Adam, So, taxpayers buy rice at an inflated cost so that the rice farmers can use a limited resource without limits, and now they want the taxpayer to provide them access to another limited resource so they can continue growing overpriced rice. I suppose that makes sense to a politician on the receiving end of a lobbyist, but I'd call that "double dipping corporate welfare".
Capitalism works in mysterious ways. -- Sincerely, David Smead http://www.amplepower.com On Mon, 11 Nov 2002 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > This article from NYTimes.com > has been sent to you by [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > This is an extremely rare NY Times article on US agribusiness and water use > (the old gra y lady is usually oblivious to these issues.) As food security > and water usage often come up as topics, I though this article might be of > interest to the agriculture extension agents on this list. > > Cheers, > Adam Honigman > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > Arkansas Rice Farmers Run Dry, and U.S. Remedy Sets Off Debate > > November 11, 2002 > By DOUGLAS JEHL > > > > > > > ULM, Ark., Nov. 5 - Rice farmers like John Kerksieck are on > the brink of draining one of Arkansas' biggest aquifers > dry. > > That alone is troublesome, in a state that gets almost 50 > inches of rain a year. But even more confounding - since > these Southern farmers will not be the last to find > themselves in such a pickle - is the question of what to do > about it. > > Most of the farmers want the government to send them > replacement water from the White River. The Army Corps of > Engineers and the state support a plan to spend more than > $200 million in federal money on the project, or about > $300,000 a farmer. It is time, they say, for the government > to do in other states what has long been done in the West - > provide irrigation water to farmers who have no other > resort. > > But others are concerned about the precedent such a project > would set. If the government rewards farmers who use up > their water here, they say, what is to stop others from > doing the same? > > The debate touches on issues of water rights and > responsibilities, and spills over into farm policy, because > one issue is whether taxpayers should have to spend more to > help grow rice, which is already heavily subsidized. It > also involves wrangling about whether the corps, which has > been limited to navigation and flood control, has any > business wading into irrigation. > > One interest group, Taxpayers for Common Sense, contends > the plan is a boondoggle of the first order. > > Farmers here in Arkansas' Grand Prairie, one of the > country's richest rice-growing areas, see it differently. > "We really don't have a water problem," said Mr. Kerksieck, > 42, in hunting garb in anticipation of the duck season, > which rivals rice farming as the Grand Prairie's main > preoccupation. Like many here, he traces his lineage to the > farmers who arrived in the early 1900's, starting a century > of pumping from the aquifer at rates that could not be > sustained. > > "There's plenty of water in the river," Mr. Kerksieck said. > "They've just got to let us divert it." > > Another farmer, Lynn Sickel, 51, said: "I'm a conservative > person. But if this is what it's going to take for highly > productive farmland to continue to provide food nationally > and internationally, well, that's the taxpayer's burden." > > David Carruth, a local lawyer who had led opposition to the > plan, posed the question a different way. "Why shouldn't we > say to these farmers in the Grand Prairie: `You've known > since 1940 that you had a problem with your aquifer, and > you went ahead and overpumped it anyway,' " he said. " `Why > should we go ahead and grant you another resource?" > > Neither Congress nor the Bush administration has made a > final decision about the plan, with total cost estimated at > $319 million, with the federal government paying 65 > percent. But nearly all sides agree that time for a > decision is running short. Water levels in the shallow > aquifer, known as the Alluvial, are declining at rates so > fast that by 2015 there will not be enough left underground > to sustain the area's 1,000 farms, which cover about > 250,000 acres and represent about 5 percent of country's > rice production. > > The economic impact of such a collapse could surpass $46 > million a year, the corps has estimated. > > The Grand Prairie is not the only area in trouble because > of declining groundwater. Underground water accounts for 22 > percent of American water use, and in many areas, including > much of the Great Plains, coastal Florida and North > Carolina and parts of the Mississippi Delta, it is being > depleted. Even in eastern Arkansas, whose aquifers are fed > by the Mississippi River, overuse has prompted state > officials to designate a second area as critical because of > scarce groundwater. > > But the Grand Prairie area is the first whose aquifer > problems have prompted the Corps of Engineers to propose > stepping in, a move that many see as an important test case > as water shortages, even in the East, have become common. > > "One could take the position that, hey, the farmers are the > ones who created this mess, so why don't we just let their > wells go dry and let everybody go broke, and then the > problem will fix itself," G. Alan Perkins, a Little Rock > lawyer and an authority on water law, said. "But the > critical problem is that right now, we're facing an > imminent aquifer failure." > > Like many states, Arkansas has essentially never limited > the amount of water that farmers can pump from their land. > In the last 50 years in the Grand Prairie, farmers have > relied increasingly on irrigation, over and above ample > rains, to increase the yields of their crops. The farmers > have increased by nearly tenfold the amount of water pumped > from the Alluvial Aquifer, even as its level was declining > by more than a foot a year, the state Soil and Water > Commission said. > > "By allowing limitless access to such a resource, we > encourage overexploitation," said Robert Glennon, a law > professor at the University of Arizona and the author of > "Water Follies," a new book on groundwater depletion. > > Even now, under the critical area designation, state law > permits limits on pumping only if an alternative source of > water is made available to the current users at equal or > lower cost. Arkansas hopes that alternative can be the > White River, but it says it cannot carry out the project > without significant federal help. > > "We see groundwater depletion in Arkansas being a major > problem, and one that involves the national interest, and > really the only federal agency with the expertise and > ability to deal with it is the corps," Earl T. Smith, chief > of the Arkansas commission's water resources management > division, said. > > Under the corps' current plan, about 2 percent of water > from the White River would be diverted for farm use, a > project that would include pumping stations, canals and > reservoirs. The plan, which the corps said would save the > aquifer by reducing pumping to sustainable levels, has > passed an environmental review, but faces opposition from > outdoor and environmental groups like the Arkansas Wildlife > Federation. The groups contend that lower river flows could > alter the habitats of certain fish and migratory birds, > including ducks, and thus hurt fishing and hunting. > > Congress has allocated $45 million for the project, and > farmers and the State of Arkansas have spent an additional > $11 million. The Bush administration has not included the > plan in its budgets. Although withholding a final decision, > the Office of Management and Budget has limited how the > corps can spend money already allocated for the plan, > restricting it to conservation purposes. > > Mr. Carruth, the critic of the plan, said a better approach > would be to retire some farmland and to spend federal money > on technology to enable farmers to use water more > efficiently. That approach, he says, eases overpumping of > the aquifer without the costly river diversion. > > "Why should we subsidize a pump that will sell subsidized > water to grow a subsidized crop?" he asked, noting that > federal price guarantees mean that rice farmers receive > $3.10 a bushel for their crop, more than twice the current > $1.40 market price. > > An analysis by the corps said that without White River > water, there was no way to save enough underground water to > continue irrigation at anything but a tiny fraction of > current levels. > > The farmers say the goal of maintaining a domestic food and > fiber industry, and avoiding further reliance on foreign > suppliers, is well worth the federal cost, even if it means > guaranteeing water and crop payments for their rice. > > "There is a long and established history of the federal > government being involved in water resources development > and protection" John C. Edwards, the executive director of > the White River Irrigation District, which represents the > 1,000 Grand Prairie farmers, said. "There has been a > federal interest in irrigation in 17 Western states. Now > that water problems are coming to the East, we can learn > from the past to make this a better project for the > future." > > http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/11/national/11RICE.html?ex=1038043069&ei=1&en=f647b5dedd9a0491 > > > > HOW TO ADVERTISE > --------------------------------- > For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters > or other creative advertising opportunities with The > New York Times on the Web, please contact > [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit our online media > kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo > > For general information about NYTimes.com, write to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company > > > ______________________________________________________ > The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's > services to community gardeners. 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