Publication Date December 4, 2015 | Miami Herald

California farmers now see drought as rule, not exception

United States
Farmer George Goshgarian farms an almond orchard where he's been actively applying water to the trees to help recharge the aquifer Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015 in Fresno, Calif. The almond industry, along with UC scientists, are studying how to increase groundwater recharge through open field flooding. Gary Kazanjian
Farmer George Goshgarian farms an almond orchard where he's been actively applying water to the trees to help recharge the aquifer Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015 in Fresno, Calif. The almond industry, along with UC scientists, are studying how to increase groundwater recharge through open field flooding. Gary Kazanjian

California farmers talk of a new reality – one in which droughts are more of the rule than the exception, and water availability, both above and below ground, becomes less certain...[Third-generation Fresno County farmer George Goshgarian is] taking part in a groundwater recharge project...This winter, if El Niño delivers as expected, water from the Kings River will be applied on Goshgarian’s 62-acre block of almonds to see how well it recharges the aquifer below...Goshgarian realizes there is a risk to his orchard, but that’s what farming is about, he says. “We are in a different paradigm now,” Goshgarian said. “There is a real fear out there about how much water we may have to farm. And that’s why we are doing everything we can think of to keep going.”