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With the drought in California, a small group of academics are saying the water rights system in California does not work during drought periods. In fact, the water rights system has worked in California over the past several years and has provided a stable foundation for managing water for cities, farms, wildlife refuges and fish. Rather than focusing on the water rights system, which works, California should instead continue to focus energy on improving its water management system for the benefit of all these beneficial purposes.

A recent article in Comstock’s magazine brought into focus many of the water management tradeoffs that have emerged in the Sacramento Valley over the past decade. In Hiding in the Shallows, Alastair Bland explores the changing agricultural landscape, particularly the conversion of traditional irrigation, such as flood, to drip and micro-jet irrigation.

In early August, in celebration of National Peach Month, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Planting Seeds blog posted a picture of CDFA Undersecretary Jim Houston at the Lomo Station peach orchard in Live Oak, in Sutter County. Sutter County has a long history of growing peaches dating back to 1841 when John Augustus Sutter, after settling at Sutter’s Fort, created the first important agricultural project in Sacramento Valley by planting grapes, pomegranates, fig trees and the first peach orchard on his land at Hock Farm just south of Yuba City.

As California continues to experience its fourth year of drought conditions, the end of the summer does not signal the end of water management challenges for water resources managers in the Sacramento Valley. As we enter into the fall and winter months, a partnership of water management entities, conservation organizations and California Rice are pursuing numerous options to increase the available habitat for birds that are beginning to arrive in the region. The objective is to provide as much diverse and productive habitat spread throughout the region to help the birds in their annual migration and to avoid avian diseases.