Recent storms in California have brought much-needed water to the agricultural sector, but an industry head has warned the drought is far from over. 

California Fresh Fruit Association president Barry Bedwell told www.freshfruitportal.com although the production seasons for many major fruit crops in the state had come to an end, the rains had still been 'very positive'.

"I think our biggest challenge may be for some people to start thinking that there's a premature end to the drought and somehow this has solved our problems," he said.

"It's not even remotely close to being the truth there. We would have to have something like 10 to 12 storms of the kind we had last week before we could start really accurately being out of the drought. And that storm last week was probably the biggest in five or six years."

Bedwell added that rainfall in different parts of the state varied substantially, with the central valley having received far less than the north or south.

"Being in the middle we caught some of the precipitation but not as much as some of the other areas," he said.

"For instance I think Fresno has around 1.3 inches of rain, when certain places up north may have had three four or five times that much. But overall the feeling is still very positive of any kind of precipitation we can get.

"Last night (Dec. 15) I think we got something under a quarter of an inch of rain in Fresno and there's a chance we might get a little bit more rain later in the week."

Despite the extremely strong winds that local weather stations had reported in some parts of the state, Bedwell said the California Fresh Fruit Association was unaware of any significant crop damage.

Water allocation

The association's head went on to say that people were already discussing what allocations may look for next year's federal and state water programs following the recent rains, but he emphasized it was still too early to make any accurate predictions.

"While these storms are encouraging, we really don't know how much surface water will be available next year. I think it's safe to say, though, regardless of what happens in the rest of the winter, we're still going to be pumping considerable amounts of water from underground aquifers next year," Bedwell said.

"Even if we got in some cases a 25% or 50% allocation where we had zero this year, you're still going to be in may instances getting the majority of your water for the underground aquifers. Energy costs are still going to be a concern, and the costs of available water are still going to be very high.

"People may be able to avoid irrigating in winter where we haven't in the past, but we still have such a long way to go. We'll keep evaluating every month but until we get to April we won't really have a clear picture of how this year is going to be."

Avocado benefits

Taking a closer look at one crop in particular, expert and Green Earth Produce business development manager Avi Crane said last week's storms would have both positive and negative effects on California's avocado industry.

"In the short-term, there are production and financial advantages. Avocado producers in Southern California have the highest irrigation costs of any country participating in the North American avocado market," he said.

"Soil conditions for most of the industry in Southern California necessitate around 3.5 acre/ft of irrigation annually to produce a normal crop.

"Last December, the extended dry period required growers to turn on the water - adding to the already high annual water costs. The current normal winter conditions are saving growers the cost of irrigation."

He added that Mexico root stock avocados were very sensitive to salt in irrigation water, and while the salt level would overtime build up in the soils, these rains would have flushed the soil and brought the levels below the avocado root system.

In terms of long term benefit, Crane said reservoirs in northern California were finally on the mend after several years below normal levels.

"If rains continue to be at least normal, they might reach capacity," he said.

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