Water is the essence of life, and we in the North Valley are blessed with a relative abundance of this precious, life-giving substance!

You have probably seen a sign as you travel around the area saying, “Food grows where water flows.” This axiom promoted by the Family Farm Alliance, and possibly others, stresses the importance of this resource, which we often take for granted, to our communities, the state, our nation and even the world. There are few places on earth with the combination of aerable land, nearby mountains to provide the watershed, capital, technical know-how along with the economic and physical infrastructure to make it possible for one farmer in our valley to provide food to over a hundred people in our country and throughout the world.

Recently, water users, including farmers, cities, businesses, habitat providers and even recreational consumers were told there could be 20 to 30 percent less water available south of the delta than they receive in typical years. This curtailment is not due to lack of water, but a decision to not run the pumps that transfer water from the delta to the Central Valley water system in order to protect endangered species. This means less water for most use from the Sacramento area all the way to Los Angeles.

The good news, if that is an appropriate term, is that water users in the North Valley (basically, from Sacramento to Redding) will not be curtailed by this mandate, creating a potential for a competitive advantage for Northstate water users. While farmers and other water users in the Central Valley may need to cut back on their production and uses of water, those in our area may benefit from relatively lower costs and potentially higher product prices if total production of crop and many other products decline statewide.

While it is hard to feel very ecstatic about gaining an advantage due to someone else’s loss, this set of circumstances, at least in the short-term, appears to favor the Northstate. In our society, water demands for human consumption trump demand for irrigating crops. Therefore, it will be interesting to learn what future implications this dynamic holds for our relative abundance of water!