Kings County's crop damage from the ongoing drought -- both natural and legislative -- has topped $21 million this year and continues to climb, county officials say. "I think the number is going to climb as the season winds down," said Kings County's Deputy Agricultural Commissioner Steve Schweizer. The number indicates the damage this year shaped up to be almost as serious as in 2007.

While most growers continued to manage their operations through switching crops and pumping well water, meager winter and early spring rains have parched the area's grazing land and hurt ranchers who depend on pasture to feed their livestock. Lack of water has also forced some growers to abandon their crops mid-season.

The Kings County Agricultural Commissioner's Office released the following figures on crop losses suffered over the past year:

l Rangeland: Of 243,183 acres planted, all was reportedly damaged, resulting in a $1.14 million loss.

l Alfalfa: The damage was almost $11 million. Of 15,923 acres reported as unplanted acreage, 9,325 acres were abandoned after a few cuttings (Alfalfa growers normally have six to seven cuttings a year. This means many growers lost two-thirds of their crop season.)

l Pima Cotton: About 7,570 acres were not planted, resulting in a $8.2 million loss. (More than 5,000 acres of cotton were abandoned since May.)

l Wheat: 3,300 acres were not planted, resulting in a $921,641 loss.

l Tomatoes: Of 26,356 acres planted, 2,090 was damaged, resulting in the loss of $636,077.

The damages add up to more than $21.8 million. The county reported a $22 million drought crop damage by last August.

In comparison with the robust agricultural revenues enjoyed by Kings County, the losses are small. The $21 million loss is 1.24 percent of the 2007 overall ag revenue of $1.76 billion. Still, Schweizer said individual farmers can be devastated.

"I think any type of loss is significant," Schweizer said. "In certain areas like the West Side and the south side of the county, the percentage of loss is high. It definitely affects employment, and the numbers continue to add up."

During the last two years, California has experienced record low rainfall and low snowpack. The situation is being exacerbated by the environmental ruling which slashed water pumped from the crucial Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. In addition, California's booming population has threatened to overwhelm some of the state's key infrastructure.

Some water districts, including Westlands Water District, rationed water supply to customers. Farmers, as well as municipalities drawing water from the California Aqueduct, saw drastic cutbacks in water supply.

Avenal, for example, imposed mandatory water conservation measures on residents this summer, while some farmers decided to abandon crops amid the water shortage.

Kings County has been renewing its local emergency declaration every two weeks since last summer.

On Tuesday, county leaders did so again by directing the agricultural official to delineate figures so that damages within the Westlands Water District are separated from the rest of the county.

"I think we should designate exactly the amount of land that's in the Westlands Water District and within the Kings County boundary that was not farmed because of the drought," said Supervisor Tony Oliveira. "That's an interesting number for us to focus on."

Westlands, the largest water district, receives state water that has been restricted by a court-ruling; therefore, damages are considered to be extensive, although there are fewer than 20 Kings County growers within the district.

Supervisor Jon Rachford said the impact of the court-imposed cutback in the water supply goes far beyond the water district.

Rachford, who represents Corcoran, Kettleman City and Avenal, estimated a large majority of damages to farmlands seen south of Kansas Avenue should be related to what he called the "legislative drought."

"That's what I'm guessing," Rachford said. "I'd say 70 percent of damages seen in the Tulare Lake area is due to the judge's ruling, which reduced the amount of water available."

His conclusion, Rachford said, is based on the fact that no land was fallowed because of lack of water even during the five-year drought between 1999-2004.

The reporter can be reached at 583-2429.

(Oct. 9, 2008)