Oroville Dam evacuation order disrupts farming
Oroville dam spillway
Officials ordered the evacuation of low-lying areas near the Feather River on Sunday, after water in the reservoir eroded the emergency spillway. The evacuation order was lifted Tuesday.
Jamie Johansson, California Farm Bureau Federation first vice president who grows olives near Oroville, said local officials acted quickly.
"You kind of see the power of the water behind the dam should there be a catastrophic failure as they were describing it (Sunday) around 5 o'clock," he said. "I can't tell you how important local officials become."
Colleen Cecil, executive director of the Butte County Farm Bureau, said flooding was nothing out of the ordinary so far.
"There hasn't been extreme flooding," she said. "I think it's normal flooding along the Feather River that folks are experiencing right now."
Cecil said it was too early to assess damage.
"Right now, there's standing water in orchards," she said. "Almond bloom has started. It's in the very early stages. These sunny days in between these rainstorms get bees really happy, and we're going to see almond bloom here much sooner rather than later. Hopefully, pollination won't be impacted, but that is definitely an area that we're watching."
Crops that could potentially be affected if the situation worsens include cling peaches, prunes, walnuts, almonds, olives, kiwifruit and possibly rice.
Kulwant Johl of Yuba City, who grows orchard crops and whose farm is located along Highway 70, said the affected region includes a number of processing, packing and fruit drying companies, such as Sunsweet, Pacific Coast Producers, Cal Fruit International and Sacramento Valley Packing.
"We have so many farms, agricultural facilities and equipment. We've got packing facilities and dehydrators and dryers, so if something happens, for agriculture it will be a disaster," Johl said.
Steve Freeman, vice president of field operations for Pacific Coast Producers, which handles tree fruit and processing tomatoes, said the company temporarily shut its facility in Oroville, which includes a warehouse and canning and packaging plant.
"This is a moment-by-moment situation," Freeman said. "Everybody's situation is a little bit different, but I'm telling (employees) to make sure they have food, water and clothing, because they might not be able to get into town."
Sutter County Supervisor Mat Conant, who grows walnuts in Rio Oso, said of his fellow farmers and community members, "Everybody is just concerned. We don't know what to expect; we just don't know what is going to happen," adding that local irrigation districts are monitoring levees in the area.
Asked to describe how floodwater could affect orchards, Sutter County walnut grower Davin Norene said, "A wall of significant water rushing through an orchard would cause significant erosion and maybe topple trees, and standing water for a significant period would impact of the health of the orchard, since (trees) would be more prone to root fungal diseases."
Butte County Agricultural Commissioner Louie Mendoza said his department is receiving updates from the Office of Emergency Services, adding, "As long as the water can continue to be safely released from the spillway and the Feather River can handle the water and not cause any flooding issues downstream, then hopefully we can get through this."
source: agalert.com