San Benito County is having a drought that is making life more difficult for the county's farmers and cattlemen.

"I don't mean to be crying into my beer here," said Richard Bianchi, a board member of the San Benito County Farm Bureau, "but ultimately as a farmer, that's what you're looking at."

Vegetables require a lot of water, he said. In 2007, water available through the San Benito County Water District for local farmers was 85 percent of normal, Bianchi said. The district manages water delivered through the San Felipe Project, a massive federal Bureau of Reclamation network that brings water from near the Oregon border to San Benito and Santa Clara counties.

"It makes things a little bit harder," Bianchi said. "Guys are planting less because they're not able to water it."

An above average rain year could have made up the difference, but there hasn't been much rain, he said.

This is the third year of the drought.

Last year, San Benito County received a little more than 5 inches of rain, according to the Web site from the San Benito County Water District. The year before, the county received a little more than 8 inches of rain.

The average rainfall for the county is 13 inches per year, according to a Web site from the San Benito County Government.

There is an equal chance, over the next three months, of above average, normal, and below average rain, according to a Web site from the National Weather Service.

The major rain months are December through February, said Bill Coates, the county director and farm advisor for the University of California Cooperative Extension.

So far this month, there has been less than one inch of rain, according to a Web site from the University of California.

"My whole livelihood depends on the amount of water," Bianchi said. "If you're not living it everyday, it's a lot harder to grasp it."

The situation is not yet dire for vegetable farmers, Bianchi said.

"Ours is more of a long-term problem," Bianchi said.

Next year might be more difficult.

If it was a normal rain year, growers were told to expect a water allocation in 2008 that is 55 percent of normal, Bianchi said.

To protect Delta smelt, a small fish, farmers that use water from the Central Valley Project might be allocated even less water next year, Bianchi said.

"Because of the smelt rule, we were told to expect 10 to 30 percent," Bianchi said.

The rainfall this season will have an impact.

"The rainfall is going to be what determines the cutbacks," said Paul Matulich, agricultural commissioner for San Benito County. "The best thing that could happen is a good rainfall and a good snow pack."

Cattlemen are having a hard year as well, said Tom Manning, former president of the San Benito County Cattlemen's Association.

For cattlemen, the options are letting herds graze or buying hay. There has been little or no rain in rangeland, and the price of hay has tripled, Manning said.

"A lot of cattlemen are having to liquidate their cattle because of it," he said.

Manning sells purebred Hereford bulls to commercial cattlemen. He cannot buy more bulls on the open market, he said.

If he had to liquidate half his herd, it would take him between six and eight years to rebuild his herd, he said.

If the drought continues through the spring and Manning cannot find other ground to graze his cattle, he will have to liquidate.

If the drought continues, other cattlemen and farmers could find themselves in the same position, Matulich said.

"Unless we get a good rain year, snow pack, it could put some people out of business," he said.

Total Rainfall Per Year

(in Inches)

2003: 13.04

2004: 12.55

2005: 16.69

2006: 8.13

2007: 5.37

Jessica Ablamsky

Jessica Ablamsky can be reached at jablamsky@pinnaclenews.com

http://www.pinnaclenews.com/news/contentview.asp?c=232759

www.standeyo.com/NEWS/07_Food_Water/071230.drought-ag.html