jim Morris: That is awesome. And what a wonderful person, a great testimonial. And also, I just learned the term tractor dates, so that is really cool. So you have a family operation, your dad, Steve, who is wonderful, a great leader. You're grandfather, Don. And tell me a little bit about the yin and the yang of it, if you will. Probably really good in many respects and other respects is you're not going to have a 9 to 5 ever, ever, right? So tell me a little bit about working with family.
Peter Rystrom: I am very lucky to have to be a fifth-generation rice farmer. My great grandfather and my great-great grandfather were both Swedish immigrants. They moved out to Nebraska and then moved on to Richvale and bought land out here, sight unseen, not knowing what you could even farm here. Pretty quickly, they started farming rice, and I grew up just in the shadow of some great men. My grandpa has left a big legacy here and he's really taught us something special. I think something that he especially contributes to our farm education is just the knowledge that you can't control everything that happens. And to be content in every season, no matter what's going on, great yields, poor yields, terrible weather, great weather. He is so calm and just has a palm open approach to life. And I've loved that so much from him. He's 96 years old and he still drove a harvester this harvest.
Jim Morris: That is so cool that he could choose not to do it, but he still loves to be out there on the harvester that tells me a lot.
Peter Rystrom: Oh yeah. And we just love him. I mean, my cousins, my brother-in-law, my dad, my uncle, all of us just cannot help but have huge smiles on our face every time we see them out there. This past harvest, we got to have almost a ceremony to commemorate his time out there on the farm at the very last day of harvest, we had him cut the last pass of rice and we parked all the other machines and had him come right down the middle of them. And we got tons of pictures and video, and he had the biggest smile on his face.
Jim Morris: The Rystrom family has quite a history in Richvale. So, tell me a little bit about some of that history that the family has here.
Peter Rystrom: My great grandfather, John Gustaf Rysrom, he moved out here with his son and they were both farmers and he actually only farmed rice for a couple of years before he decided to open up a general store instead. His sisters, the Rystrom sisters, they actually opened up a hotel in Richvale, believe it or not. Yeah. Things were a little different back then. You have any comments on that grandpa?
Don Rystrom: Dad moved out here from Nebraska in 1910, just after he got married, moved to Turlock. Grandpa sent him a letter and told him to come up and look at this good ground up in Richvale. So he came up and looked at it and decided to move up here. And then grandpa moved out here that same year. I enjoy working with all of our family. We're all doing something that's worthwhile. It's a joy.
Jim Morris: You have spent more than 70 years growing and harvesting rice here in the Richvale area. Tell me a little bit about that and the joy that you get from this.
Don Rystrom: I started farming rice in 1943 as an FFA project in high school. I was in the Navy for a couple of years, but have been farming ever since I got out in 1945 running a harvester every year since then.
Jim Morris: Tell me about your time in Richvale and what you like about the town.
Don Rystrom: Peterâs grandma and I traveled quite a bit and somebody asked me after you traveled all this way, where would you like to live in this world? And I thought for a while, I thought Richvale. I really enjoy living here out in the country.
Jim Morris: Richvale, I believe was originally called Selby Switch. The name was changed to Richvale to denote rich soils and everything. It didn't work for many crops, but it sure worked for rice. Right?
Don Rystrom: It was only good for rice.
Jim Morris: I understand there's a tradition in Richvale on Christmas morning called you Julotta. Can you tell me about that?
Don Rystrom: Yes. It's much different now than it used to be, but they used to go to the church when it was still dark and have a service. When the service is over, they came back into the light. That's been a tradition ever since I've been here. Since dad and mom were here, still going on. It used to be all Swedish. The only thing Swedish about it anymore is a group, sing a song in Swedish. And that's it.
Jim Morris: You remember some of the words from the song?
Don Rystrom: âLysna, lysna, ara vare Gudâ
Jim Morris: What do those mean for somebody who doesn't speak that?
Don Rystrom: Listen, listen, hear the angels singing.
Jim Morris: My visit with the Rystrom family reminded me that we from taking a little more time to get to know people. As educator Steven Anderson said, âAlone we are smart, together we are brilliant.â Thank you to Peter and Don Rystrom for their time and comments. Also, my appreciation to those who help with this podcast, including Brett Thurman of Page Design who does a fantastic job behind the scenes to make it all work. Remember you can get much more information and listen to past episodes at podcast.calrice.org. Let us know your comments and questions, please subscribe and thanks for listening.
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Itâs a miraculous journey done every year. An estimated 1.2 million snow geese are part of the annual Pacific Flyway migration, traveling thousands of miles as they head south for the fall and winter.
Fortunately, the Sacramento Valley provides just what is needed for these boisterous birds to rest and refuel. Rice fields provide more than 60 percent of the fall and winter diet for these hearty travelers, as well as the flocks of migrating ducks.
âThe Sacramento Valley, I donât think you can overstate how important it is, especially for wintering waterfowl,â remarked Mike Casazza, Research Wildlife Biologist with the U.S. Geological Surveyâs Western Ecological Research Center. âWeâre in a Mediterranean climate here, so theyâre not facing climatic extremes. These birds, theyâre primarily coming from the northern latitudes. They come down here, to spend the winter. The environment here is just ideal. They can relax in a rice field. Thereâs food here for them.â
Snow Geese share local rice fields and adjacent wetlands with many other bird species, and it can be a balancing act to make sure the finite habitat can best support this diverse ecosystem.
Andrea Mott, Biological Science Technician with the U.S. Geological Survey, is among those studying geese populations, including snow geese, to see how their growing population impacts other waterfowl species in our area.
To do that, she and colleagues have placed GPS/GSM collars on about geese, which allows them to continual monitor their migration via their computers. Currently, about 100 geese are being studied. This allows researchers to better understand where they are moving around the valley and the fields they are using. They have transmitters on ducks as well, so areas of overlap can be studied and analyzed.
âTechnology has come really far in the last several years,â Mott said. âIt used to be that we put a transmitter on and we had to be within a mile or so of the bird to hear a beeping to understand where it is. With these, once we put them on the goose, they have solar panels so they recharge and keep the battery up. It literally just transmits its locations through cell phone towers and then sends it to my computer. Then, I can look on my computer from my desk and see where all of my geese are.â
The monitoring system provides a location of each goose every 15 minutes. The data is saved and offloads every 24-hours, showing where all of the geese have been.
This information helps researchers better track the goose migrations and much more â including how high they are flying and âaccelerometer dataâ â showing the movement of the goose; whether itâs flying, sleeping, eating or walking.
Mott said the Geological Survey work is made possible through a collaborative effort, including the California Department of Water Resources, Ducks Unlimited, California Waterfowl, and UC Davis, along with many others.
The goose tracking information will be reviewed and critically analyzed before any future steps are made to make sure the Sacramento Valley best serves the entire array of migrating wildlife each fall and winter.
Episode TranscriptMike Casazza: The Sacramento Valley, I don't think you can overstate how important it is, especially for wintering waterfowl.
Jim Morris: Mike Casazza, Research Wildlife Biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey on the importance of rice fields for wildlife, including more than a million snow geese, an iconic and boisterous bird in our region.
Mike Casazza: We're in a Mediterranean climate here, so they're not facing climatic extremes. These birds they come primarily from the Northern latitudes and come down here to spend the winter. And the environment here is just ideal because they can relax in a rice field, there's food there for them.
Jim Morris: Maintaining that habitat is important, and you're about to find out how researchers work to keep balance in this diverse ecosystem. Welcome to Ingrained, The California Rice Podcast. I'm your host, Jim Morris. Proud to have worked with California farmers and ranchers for 30 years helping tell their stories. Winter in Sacramento Valley rice country is a great time. The harvest is done and these rice fields have a tremendous value as wildlife habitat for millions of birds that are making their annual Pacific flyway migration. I'm visiting with Andrea Mott, Biological Science Technician with the U.S. Geological Survey. Andrea, you are working to try to help maintain this healthy population. What are some of the areas that you're working in?
Andrea Mott: I'm just looking at snow goose populations and just seeing how the healthy, or maybe a little too healthy population, may affect other waterfowl species that also winter in the Valley.
Jim Morris: It does appear that we have a very healthy snow goose population. Some of that is good, some might be challenging, but generally speaking how has that population been in recent years?
Andrea Mott:
It's kind of increasing exponentially, so every year we're seeing more and more snow geese calling the Sacramento Valley their wintering grounds.
Jim Morris: Why is it important to track their population? I believe it has something to do with the other wildlife that depend on the rice fields and making sure there's a good balance.
Andrea Mott: There's a ton of overlap in habitat between snow geese, other species of geese, and then ducks and swans as well. So they all depend on the rice and the rice fields that the Valley has. There's a ton of overlap, so we're just monitoring to see if too many geese may end up being detrimental for waterfowl populations, ducks specifically.
Jim Morris: How do you do that? How are you able to track geese?
Andrea Mott: We put out GPS/GSM collars on these geese and we can monitor them from our computers. So, I can essentially see where they're moving around the Valley, what fields they're using, and then we also have a bunch of ducks transmittered, so we can see where major areas of overlap are and go from there.
Jim Morris: How do you get the transmitters on the geese?
Andrea Mott: We have to trap them. We use rocket nets where we set them up in an area where a bunch of geese are hanging out and we essentially just shoot these nets over a flock of geese, and it just traps them. We go pick them up really quick, and put them in crates, band them, and throw a collar on them.
Jim Morris: How many geese are you tracking at any given time?
Andrea Mott: We have about a hundred active right now. They're not all in California. Some of them went to the Central Flyway, which is kind of the mid-continent, like the Dakotas, Kansas, Nebraska, and that area. It's a collar that goes on the neck of the goose. So yeah, technology has come really far in the last several years. It used to be that we put a transmitter on and we'd have to be within a mile or so of this bird to hear a beeping, to understand where it is. Where these, we can put them on the goose. They have solar panels, so they recharge and keep the battery up. It literally just transmits its locations through cell phone towers and then sends it to my computer, and I can just look on my computer from my desk and see where all my geese are.
Jim Morris: How often can you track the birds, and why is it valuable to know where they are?
Andrea Mott: We have the collars set to take a point, or like a GPS a spot, every 15 minutes. Then it saves up that data and then offloads it every 24 hours. So, I get a day's worth of data every 24 hours on where all of the geese have been. It's just really important to see what they're doing, where they're going. Like, we've been able to look at crazy migrations that they've been doing like flyway switching. You know, sometimes they'll stay in California one winter and decide they want to go to Nebraska another winter. We can see all of this stuff from these collars.
Jim Morris: I'm picking California for my winter as opposed to Nebraska, but that's just me. If you have your laptop open, and what is on the screen that we're looking at?
Andrea Mott: This is the website that all of the GPS points get uploaded to. So, here we're looking at a snow goose that was collared up on the North Slope of Alaska. It is a male, and he's back here in the Valley. We can see here, this yellow line is just kind of where he's been in the last couple days. So yeah, he's in a rice field around here, currently.
Jim Morris: Tell me a little bit about some of the travels he's made, if you don't mind.
Andrea Mott: Yeah. He's just kind of bopping around the Valley. You know, I'd have to look at it a little closer, but most geese spend time in the rice eating and then spend time on refuge areas to sleep, and loaf, and that kind of thing.
Jim Morris: So some of that is predictable. Like you say, they come here, they need to rest and refuel, but it is interesting that within that group I imagine there can be some variables. So, one of the reasons why it's important to track it through the computer. Correct?
Andrea Mott: Sometimes a goose will just get a wild hare and just go fly off into some weird spot, and that's a cool thing to see. And we get geese that end up in places that we didn't expect them to be. Like I have one of our snow geese is in Mexico right now.
Jim Morris: Besides your ability to track their journey, do the collars help in any other way? Do you receive any other data through them?
Andrea Mott: They don't just give us GPS points. They also can give us elevation data, like how high they're flying. They can tell us temperature, outside temperature, and then we have accelerometer data, which I mean I know doesn't mean a lot to many people. But essentially, it's the movement of the goose. So, a lot of times we can see, based on this graph, if it's flying, sleeping, eating, walking. We can see what it's doing based on the data that these collars can take.
Jim Morris: A lot of the conservation work I see in the Sacramento Valley, there are partnerships that are important to get successful results. Is that the same case for the work that you do with the USGS?
Andrea Mott: Absolutely. This is a major project. Lots of collaboration from Department of Water Resources, Ducks Unlimited, California Waterfowl Association, so it's a ton of people that are helping. It's not just USGS.
Jim Morris: Have you traveled and done work like this elsewhere?
Andrea Mott: I was really lucky and I got to go to Alaska in summer 2019. It was their molting grounds. So for about a four-week period snow geese and all geese can't fly because they molt all of their flight feathers. So we just corral them into a catch pen, and band them, and I was able to put collars on them up there in Alaska.
Jim Morris: I'm glad you went in the summer. I'm reasonably well-traveled, but I've never been to Alaska, but I'm fascinated by it. So, where in Alaska were you, how long did you stay, and what are some of your observations about that area?
Andrea Mott: I went all the way up to the North Slope, which is the furthest north part of Alaska. There's a ton of snow goose colonies up there. I was up there for about a week or so.
Jim Morris: I'd love to know a little more about the landscape. It sounds really interesting.
Andrea Mott: It's tundra, so it's not like the mountainous landscape that a lot of people picture Alaska. It's pretty flat, a lot of little seasonal ponds and stuff, which is super important to all of the birds that nest up there. But yeah, I essentially flew into the biggest major town and then we took a helicopter out to a river delta where we camped for about a week. Yeah, we had to have polar bear fences up just in case a polar bear came into camp, which it didn't thankfully.
Jim Morris: Oh, yeah.
Andrea Mott: But yeah, it was pretty crazy.
Jim Morris: Any interesting things that you saw or ate while you were there? I mean did you have a caribou burger or anything?
Andrea Mott: No. No caribou burgers. We essentially just had to bring some food out with us. But everything was just very different than everything down here. I saw so many birds on their breeding grounds that I've never seen. Like I've never seen baby specks because they're always adult-size down here. I did see some polar bears when I was up there, so that was really cool. From a very far safe distance, thankfully.
Jim Morris: Well, that's good.
Andrea Mott: Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, it was really, really cool.
Jim Morris: You say specks, those are a specklebelly or Pacific greater white-fronted geese. Do I have their title correctly?
Andrea Mott: Yeah. Yeah, that's right.
Jim Morris: Tell me a little bit about some of the observations that you've seen since you've started this work, and what are some of the things also that you've observed and learned when you've been in and around the rice fields?
Andrea Mott: I've just noticed how much these geese actually use the rice. I am not from this area, so when I got here for the first winter I was like, "Wow. This is the most waterfowl in one area I've ever seen in my life. This is amazing." And people are like, "Yeah. It's because there's all the rice agriculture here, and it really helps support such a large population."
Jim Morris:
When you're in the field and you're looking over the data, it's pretty cool to have that visual. Right? I mean it's extremely foggy today, but normally seeing thousands of geese in a field, I find it pretty uplifting.
Andrea Mott: Oh yeah, for sure. I love just going out and doing field work because I get to look at all the geese and the ducks that are around and just the sheer numbers that are here.
Jim Morris: Tell me about the journey that they make, because you've been on different ends of the Pacific Flyway Migration, and to think about that they do it every year is unbelievable to me. Tell me about that journey.
Andrea Mott: It's absolutely nuts how far these geese migrate every year, like thousands of miles. They're down here, they go up to Alaska, remote parts of Canada, Russia even. And, with these collars, we're able to actually see these migration pathways and kind of see where they're going, if they're taking weird different routes, or the same kind of route. So we've been able to really see interesting detail on their migration, their nesting grounds, and their wintering grounds.
Jim Morris: One of the things that I've learned with the U.S. Geological Survey, I thought years ago that it was simply just geologic-type subjects. And, in visiting with some of your colleagues on our giant gartersnake podcast, Episode 11 if you want to check that out it's really cool, Anna Jordan and Allie Essert, Giants in the Rice Fields. Did you work on the snake project for a while too, and what were your experiences there?
Andrea Mott: Yeah. It was cool to just get outside of the bird world for a minute, so it was a cool experience. Snakes don't scare me-
Jim Morris: Oh good.
Andrea Mott: ... so that was fine. But yeah, it was neat to see the other species that really use the rice outside of the winter season.
Jim Morris: What do your friends and family think as you're tracking geese with radio collars, and handling snakes, and everything? Are they surprised?
Andrea Mott: No. I mean my parents think this is the coolest thing they've ever heard. On a regular basis they tell me they can't believe that this is my job and it's super exciting. But yeah, a lot of my friends are like, "What is it you do again? Chasing geese around the Valley?" Like yeah, that is what I'm doing.
Jim Morris: I love that sound. It takes a while for all this data to be gathered and then decisions to be made to make sure the populations are all sound, so where are you in the process?
Andrea Mott: We spent the first couple years collecting the data, trapping the geese, and now we're in the data analysis phase, where we're starting to look at the big-picture questions and figure out what we want to ask with this data.
Jim Morris: How does it make you feel, knowing that you're playing a role in hopefully having healthy populations of wildlife in rice country for a long time to come?
Andrea Mott: It's very important to maintain these bird populations from a wildlife aspect, but also conservation hunting, and all of that. I want to be part of what preserves these animals for years to come. I love when a huge, huge flock gets up and starts swirling around, and the sun hits them just right, and just the noise, the sheer noise of how many are there. It's just a really cool thing that I hadn't really seen before in my life.
Jim Morris: That will wrap up this episode. Thank you to Mike Casazza and Andrea Mott with the U.S. Geological Survey for their time and insight. You can learn more about their work and listen to past episodes at podcast.calrice.org. You can also subscribe, and we appreciate your feedback. Thanks for listening.
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Insufficient investment in water storage has brought about an almost yearly struggle in California, and another dry start to the rainy season is cause for concern.
A big part of the solution to inadequate water storage may come a project that has been debated for more than half a century â Sites Reservoir, which would be built in rural Colusa and Glenn Counties.
Sites Reservoir is the largest surface storage facility proposed to be added to California's water supply system since New Melones Reservoir in 1979.
âSites Reservoir, in my opinion, is sort of the poster child of modern surface water storage in California,â remarked Tim Quinn, who has 40 years of experience in water issues, including at the largest water district in the state, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. âIn years gone by, we used to build dams on live rivers with great ecological damage. Weâre not doing that any more. Sites is a wonderful example of an off-site storage facility that has virtually no footprint impacts, and is being woven into a comprehensive package in the Sacramento Valley to do multiple purposes... Itâs a classic example of modern water management in 21st century California.â
The three major water consumers in California â the environment, cities and farms â all stand to benefit if Sites is completed.
âThe Sites Reservoir Project is very unique,â said Fritz Durst, a diversified farmer in Yolo County who serves as chair of the Sites Joint Powers Authority. âBecause of Proposition 1 funding, Sites Reservoir would have its own unique block of water thatâs solely for the environment⊠it wonât have a junior priority⊠it could be used for fish, for birds or for water quality, Delta outflow, for the many small critters that live in the Delta.â
Durst said if Sites were built, it would not lead to major growth in acreage of Sacramento Valley crops, including rice, but it would create a more certain water supply, which would be invaluable to farmers, ranchers and support industries.
He added urban residents would benefit from Sites Reservoir, through a more stable water supply. Having additional water in storage would gather water in wet years and make it available during dry periods.
Mary Wells owns and runs a ranch in Sites. Her experience is unique â decades of ranching in a remote part of the Sacramento Valley as well as a leader in water and agriculture in the valley. She calls the prospect of building water storage in the Sites Valley bittersweet, but something that should happen for the betterment of our state.
âIn terms of the physical viability of a reservoir here, itâs just amazing,â she said. âYou have two major canyons that come inâŠ. but when you consider an area of about 14,000-acres, about 14-15 miles from one tip to another, thatâs amazing. Itâs just a natural bowl.â
Jerry Brown, Executive Director of the Sites Project Authority, is among those determined to get this storage facility built. He said he sees growing momentum to get the project completed.
âOne of the key aspects of the Sites Reservoir Project for California is that it is creating flexibility for our system, which is badly needed,â he said. âYou hear a lot about climate change and the fact that weâre getting a lot more extreme variability in our precipitation. We need storage facilities in order to regulate the water flow to some degree, to allow us to optimize its use.â
Sites would be an off-stream storage facility. It has recently been âright-sized,â with some areas scaled back to help ensure the project can be built in a reasonable time frame. Key aspects of the new plan include a slight reduction in the storage capacity, the elimination of a new conveyance pipeline that would have brought in and taken out water from the Sacramento River and pump back storage for energy generation. The changes reduced the project cost about $2 billion, to $3 billion.
Brown said if all goes well, construction on Sites could begin by about 2024, with the facility completed and operating by 2030.
Episode TranscriptJim Morris: California has natural beauty and tremendous commerce. We're the most populous state and the most productive farm state. We also aren't without significant issues. Besides COVID-19, we've had multiple years of devastating wildfires. Something that doesn't grab as many headlines has also proven to be a big challenge, a lack of adequate water storage. Without water in reserve, dry winters can cause widespread pain. I'm in Sites in rural Colusa County, which may be a critical link for a better future for our environment, cities and farms.
Welcome to Ingrained, the California Rice Podcast. I'm your host, Jim Morris, proud to have worked for 30 years with farmers and ranchers in the state to help tell their stories. And today's subject is critical to all Californians, ensuring sufficient water for future generations.
One brief footnote, these interviews were done prior to the state's latest COVID-19 stay at home order.
I'm with Mary Wells, fifth generation rancher in Sites. And Mary, tell me a little bit about your family history and also the history of this area.
Mary Wells: My roots in this area go way, way back. I am actually fifth generation Californian. My great, great grandfather was W H Williams, the founder of the little town of Williams. As a youngster, I used to come up here with my grandfather. We had cattle ranches in Merced. Spent a lot of time up here, my brother and I. After college, I inherited, when my grandfather passed away, inherited some properties and have since expanded. Went into farming and ranching on these rangelands. Very interesting place, lots of history, mid-1800s. John Sites came into this area, brought some sheep in and liked the area so much he came back a few years later. He was a man of great foresight. He had a brother, I think he had two brothers that came here. Had adjoining ranches, operated the same, grain, sheep, so on. The family retained the ranch that I have. John Lee Sites took it over and I purchased this from the Sites' family in 1974.
So they had this for a long, long time. And the bottom line is that, at one point, Sites was a very significant little community in the foothills. Not was there dry land wheat farming on all of the flats and in the lower hills, there was a very prosperous sheep production in the hills. And, on the way into Sites, there is a very famous quarry and there was a narrow gauge railroad. The Colusa Lake Railroad that came from Colusa and the river of Sacramento and brought the slabs of sandstone that were cut in the quarry. And they would come up into Sites. There was a turntable, and they would go back to the Sacramento River and be loaded on barges and taken to San Francisco. And, if you've visited San Francisco, the Ferry Building the Emporium, a lot of the facades in San Francisco are from the Sites quarry.
The train was also used on holidays to bring people up into Sites. They had an annual Easter picnic. You can imagine it, the women in their fancy dresses and parasol...I would not have done well in that generation, but they would come up for the day and they had games and picnics and food. And so it was a very thriving, thriving community. Hard to imagine today.
As time moved on and highest and best use for land always prevails. The grain disappeared in the fifties and sixties, 1950 in 1960. The sheep went to somewhere along about the same line. There are no sheep here now, all cattle. In fact, almost all of the valley, which is about 14,000 acres. And then of course you have, the hills are utilized as well. So, you've got more acreage there, but most of that now is winter rangeland for the cattle.
Jim Morris: Is it safe to say there are more cattle on this ranch than people that live in Sites?
Mary Wells: Oh, very much so. Yes. From November through May, the cattle definitely have the upper hand on population. Currently there's probably 15 families that live here. When I first came here, there were 22, 23 are carrying on. The interesting thing though is, while we have cattle and this is a very integral part of our total operation, I would say almost everyone who farms or now ranches here also has significant investment and concerns in the Valley. On the other side in irrigated lands.
Jim Morris: I know it's not an easy issue here because you have such an emotional investment in this area. We also desperately need water storage. So how do you reconcile those two? And tell me a little bit about this area as a potential water storage area?
Mary Wells: Oh, that's a great question. When I first came here and of course you're checking out our ranch and all of the things, I was told that the Bureau of Reclamation clear back in the fifties was looking at this for a reservoir. And I said, "Oh, interesting." Did some research on it and found out that actually Sites was easily designated as a potential off stream storage as far back as the fifties and the Central Valley Project or CVP was very interested in it. They had done a lot of studies.
In fact, I had some observation wells, studies going on in 1974. But it was shortly thereafter, about '77, that all went away, political change. The studies and maps were all rolled up and put away by the Bureau of Reclamation, never to be seen again. In terms of the physical viability of a reservoir here, it's just an amazing...you have two major canyons, if you will, that come in. I know the proposed project calls for the two major dams and nine small saddle dams. But when you consider an area of 14,000 acres, about 14 to 15 miles from one tip to another, that's amazing. It's just a natural bowl.
Jim Morris: We do have a significant issues in California in terms of water storage. You also have 40 plus years of experience at the water issues, actively engaged also a leader in agriculture. So you're balancing all that out and I believe you've come to the conclusion that Sites should be carried out here for the betterment, the ultimate betterment of our state.
Mary Wells: Yes, I do agree with that. In my early research, I knew that this was a potential reservoir. And I remember asking Bureau of Reclamation, Bill Martin, he was at that time the director, and I said, "Mr. Martin, should I repair the screen porch or not?" And he said, "Mary, I think you probably will do that two or three times before the reservoir." He says it needs to happen, but California politics, agencies grind very slowly.
Jim Morris: Where would we be if we do not beef up our water storage in California? I mean, it's very dry right now. What are some of the things that you're doing that you wouldn't be doing if we had rain so far this fall?
Mary Wells: We're feeding hay. I have a fortunately a fairly good well, but there are areas where we'll need to haul water in to make it through the winter. So, it's significant. When we don't have the rain we normally do on as I go out in the valley and I think about the operation out there of the potential for water shortages, the need to transfer or use groundwater for my orchard ground. That's on my mind, if it doesn't rain. The rice production, critical part of our total operation. We may be short or the seasons limited. It's not so much the water right now, but it's when we can use it out of the Sacramento River. From one end of my operation to the other, I am feeling the significance of lack of rain.
Jim Morris: In your estimation, will Sites be completed in your lifetime?
Mary Wells: Well, I have so much to do. I keep telling my kids I'm going to be around for a long time. I got a lot of unfinished projects. I don't know if they agree with that or not, but I laughingly say that. I really hope so. Leaders in Northern California, clear back in the early nineties, said we need to start thinking about this. This was a very farsighted group of leaders in Northern California Water Association that...
Mary Wells: In fact, we had sort of a kickoff meeting here. I spoke on the steps of my house there to kick off the concept of getting it going again. And that was in the early 1990s. One other interesting thing I did to reach out, for three years I did tours every month, mostly year round with Metropolitan Water District board members and what a great experience that was. But more importantly, they went home. You would not believe the letters I received that they just did not understand how important the environment and all that we do up here is to the total picture of California. I did that for three years and hoping to get the word out for all Californians that this is a great project and we really need to have it done.
Jim Morris: His career in California water has spanned more than 40 years. I feel very fortunate to visit with Tim Quinn. Tim's resume includes 22 years at Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which serves 19 million customers and is California's largest water district. He also served 11 years at the helm of the Association of California Water Agencies. So Tim let's get right into water storage in California. What is your assessment as to how adequate our storage capacity currently is in the state?
Tim Quinn: There's no doubt in my mind, we need no more storage capacity, both above ground and below ground, which is where we've been heading through much of my career. Sites Reservoir is, in my opinion, sort of the poster child of modern storage in California, modern surface storage anyway. In years gone by, we used to build reservoirs, dams on live rivers with great ecological damage. We're not doing that anymore and Sites is a wonderful example of an offsite storage facility that has virtually no footprint impact. Very, very little compared to what storage used to do. And it's being woven into a comprehensive package in the Sacramento Valley to do multiple purposes. To serve the environment while it serves rice farmers, while it serves cities. It's a classic example of modern water management in 21st century California.
Jim Morris: In your time at Metropolitan Water District, how did the water storage situation for your district change? And what are your thoughts about that?
Tim Quinn: Water storage was one of the most important changes that happened in Southern California in the last quarter of the last century. When I went to work at the Metropolitan Water District in 1985, Metropolitan had 200,000 acre feet of storage capacity. Next to 4 million acre feet of demand a year. So next to none. But the leaders of Metropolitan realized...by the way, they have so little storage because they were counting on the state to do the storing water for them under the state water contract.
Tim Quinn: By the time you got to the late 1980s, it was clear the state wasn't going to do that. So I was part of the team that really focused on expanding Metropolitan Water District Storage, and today with Diamond Valley Lake, with all the groundwater storage partnerships that I helped negotiate, the Metropolitan Water District has more than 4 million acre feet of storage capacity available to it. And that is what saved that economy during the last two big droughts.
Jim Morris: There are three distinct water users in our state, the environment, cities and farms, and the environment is a big deal in our state. And how would Sites help in that regard, and how important is nurturing our environment in terms of water use?
Tim Quinn: Nurturing the environment is absolutely essential in modern California. You didn't have to pay attention to it through most of the 20th century, but it is a driving political factor today. And I couldn't be more pleased by that. That is not a bad thing. It's a good thing. You have to design and manage a project like Sites for the environment as much as you do for water supply for the Sacramento region and other parts of California. I was one of the main negotiators that negotiated what became Proposition 1 and defined a new approach to storage in the state of California, where we were understanding that storage was going to be multi-benefit. It was going to work for the environment and for water supply agencies. And we got the public to agree to pay for the portions that were not for water supply. So, we are building expressly multiple purpose projects up in a place like Sites Reservoir. And I think all Californians should celebrate that.
Jim Morris: So what is your guess as to whether Sites will be completed someday?
Tim Quinn: If you want something done in modern California, you have to develop a coalition of support. Used to be the big water agencies could decide what they wanted and could roll over everybody else and get their projects built. That doesn't happen in California anymore or anywhere else. So, the people who are managing Sites understand that, and they are building coalitions of support. They always talk about multiple benefits. They talk about multiple partners. They're reaching out across old silo lines to deal with environmentalists and others. That's how you get complex, controversial things built. I don't think you can say Sites will never be controversial. There will be those that will oppose it, but I'm pretty optimistic that you can build Sites Reservoir.
Jim Morris: I'm in the Dunnigan Hills in Yolo County speaking with Fritz Durst, a sixth generation grower. Fritz, what are some of the things that you grow?
Fritz Durst: Out west out here in the dry land area I raise three or four different types of wheat. I raise hay for cattle. I also have some wine grapes and asparagus and I also run beef cattle.
Jim Morris: You also grow rice in the Sacramento Valley and you're also chair of the Sites Joint Powers Authority. So tell me a little bit about what the Joint Powers Authority is.
Fritz Durst: The Joint Powers Authority is a group of Northern California agencies. Some of them are water agencies, some of it is counties, cities, the city of Sacramento, for example, is involved. And we got together with a common goal of developing a more secure water system. It wasn't necessarily to get more water to expand growth in California, but as we all know, in the drought years the shortcomings harm the cities, the environment and agriculture as well.
Jim Morris: If Site's reservoir is built, it doesn't necessarily mean that there's a massive expansion of rice or other crops in the Sacramento Valley?
Fritz Durst: Yeah, that's correct. In 2014 and '15, we actually fallowed a lot of rice in Northern California. And, the water that would have been used on those fields was transferred to urban areas and also to environmental needs in the Delta region. What Sites will do, will backfill that water in those drier years and give us a lot more security.
Jim Morris: How helpful would Sites Reservoir be for our environment?
Fritz Durst: The Sites reservoir project is very unique. Because of Prop 1 funding, Sites reservoir will have its own unique block of water that is solely for the environment, and it will be managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. And it won't have a junior priority. It will get as much water or what it's percentage of water, just like everybody else from the reservoir. If it's needed for fish, it could be used for fish. It could be used for birds or terrestrials. Or, maybe just water quality Delta outflow for the minutiae, the many small, small critters that live in the Delta.
Jim Morris: So, this is a beautiful backdrop here in the Dunnigan Hills. And how important is the environment for you and how much does the environment factor into what you do? Because you sit on some water boards, et cetera. And it seems like more and more there is discussion about salmon and birds, et cetera, when you're looking at the agricultural community.
Fritz Durst: The environment's really important to me. I spend a lot of my time out of doors. I just love...It's beautiful. Just this morning, I saw two Golden Eagles in one of my grain fields from this past year. And I learned as a younger man that I can either have a park or a parking lot. And I've chose the prior, the park. I want this place to be beautiful. I want to make...to be home for not just myself and my crops, but also to mother nature.
Jim Morris: How impressed are you with the level of innovation and efficiency with water use in the Sacramento Valley?
Fritz Durst: I think we have a phenomenal story to tell. When we take a drop of water and apply it to a rice field in the Northern part of the valley, oftentimes the water flows through the rice field, it's needed for culturally to grow a better crop, but then that water is picked up by another rice farmer and it gets used four or five times before it actually gets back into the Sacramento River. And, that's the rice farmer. And the rice farmer provides benefits for those who eat the rice, for the local economy, as I just pointed out. But also, the untold story is all the wildlife that benefits from that drop of water. You have birds, you have reptiles. Later in the winter, phytoplankton grows in that water. And when the water goes back into the Sacramento River, it feeds fingerling salmon. We're just on the tip of the iceberg learning about the fishery and how rice can contribute to the health of the fish. We know a lot about waterfowl already, and we're actually using, we're taking that model and applying it to the fish and with great results.
Jim Morris: How helpful would Sites be for those in urban areas?
Fritz Durst: It will be very helpful. As we all know, we're experiencing climate change and what I'm seeing out here in my fields, as we see with water, we're seeing huge variability between years. Last year we had an okay amount of rain. The year before we had lots of rain. This year so far, this fall looks very dry, does not look promising. Sites will capture those high flows in the wet years. It's an off stream storage. So what that means is it sits back in an area where there's just a small creek. We're not damning a major river. Unfortunately, we have to pump the water in there though. But when the water runs out, we can generate electricity. So it doesn't make a huge footprint in terms of carbon footprint, but it will provide us that stability in the wet years. So in the years when everyone has to stop watering their lawns and let things die and businesses struggle because they don't have an adequate water supply for their processing, it will help in those years.
Jim Morris: From a farmer perspective, you have a lot of uncertainty in what you do. Yields and markets are two examples where there are wide fluctuations. How helpful would it be to have a more secure water supply moving forward?
Fritz Durst: As a farmer, we have markets and then we also have commitments. So, in the case of markets, we'll develop markets for rice, for example, for processors to use our rice, to make Rice Krispies and other things. But when we can't supply them, then they go elsewhere looking for a product and then they have to retool their factories or food processing. So we lose markets. And then it's hard to get back into those spaces. And it's not just the grower, it's also our community. We have infrastructure. I personally have millions of dollars of farm equipment and some of that I have loans on and I need to make my payments every year. And having stability helps me to be able to make those decisions. We also have all the support people. We have people who in the trucking business, we have people in the fertilizer and herbicide business and the processing of these crops. And those people are all affected as well. So by offering them stability, it's a greater plus for the whole valley.
Jim Morris: I know what you'd like to have happen, but do you believe that you will see Sites Reservoir completed?
Fritz Durst: I do. It's still a bumpy road ahead of us here. And the reason I think it will be completed is because California needs more water. I know it's expensive, but we've done a great job in the last year trying to get the right size here for the project. I mean, it's like we were going to build a Greyhound bus when all we needed was a little minivan. So, we've got a better focus on what it is we really need and I'm confident it will get built. Hopefully I'll live long enough to see it.
Jim Morris: Jerry Brown is Executive Director of the Sites Project Authority. Jerry, thanks so much for your time. Can you tell me a little bit about your background in water?
Jerry Brown: Sure Jim. Thanks for having me and thanks for your podcast. It's really a wonderful to have you in the community talking about these issues and particularly on this one, talking about the Sites Reservoir project, which is so important to the state of California. My background, well, first of all, I'm the other Jerry Brown. Let me just say that. And I've been in water management and utilities in California for over 30 years, but in water management for the last two decades and the last decade from about 2010 to 2019, I was a general manager at Contra Costa Water District. And after that stint, I started my own firm Waterology Consulting, and then this opportunity came up to lead the Sites project and was selected and really pleased to be able to be a part of this important project.
Jim Morris: The water situation in California is far from robust. So as we move forward, conservation and efficiency, more of that will be helpful. I think most people understand we need water storage. Why is Sites a good fit?
Jerry Brown: Well I think one of the key aspects of the Sites Reservoir project for California is that it is creating flexibility for our system, which is badly needed. You hear a lot about climate change and the fact that we're getting a lot more extreme variability in our precipitation. We need storage facilities in order to regulate the water flow to some degree, and to allow us to optimize its use. We talk a lot about groundwater basins being depleted and issues with that.
Jerry Brown: Well, those groundwater basins can't absorb the water as it comes naturally in the same way that we can when we have off stream storage reservoirs, where we can park the water when it's available and then regulate it out as needed for the various uses throughout the state.
Jim Morris: Why is this area such a good fit? It does have a bowl shape, if you will. So comment a bit about that. And also Sites has been right-sized, I believe is the term. So tell me a little bit about all of those things.
Jerry Brown: The Site is really unique and it's been considered for storage of water for over six decades. It's just the topography of the area is just wonderful. Its proximity to the river. Its proximity to existing conveyance facilities that are in place. The Tehama-Colusa Canal and the Glenn-Colusa Canal. Both of those are key aspects of getting the water into the reservoir. And a couple of years ago, we went through public process with the environmental document, and we went through a public process with the grant program with the state, the Prop 1 grant, and got a lot of feedback from folks about different aspects of the project.
Jerry Brown: And before I came to the project, the team sat down and said, "Okay, well with all this feedback, what can we actually get done? What can we actually afford and get permitted?" And took a hard look at all those things and said, "Okay, let's try to optimize what we've got here and put a package together that can actually get built within a reasonable amount of time."
Jerry Brown: And that's essentially what came out of the right sizing. Pretty much three key aspects out of that, number one, the size of the reservoir downsized a little bit from about 1.8 million acre feet, total storage capacity to about 1.5 million acre feet storage capacity. So that eliminates some of the footprint issues and also reduces a little bit in the storage, but not substantially. A big, big piece that was adjusted was the elimination of what's called the Delevan pipeline. That was going to be a new conveyance pipe that was going to bring water into the reservoir from the Sacramento River and take it back out to the Sacramento River. Just very controversial for a lot of different reasons and that has since been eliminated.
Jerry Brown: And then finally pump back storage for energy generation was an original piece of the project. And that has been eliminated because it just didn't pencil out from a business case perspective at this time. Not that we can't do it in the future, but it just didn't make sense right now.
Jerry Brown: So, all of those changes combined reduced the total project costs by about $2 billion, from $5.2 billion to about $3 billion. And so that sets us up for a more affordable situation. We also adjusted our assumptions about how often and when we could take water out of the Sacramento River safely and be protective of the species. And, with those adjustments, we are reducing our benefits from the project by about a half, to about 240,000 acre feet of new water supplies generated on average every year. All of those things factored together, give us an affordable, permitable and buildable project, which are three of the key ingredients for actually getting anything done in the state of California.
Jim Morris: The environment is critical in California. How would Sites specifically help for the environment?
Jerry Brown: I mentioned the protective diversion criteria. Using the existing state-of-the-art fish screens that are existing at Hamilton City and Red Bluff at the existing canal diversion points. Very key factors. Beyond that though, we have a major component of investment by the state through the Proposition 1 water supply investment program, which involves benefits for refuges. So, some of the water that we would be diverting and supplying would be for the purpose of supplies to refuges, to help the Pacific Flyway. And then another would be to improve flows in the river and into the Delta.
Jerry Brown: We are inextricably connected to the Delta through the Sacramento River and, where we are located, positions us uniquely so that we can make some significant contributions to both the flow patterns in the Delta, but also to helping to bring some of the flow that's necessary to create and restore floodplains for the production of food for fish and the improvement of the habitat for the fish in the river. And beyond that, we're working with the federal government to coordinate our operations in a way that we might be able to help with the cold water that's available up at the Shasta Lake and Oroville Lake, to serve the needs of the spawning and rearing of salmon in the Sacramento River at times. So we're excited about that as well as in partnership with the federal government.
Jim Morris: We've had a bit of a dry cycle since 2013. Ups and downs. Some years have been wet, but many have been dry. And here we are in December, it's beautiful weather but we need the rain desperately. So Jerry, how would Sites help equalize all of that moving forward?
Jerry Brown: Those periods where it's wetter, we need to be able to capture that water and the Sites Reservoir...we went through that period 2013 to 2015, very dry period, lots of effects on various parts of our economy. And, then we came out of that and we got a few wetter years and things kind of felt like they went back to normal. Well, those are the years that we need to be bringing water into places like Sites and storing it so that when we go into these drier periods, which we could be going back into a drier period, that we have the water and it's available for our use.
Jim Morris: The Sacramento Valley is a really unique and special place. How important is it, Jerry, to maintain what we have here in terms of the environment, the communities and the farms?
Jerry Brown: One of the things that we recently did on the project is we went through a strategic planning process. And, as part of that, we revisited our vision, mission and values of ourselves as an organization, as an authority. And, I'm really happy that as part of those values, that our board adopted a key tenant of respecting and honoring the local community. And, we are not going to be successful without the support and the contribution of the local community. I mean, there are landowners that are literally giving up their farms for the benefit of all of us in California. And, I'm happy to see and very diligent about making sure that we maintain that, that contribution be honored and respected and valued as an organization. Including as we go forward, addressing concerns and discussing the project with folks and making sure that any issues or any sort of items that they feel are important for this local community, that we address those within the context of the project.
Jim Morris: So, help for the environment, cities and farms. However, this has been discussed for more than a half a century. Not to be indelicate, but do you feel Sites will get done? And if so, what kind of timeframe is ideal? What's the earliest that Sites could be in place?
Jerry Brown: I think Sites Reservoir absolutely has to be built for the state of California. In the last century, a lot of our water management system was built for what I call yield, and that is to generate new water, generate supplies of water for businesses and farms and people. Our next century, we're going to need flexibility because we don't really have a great handle yet on how things are going to change or what the changes are going to be. We know that things are getting warmer. And, we know with warmer temperatures that the variability in our precipitation is going to be more extreme. And so, flexibility is what we're going to need. And that's what the Sites Reservoir provides.
Jerry Brown: What's our timeline? We are on a track to have this project built within the next decade. For the next approximately 12 months, we're working diligently to establish analysis and review and evaluations that are necessary to give to our local state and federal participants to make decisions about their investments. About this time next year, we're expecting that folks will be making that decision. If everything's a go, then we would be expeditious in our completion of permits and the other approvals for water rights and things that we need over the course of about two years, which would then put us into a final engineering and construction starting in about 2024 and completing the construction of the project and having it operational by 2030.
Jim Morris: That will wrap up this episode. Thanks so much to our interviewees, Mary Wells, Fritz Durst, Tim Quinn, and Jerry Brown. You can find out more at Podcast.CalRice.org, including listening to past episodes. And we appreciate your comments and questions. There's also excellent information at SitesProject.org. Thanks for listening.
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