Farmers in California agree to cut water usage

May 26, 2015

Water use could be cut by as much as 25%

As California battles one of the worst droughts ever on record, everyone is being encouraged to do their part to conserve water, including farmers.

In what is being called a very surprising move, farmers in California are voluntarily reducing their water use to save themselves from possible mandatory cuts later on in the growing season.

Some farmers have the oldest water rights in the state and will reduce their usage by 25%, or leave that much of their farm unplanted.

Field being watered

Farmers have until June 1 to describe how they will go about cutting their water use. Under the agreement, the state said it will not cut the remaining 75% of water.

According to the California Environmental Protection Agency’s State Water Resources Control Board, “a water right is a legal entitlement authorizing water to be diverted from a specified source and put to beneficial, nonwasteful use. Water rights are property rights, but their holders do not own the water itself.”

This unprecedented agreement could have the most impact on farmers whose operations fall in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. California’s Department of Water Resources estimates that nearly 25% of the state’s river water runs through the delta.

According to the United States Drought Monitor, almost 100% of California is under some form of drought, with 92% being considered severe and 46% under the exceptional drought category.

Tell us your thoughts on farmers in California agreeing to cut their water use by 25%. What impacts do you think this could have going forward?

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.