As you drive through the Central Valley from now through September, no matter the time of day, you’ll likely have to swerve around trucks mounded impossibly high with tomatoes. This year promises to be a good year for processing tomatoes, with a projected 14.3 million tons harvested.

The Northern California Water Association (NCWA) and water resources managers in the Sacramento Valley are watching the groundwater resources very closely during this dry period with an eye toward preserving the sustainability of our precious groundwater resources. With four consecutive dry years and only two wet years this century, there is tremendous stress on the groundwater resources in the Sacramento Valley.

As we are starting to approach harvest season in the Sacramento Valley, the water resources managers continue to work overtime this summer to pursue thoughtful and creative ways to stretch every drop of available water. We have learned a lot this year as we head into the late summer. Most notably, this year has revealed the value of both surface and groundwater storage. With the lowest snowpack in our lifetime, the only water available for this year is already in storage in a reservoir or aquifer.

With the consecutive dry years we are experiencing in California, the various Sacramento Valley salmon runs are being challenged. There are various measures now underway throughout the Sacramento Valley that are important to help winter-, spring- and the fall-run get through this year.