San Diego County Growers May Face Mandatory Water Cuts Next Year

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published September 28, 2007 at 8:54 AM PDT

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

San Diego County growers may face mandatory cuts in water supplies next year. Those cuts could last several years. KPBS Environmental Reporter Ed Joyce tells us the water shortage could reduce farmlan

San Diego County growers may face mandatory cuts in water supplies next year. Those cuts could last several years. KPBS Environmental Reporter Ed Joyce tells us the water shortage could reduce farmland in the county.

Many San Diego County avocado and citrus farmers get a price break on water from the region's main supplier -- the Metropolitan Water District. In exchange for cheaper water those growers are first in line for mandatory cutbacks. The water district has told farmers to expect a 30 percent cut in water supplies next year.

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Eric Larson : Less water means less production.

That's County Farm Bureau Executive Director Eric Larson. He says historic dry conditions and water shortages will hurt farmers in the pocketbook. And Larson says it could mean less open space.

Larson : Farmland's a good hedge against urban expansion. So there is an economic loss. That really isn't something that's going to affect members of the public. What's really going to affect them is if these water cuts end up in a permanent loss of some farmland because farmers decide they can't maintain that portion of the farm. That's the loss that the entire community will feel.

He says farmers are making plans now to deal with less water next year.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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