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Researcher(s):
Perri Pond
ENVS course(s): 499 Initiated: January 2016 Completed: May 2016 Go to project site
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At large, my independent study sought to understand how people have developed the American West into a patchwork of specific land and water uses despite the region’s notorious aridity. I specifically looked at irrigated agriculture in the California Central Valley, a landscape a mere 150 years ago was only golden blanket of wheat nearly three-quarters of the year, only green during the brief rains. Today, the Central Valley is one the most productive river valleys in the world, known for the agricultural bounty that is exported not only on regional, but also national and global scale (Steinberg 2002, 177). How this transformation occurred fascinates me, thus I sought to understand the political, philosophical and economic motivations for the development of the valley and what have been the ecological, economic, and social impacts, benefits and repercussions. Further, I aimed to understand how irrigated agriculture in semiarid and arid regions has been productive and problematic and for whom?
My research specifically focused on the interplay between the development of the Central Valley’s water availability allocated for agricultural irrigation in relation to the rise of water intensive crops throughout the late 19th and 20th Century, to then examine the current hydrologic and agricultural status of the Central Valley and how present hydrologic stressors might impact the future of the valley’s economic, ecological, and social success or failure. Through a predominant historical lens I looked at how accelerated and intensive water works like, the centrifugal pump, which unlocked the valley’s underground water supplies and the development of high dams on major rivers and medium size tributaries freed the Central Valley farmer from seasonal rainfall patterns, resulting in the increased production of water intensive crops and by proxy allowing farmers to enter the global market place.
The efforts Californians have taken to capture, divert, redirect, and store water for agricultural irrigation is just one example of how humans have modified and extended of watersheds. How resilient these constructed hydrologic systems will be during current and future times of hydrologic stress will determine the fate of how and if water intensive crops in semiarid and arid regions will continue to be possible.
Guiding Question:
How can policymakers ensure an ecologically and economically sound future and make equitable decisions for the Central Valley in times of hydrologic stress?
Focus Questions:
What projects and policies led the California Central Valley to be regarded as one of the most productive river valleys in the world?
How has the expansion of the Central Valley’s water distribution, and in turn increased production of water intensive crops been productive and problematic and for whom? At present, who benefits from these arrangements?