Saturday, February 8, 2014

How the Drought is Impacting Our Farms - Fat Uncle Farms

The Water Wise Expo at the Mar Vista Farmers' Market will share how the drought is impacting the farms we rely on. 




Fat Uncle Farms is worried about keeping trees alive that have been in the family two generations. They are a very small, second generation, family farm in Wasco. They have been told that they can't have any water from the water district this year.  So they are in "wait and see" mode as they pray for rain. 

They still have some left from last year but once they run out they will be dependent upon neighbors who are willing to sell them water.  Rebecca Siemens of Fat Uncle says she is worried the neighbors will not sell them any this year - several of them have dug deeper wells - dropped 500 feet - and hit bedrock!  Because of this, they may hold all they have out of fear.  

In Kern County the water feeds from a reservoir in the Sierras which is now at 10% capacity. Allotments are based on prior usage - in a severe drought year a small farm may not get any because of the percentage rule.



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