The Lack of Rain is on the Minds of Growers throughout California

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Editor

We spoke with Joe Del Bosque, a diversified grower in Western Fresno and Madera Counties. He farms Almonds, Cherries, asparagus and cantaloupes. He is concerned about the lack of rain.

“We started the water year in pretty good shape with the most of our reservoirs above normal and I think they’re probably still in pretty good shape,” said Del Bosque. “But of course right now it’s starting out like a dry year.”

“We typically have some rains up in the north part of the state by this time of year. And the last time I checked the pumps of the Delta were not running for quite some time there and so we were not picking up hardly any water,” he said.

And, any water coming through those pumps ends up in the San Louis Reservoir. “And the San Louis Reservoir water level was dropping, but hopefully we can pick up more water here as we get into the rainy season.

The fear is that it doesn’t look like any storms, even in the short to long-term forecast.

“That’s exactly right. That’s what I’m seeing. There’s nothing in the near future, at least the next couple of weeks. So yeah, it’s starting to concern us. Absolutely,” noted Del Bosque.