Scott Valley Agriculture Water Alliance Gives Voice to Local Farmers & Ranchers
—Group highlights unfair new state water regulations and misrepresentation of Scott Valley’s aquifer, fish, and agriculture practices
Contact: Theodora Johnson – theo@scottvalleyagwa.org - (530) 598-3081
4/19/22 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Etna and Fort Jones, CA—Family farmers and ranchers in rural Scott Valley, far-northern California are banding together as they face the potential loss of 100 percent of their irrigation water this summer due to unprecedented new drought emergency regulations for the Scott River by the State Water Resource Control Board (Board)—regulations unlike any others in the state. This small mountain valley is home to a tight-knit agriculture community that saw a need to tell their story—before they lose everything. Their new communication group, Scott Valley Agriculture Water Alliance (AgWA), is reaching out to government officials, local tribes, and the public with information about Scott Valley’s agriculture, water and fish.
While other California farmers are also facing cutbacks on water deliveries from reservoirs, those farmers are still able to resort to groundwater pumping. But Scott Valley growers have no reservoirs and are being told to halt all groundwater pumping—even though their aquifer is not overdrafted. The neighboring valley, Shasta, is also being hit with precedent-setting groundwater curtailments, triggering a recent legal challenge by an irrigation district.
The regulations for Scott Valley halt all irrigating if the Scott River’s flows dip below new monthly minimum levels, levels that are purportedly designed to benefit coho salmon and save them from “extinction”.
“The river has not met the Board’s new flow requirements in 9 out of the past 11 summers,” says Sari Sommarstrom, Ph.D., a retired watershed consultant and local tree nursery owner. “Yet the data shows that coho returns have nonetheless increased over the past 20 years. We’re seeing population levels that haven’t been seen since the 1960s. Sadly, it’s evident that these curtailments are based on a false narrative.”
Sommarstrom, a founding member of AgWA, says flow levels in the Scott are certain to fall short in this year’s severe drought—possibly as early as May. To avoid the 100-percent shutoffs, she said the Board is accepting “agreements” from producers to reduce their groundwater use by 30 percent.
But many producers in Scott Valley have annual operating loans that can’t be repaid at 70-percent production, says Theodora Johnson, a sixth-generation Scott Valley cattle rancher and spokesman for AgWA.
Johnson points to AgWA’s new website, www.scottvalleyagwa.org, which offers science-based background information; a white-paper on the status of the coho in the Scott River; “Myths Debunked;” and testimonials and photos that showcase the valley’s multi-generational farms and ranches.
Lauren Sweezey, a Scott Valley hay grower and founding member of AgWA, sums up the group’s purpose:
“We hold our family ranches and farms in trust for our future generations. We have to act now to make sure that’s going to be possible,” she says. “The facts are in our favor. We just need to get them to the right people.”
Scott Valley Agriculture Water Alliance (AgWA) is a unified voice communicating on behalf of local farmers and ranchers, spreading accurate information about Scott Valley’s ag producers, the Scott River, and its fish.
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