A Water Transfer and Agricultural Land Retirement in a Drainage Problem Area

Abstract

The increasing scarcity of water in California and the rising cost of compliance with environmental regulations are motivating some farmers in the San Joaquin Valley to sell their land and water, and discontinue production of irrigated crops. In the summer of 2004, all landowners in the 3,700-ha Broadview Water District decided to sell their land to Westlands Water District. The land sales have been completed and Westlands has acquired Broadview's water supply contract. Farmland in Broadview will no longer be irrigated. We describe what motivated the purchase and sale of land and water in Broadview and discuss the potential gains to participants. We describe also the potential public benefits that include an increase in economic activity and environmental enhancement in the San Joaquin Valley. Farm workers displaced by land retirement in Broadview will find employment in the Westlands Water District. Tenant farmers in Broadview will need to find other land on which to continue farming after the land sales are completed. The challenge they face is caused partly by a regional trend toward greater production of perennial crops that is leaving less land available for annual leases.