Urbanization, water shortages remove productive farmland

By TIM HEARDEN

Capital Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The loss of agricultural land in California, particularly prime farmland, happened at a record pace from 2006 to 2008, according to a new government report.

Irrigated farmland decreased by 203,011 acres between 2006 and 2008, with the best land representing 49 percent of the decrease, or 98,471 acres, according to the California Department of Conservation.

Such losses are typically caused by irrigation shortfalls, state officials said. But with the onset of the recent recession, urbanization totaled 72,548 acres, the lowest rate recorded since the 1990s, noted the department's 2006-08 California Farmland Conversion Report.

In all, 260,412 acres were idled, an increase of 29 percent over the prior period, the report stated. Most of the idling happened in the southern San Joaquin Valley and much of it was caused by the loss of water.

"These conversions could be reversed if environmental factors change," stated a summary of the report.

The loss of farmland because of water shortages means fewer jobs and lower tax revenue for local governments in hard-hit communities, said Paul Wenger, president of the California Farm Bureau Federation.

"The report by the state Department of Conservation shows how farmland is affected when there is a perfect storm of strict water-use regulations, court decisions and drought," Wenger told the Capital Press in an e-mail.

"It is important that we look closely at what we can do to create reliable water supplies for farmers before it is too late and acreage used for farming is lost forever," he said.

Since the state began tracking ag land conversions in 1984, more than 1.3 million acres have been taken out of production -- an area larger than Merced County, the summary stated. The loss has occurred at a rate of about one square mile every four days.

The study noted losses of several different categories of land. They included farmland of state significance, which is similar to prime farmland but with minor shortcomings, and unique farmland, which consists of lower-quality soils.

Farmland of local significance, which is determined by a county's board of supervisors or a local advisory committee, increased by 75,622 acres over the two-year period, and grazing land increased by 38,836 acres.

The Department of Conservation compiles the report every two years after receiving data from each county, said Molly Penberth, manager of the farmland mapping and monitoring program.

The first reports from the 2008-10 period are coming in, mostly from counties in the San Francisco Bay area, and they show less urbanization than historic averages, Penberth said.

"We don't know yet about the irrigated ag because we haven't gotten into the valley counties yet," she said.

"This is part of a long-term study of what's been going on with California agricultural land resources," she said. "It's meant to track those changes over time. There are fluctuations that are going to occur because of economics or resource related issues, but for the most part with urbanization there hasn't been that much fluctuation. Possibly with this recession we're going to see more of that."

Online

2006-2008 California Farmland Conversion Report: http://www.conservation.ca.gov/dlrp/fmmp/pubs/2006-2008/Pages/FMMP_2006-2008_FCR.aspx