Earlier this month, we were in the field with William Bourdeau, Vice President of Harris Farms Inc, Board member of Westlands Water District, and the Vice Chair of the San Luis & Delta - Mendota Water Authority to talk about how this water year has affected plantings across different commodities and the challenges of California's water politics!
About Harris Farms Inc
The Harris family’s commitment to agriculture spans over 100 years, four generations, and four states, from Mississippi to Texas, to Arizona, and eventually into California. The Fresno County farm has been under continuous family operation since 1937. Since its founding, Harris Farms has grown into one of the largest agribusinesses in the nation.
In the late 1880s, the Harris family moved from Mississippi to Texas. In 1916 J.A. Harris and his wife, Kate, arrived in the Imperial Valley to establish one of California’s first cotton gins as well as other cotton-related businesses. They later farmed in the San Joaquin Valley in the 1920′ s and moved up to the Sacramento Valley where their only son, Jack Harris, graduated from Chico High School in 1932, prior to attending Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo.
In 1937, their only son, Jack, and his wife Teresa, began what is now known as Harris Farms, starting with a previously un-farmed 320 acres of desert land on the Valley’s Western edge. With vision and determination, Harris Farms has grown into the most integrated, diversified, and one of the largest agribusinesses in the United States. Beginning with cotton and grain, Harris Farms now produces over thirty-three crops annually, including lettuce, tomatoes, garlic, onions, melons, oranges, lemons, almonds, pistachios, and wine grapes.
About Westlands Water District
Westlands Water District is a water district in central California, a local-government entity formed in 1952, that holds long-term contracts for water supplied by the Central Valley Project and the California State Water Project.
It is the largest agricultural water district in the US and provides water to farms in an area of approximately 600,000 acres (2,400 km²) in Fresno County and Kings County in the San Joaquin Valley of central California. Its headquarters are in Fresno.
Since its formation in 1952, the mission of the Westlands Water District has been to provide timely, reliable, and affordable water services to landowners and water users in western Fresno and Kings Counties. These water services include the sustainable management and delivery of water supply, as well as the provision of ongoing education, advanced technology, and innovative methods for environmental conservation.
About San Luis & Delta - Mendota Water Authority
The San Luis & Delta - Mendota Water Authority was established in January of 1992 and consists of approximately 2,100,000 acres of 29 federal and exchange water service contractors within the western San Joaquin Valley, San Benito and Santa Clara counties. The governing body of the Authority consists of a 19-member Board of Directors classified into five divisions with directors selected from within each division. The main conveyance is the Delta-Mendota Canal that delivers approximately 3,000,000-acre feet of water within the Authority service area. Of this amount, 2,500,000-acre feet are delivered to highly productive agricultural lands, 150,000 to 200,000-acre feet for municipal and industrial uses, and between 250,000 to 300,000 acre-feet are delivered to wildlife refuges for habitat enhancement and restoration.
