This water comes from the Delta where environmental regulations to protect endangered native fish, including Chinook salmon and Delta smelt, have restricted the amount of water pumped out of the Delta southwards to growers and other users.

“The 5 percent allocation is just a token,” Borba says. “It’s very frustrating.”

The Delta pumping restrictions will put even more pressure on declining supplies of groundwater in this area of the San Joaquin Valley, as growers continue to draw water from wells to irrigate trees and other crops.

Increasing salinity of the ground water is also a concern to growers. Borba’s sampling of soils from depths of 1, 3, and 5 feet deep show salinity levels are increasing.

“I’m seeing salt burn around the edges of leaves in some varieties more sensitive to saline conditions than others.”

Borba says, “So far we haven’t seen any decline in nut set or nut yields from higher soil salinity. However, I anticipate this will happen eventually without higher quality surface water.”

The shortage of surface water in this area is also showing up in the form of numerous well rigs at work, as growers lower pump levels, replace pump motors, and install new bowls.

“Some wells around here are 40-50 years old and (are) failing - pumping only sand and gravel,” he says.

Opportunities to use excess surface water purchased from other water districts are also limited.

“Locating supplies of available water elsewhere isn’t the problem,” the almond grower says. “Instead, it’s getting the water through the Delta because of the pumping restrictions. Even when water can be pumped south, it goes first to those with senior water rights.”

Meanwhile, Borba and his neighbors have benefited from some welcome help from Mother Nature. During the second weekend in April, his almond orchards received about one-third to one-half inch of rain. He notes that some fields not far away received about 2.5 inches.

Rainfall in his area has totaled about 8-8.5 inches since the first of October.

“We’ve had good rains that were pretty evenly spaced and helped leach salts out of the root zone.”

In addition to his drip-irrigated almond orchards, Borba Farms also includes tomatoes, garlic, lettuce, melons, and Pima cotton. This combination helps spread out the demand for water which allows well use for the crops at different times of the year.

For example, most of the almond tree water use occurs from April through June. Water demand by cotton is highest from June through August. The tomatoes need water from January through June.

Borba sees signs that almond prices, which plunged to just half or more since last August, are headed higher.

Based on a report received from his packer in mid-April, Borba says that although shipments of almonds to buyers in March were down 15 percent from a year earlier that total shipments to date for this marketing year are down just 7 percent.

“Rather than looking at the volume of almonds that have been shipped, I’m looking at the amount sold, even if not yet shipped,” Borba says. “Those sales are up 21 percent over last year. I don’t think the market outlook is as bleak as many growers seem to think.”