California is suffering through unprecedented drought. Water cutbacks mean significant reductions in rice plantings in the Sacramento Valley, which impacts farms, rural communities, the economy and environment. California Rice Commission Website: California Rice Commission – Website http://calrice.org/industry/drought

Tim Johnson, President, California Rice Commission

We Must Set Blame Aside & Focus On The Hard Work Of Storing More Water: “The reality is farmers grow crops for people to eat. … Since water used on farms goes to grow food, aren’t all of us who eat that food the ultimate beneficiaries?…Farmers are not bad, and eaters are not bad. We are all just doing the best we can to cope in this long, long drought. We must set blame aside so we can focus instead on the hard work of storing more water, conserving as much as we can and making sure the California landscape does not devolve into a perpetual brown hue amid permanently pointed fingers.” Tim Johnson, president of the California Rice Commission and Rich Matteis, administrator of the California Farm Bureau Federation, “A Lot of Water Is Essential To The Food We All Eat Each Day,” Sacramento Bee Opinion, 9/21/15)

California Is Not Taking The Drought Seriously: “Let’s be honest about this drought – we are not taking it that seriously. … Clearly, the impacts are huge and the concern is high. So why has their been no action? It seems to me that it comes down to putting the responsibility on someone else to fix the problem. Someone else will conserve water. Someone else will deal with groundwater. Someone else will invest in infrastructure. … From this day forward, all Californians need to be serious in our approach to the drought. Let urban users earnestly conserve water. Let agriculture be real about groundwater use and its long-term impacts. Most of all, the Legislature and the Administration should lead in passing a comprehensive water bond that addresses the state’s need for more reliable water from more sources than we have today.” Tim Johnson’ Blog. http://calrice.org/blog/?id=1406751540&author=California+Rice+Commission

Solutions Does Not Lie In the Simplistic Assertions Of Pitting One Crop Against Another: The future of water use in agriculture does not lie in simplistic assertions or pitting one crop against another. Instead it will be found in an honest discussion of how to increase water storage above ground and below, and how to further enhance conservation in our cities and on our farms. Importantly, we must recognize that water is not a resource to be exploited, but rather one to be valued for the breadth of riches it brings to the environment, farms and our communities. (Tim Johnson, President of the California Rice Commission, “Calculating The Value Of Rice In More Than Dollars,” Sacramento Bee Opinion, 1/10/14)

Solutions To The Drought Include: “Surface storage is the first and most important part of a comprehensive water solution. Even the areas of the state with the greatest potential to recharge groundwater require a steady supply of water to fill the underground aquifers. Other than the few short months of heavy rains, that water will come from a reservoir — [such as] Sites Reservoir in the Sacramento Valley… [and] Temperance Flat Dam in the San Joaquin Valley.” (Tim Johnson, President of the California Rice Commission, and Joel Nelsen, President of California Citrus Mutual, Sacramento Bee, 3/31/15) http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/soapbox/article17036726.html