Ingrained

Many travelers heading north on Interstate 5 or Highway 99 only get a fleeting glimpse of the Sacramento Valley. However, those who know this region understand and appreciate how unique and valuable it is.

The Sacramento Valley is an impressive patchwork of farms and communities, living and working in harmony with the environment.

A worsening drought has led to major water cutbacks. Farmers will grow less and the communities with agriculture as their foundation will be impacted.

Local officials are concerned about how lost farm production will impact their communities.

"Those impacts are actually huge," remarked Colusa County Supervisor Denise Carter, who farms with her husband, Ben. "You can just measure the magnitude in dollars, revenue to the county, and that revenue to the county and to the growers is there's a trickle-down effect. You have the equipment companies, you have the chemical companies, you have the fuel suppliers. You have also the people. In a drought like this, none of us can afford to hire as many people as we normally hire."

Colusa County has an annual value of all crops produced of more than $900 million and is America's top rice growing county. Cutbacks from the Sacramento River this year are unlike anything experienced before.

Concern for drought impacts is pervasive throughout the region.

"Butte County, like many rural counties throughout America and California, is the economy revolves around agriculture," said county supervisor and farmer, Tod Kimmelshue. "The farmers make money, but also the support services that serve agriculture, also do very well when things are good. Now, if land is going to be fallowed this year in Butte County and Northern California, we're concerned that some of those support services will also not do as well. So it has quite a ripple effect going through the whole county."

As this season plays out, the Sacramento Valley will be tested. Even with a difficult year ahead, optimism remains for the long haul.

"We care deeply," remarked Yuba City City Councilmember Grace Espindola. "The diversity of community is in our blood."

Espindola said building Sites Reservoir would be an excellent step to help California weather future droughts.

Jim Morris: It's late April in the Sacramento Valley and, at least here along Highway 99 in Butte County, things appear somewhat normal. The recent rain is unusual, but unfortunately the lack of rain in the winter months is an all too familiar occurrence. What we're left with is unprecedented drought, which has extended for three years and it's causing uncertainty and concern like never before.

Denise Carter: Quite honestly, no one has ever seen it this bad.

Jim Morris: Welcome to Ingrained, the California Rice Podcast. I'm your host, Jim Morris, proud to have worked with farmers and ranchers throughout the state for more than 30 years to help tell their stories. During that time, there have been all too many dry years, but what's happening this time has never been experienced in the Sacramento Valley. Concerns are real and rising. Butte County is one of the state leaders in agriculture, with a crop value of well over $600 million a year. Farming is the foundation of this county and of our valley. Tod Kimmelshue is a family farmer and a retired ag finance banking advisor. He's now serving on the Butte County Board of Supervisors. Tod, for someone who isn't familiar with your area, how do you convey to them what farming and ranching mean here?

Tod Kimmelshue: Butte County has always been a very strong farming community and we're very lucky also, to have an agricultural university here, Chico State, which trains farmers and agricultural people. We grow several different crops here, mostly almonds, walnuts and rice, and agriculture has a great deal of impact in this area.

Jim Morris: I think many from afar think California weather is absolutely perfect. And we certainly have some perfect times, but we're in a bit of a rough stretch right now to be sure, not only the winter freeze for almonds, but also the awful drought entering year three now. Prime examples of how this has already been an agonizing year for many. What are your concerns about drought impacts?

Tod Kimmelshue: The drought has had a huge impact on our water supply in this area. Much of Butte County rice is grown with surface water. And, when we have a drought, the reservoirs don't fill up, and so there's not enough water for the rice crops in this area. The other water source we have in Butte County are aquifers. And most of the orchardists in this area use the aquifers. However, those aquifers have been declining as well during the drought.

Jim Morris: When land is idle and crops aren't abundant, what is the effect on non-farmers in your area?

Tod Kimmelshue: Butte County, like many rural counties throughout America and California, is the economy revolves around agriculture. The farmers make money, but also the support services that serve agriculture, also do very well when things are good. Now, if land is going to be fallowed this year in Butte County and Northern California, we're concerned that some of those support services will also not do as well. So it has quite a ripple effect going through the whole county.

Jim Morris: I've lived in Butte County, and I know Butte Strong is more than a slogan, it's a way of life. Looking back to the Camp Fire in Paradise, several years back, the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history. This region struggled mightily, but came through and rebounded. How much will your area need to rely on its resiliency to whether this latest setback?

Tod Kimmelshue: Well, this is just another setback in many that has affected Butte County, and we consider ourselves very resilient. We've made it through some of these really terrible disasters. Drought is just another disaster that may impact us here in Butte County and probably will impact us economically. So we believe that we will weather this storm, just like farmers weather many different storms and weather conditions, and we will come out of this in the next couple years when we get more rain.

Jim Morris: Colusa County is America's top rice growing county. Its crop values usually exceed $900 million a year. There are legitimate concerns about how this year will play out due to water cut backs. The biggest drought impacts are along the Sacramento River. Denise Carter and her husband, Ben, farm in this county. She's also a county supervisor, a role she served for nearly 15 years. Her background includes an engineering degree from UCLA. Denise, can you convey your concerns about the drought from the perspective as a grower and someone who's working on behalf of your county?

Denise Carter: As a grower, I would say the cutback is significant. For us in our situation, since we are a settlement contractor along the river, with our 18 percent of Sacramento River water that we are going to receive, we are dedicating that to our rice crop. So we will grow basically half of what we normally grow. It's a small quantity and we grow organic rice, and obviously there's a real need in that market. So we're doing our little part with the water we have, to grow a little bit of rice.

Jim Morris: How about your community that you represent and your concerns about those impacts?

Denise Carter: Those impacts are actually huge. You can just measure the magnitude in dollars, revenue to the county, and that revenue to the county and to the growers is there's a trickle-down effect. You have the equipment companies, you have the chemical companies, you have the fuel suppliers. You have also the people. In a drought like this, none of us can afford to hire as many people as we normally hire. So quite frankly, that's my biggest concern is having jobs for people. And if we don't have jobs for people, what are they going to do? Are they going to leave their area? So, eventually maybe we will have more water, hopefully next year, will those people come back? Many of these employees have been in this county for years and have lived here and farmed here for years. And in Colusa County, agriculture is the number one industry. We are an agricultural-based county. So consequently, it's going to have a big hit on our county.

Jim Morris: You mentioned economics, but I caught a bit of emotion, too. People know each other here, they're concerned for each other. So how emotional is this year going to be?

Denise Carter: I think everybody knows each other in this community and there's going to be significant job loss in the county. People in this county do really take care of others in this county. I truly, truly believe that, and I've seen that so many times, but the magnitude of this job loss is going to be significant. And we have farmers who aren't going to be able to afford to hire as many people. And they're also not going to get the hours that they're used to getting. I was actually talking to someone about, at a tomato processing facility and they say, "People aren't going to be working 12 hour days. They'll be working 8 hour days."

Denise Carter: Because again, you can hire more people at 8 hour days or maybe you don't even have enough product, but you can hire more people if they have less hours, and maybe that's enough to keep people, at least, going. I had a conversation a couple days ago at our local paint store. And I asked him how things are going. And he said, "They're going okay. The big projects are still happening, but what I'm not seeing is the walk-in traffic, the people coming in who want to just paint a bedroom." And I think it's because people can't afford to, quite honestly. There are priorities, food, shelter and transportation.

Jim Morris: Agriculture, by nature, is cyclical. Have you seen or heard from other people, anything like what's happening this year?

Denise Carter: No one has ever seen it this bad. And, you couple the lack of surface water with the strain on our groundwater and it's kind of a perfect storm right now. And it's very frightening from a lot of different aspects.

Jim Morris: Grace Espindola legally immigrated at the age of two and has been a trail blazer, including becoming the first Mexican-American elected to the Yuba City, City Council. And Grace, can you tell me a little bit about your background and also the diversity of this area?

Grace Espindola: I came to this country at a very young age. I was two years old, carried by my mother with one luggage and we were destined to come to Colusa. My father was working there in Colusa with Mayfair Packing Company. So he had established a place for us to live. So here we are, I'm now a City Council member.

Jim Morris: That is so awesome. And reading from your biography at the age of 12, you began working in the orchards of Sutter County and your work has evolved into a variety of jobs, including fast food, a waitress, dishwasher, housekeeper, retail, insurance, home health, clerk, secretary, counselor, and many other jobs. So you have seen many different sides of this Sacramento Valley economy. How much is agriculture intertwined with all of the people here?

Grace Espindola: One hundred percent of our community is connected to ag business or ag industry. One of the things that my mom said to me when I was 12 years old, that the reason that she thought I was going to be successful, is because I knew how to pick walnuts faster than any other kid. So having that kind of experience, working out in the orchards and knowing the value of the farm worker, working with the farmers and within the city of our city, who purchase a lot of consumer goods, it is a relationship. It is a community and that's what the value is.

Jim Morris: And the Yuba Sutter area is amazing for agriculture when you look at walnuts, peaches, prunes, of course, rice. And so, what are your concerns specifically for agriculture, as we look at a year that we haven't seen before, a third year of drought?

Grace Espindola: The biggest concern is having enough water for all of us. As a city, as an ag business, as a community, do we have enough water? Well, fortunately we are in a better situation than other parts of our state, that is good. But in the future, what would that look like? So we, as a community, part of my mission, part of my priority, working with farming community, working with local businesses, working with the farm workers and their families is to be able to come up with solutions that we can both live with. And I'm also working with the State Water Board, DWR, for that voice to be heard from local community members.

Jim Morris: How much do people care for each other in this region?

Grace Espindola: We care deeply. The diversity of community is in our blood. That in a farmer when you have, there's a family, and sometimes farm workers in that farming industry become part of the fabric of family. My family, working for Mayfair Packing Company, we had that connection and I have continued to utilize that philosophy in my work as an elected official, but, at the same time, as just another person who is trying to do the right thing for all of us.

Jim Morris: I can feel your positivity and it is a very challenging year. How positive are you that through perseverance, this region is going to make it through?

Grace Espindola: I have everything to believe that we're going to make it through. We have to be much more mindful on how we utilize water. We have to connect all of this, in order to be able to live amongst the needs of how we're going to utilize the water when it becomes less. But, when we have extra water, we also have to know how to store it, how to keep it, to utilize it for those times when we have droughts, like we are in now.

Jim Morris: Sites Reservoir would be an excellent addition to California moving forward.

Grace Espindola: I completely value Sites Reservoir. I went up there and did a tour and seen firsthand, and I see the entire benefit of all of our community. It will offer many jobs, it will bring economic boost, but most of all, what we all need, is we need to reserve water and be prepared for when those moments of drought, like we're living now, so let's get this built.

Jim Morris: That will wrap up this episode, but you can find out more on the drought and on our podcast at calrice.org. We will keep you updated as the year progresses. I appreciate Tod Kimmelshue, Denise Carter and Grace Espindola for their time, comments and concerns for our region. Thanks for listening.

A third straight drought year poses major challenges for California's environment, cities and farms. While cooperation, collaboration and innovation are needed in the short term, many feel a major part of the long-term water solution is additional storage.

A remote area on the west side of the Sacramento Valley could be a big part of the solution. Sites Reservoir has been debated for decades, and getting this critical addition to water infrastructure appears more likely than ever.

One major development in getting this project completed is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency earlier this month formally invited the Sites Project Authority to apply for a $2.2 billion low-interest loan through the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, which would bring the project significantly closer to construction and completion.

Jerry Brown

"This really is a game changer," said Sites Project Authority General Manager Jerry Brown. "Additive to the other sources of funds that we have, a prior loan from USDA and Proposition 1 funds from the state and federal sources, really rounds out our financing picture to a great extent. This puts us on a to track where we are now in a position to fund construction of the project, which is really exciting!"

Brown said there are several steps needed, including applying for a new water right to the State Water Resources Control Board. There are other permits needed from the state and federal government. If all goes as hoped, ground will be broken in 2024 and the new reservoir will be in place in 2030.

He said if Sites were in place prior to the wet years of 2017 and 2019, it would have been completely full at 1.5 million acre feet to start 2020, and would have been able to provide about 400,000 acre feet of water for the state's cities, farm and environment.

Brown said while Sites will provide significant benefits for urban and agricultural customers, it's commitment for environmental water will set it apart from all other projects.

"I don't think there's ever been a project like Sites that will provide the kind of assets and benefits for environmental purposes."

As the drought will provide significant impacts to the Sacramento Valley and state in the months ahead, hopefully getting Sites Reservoir built will provide major help in the future; especially vital considering our volatile climate.

Episode Transcript

Jim Morris: After a promising start to the rainy season, California has gone extremely dry. The lack of water provides serious widespread challenges. As our climate volatility grows, the need for a more reliable water supply is even more vital. For a growing number of people, that's where Sites Reservoir comes into play.

Jim Morris: Welcome to Ingrained, the California Rice Podcast. I'm your host, Jim Morris, proud to have worked with California farmers and ranchers for more than 30 years to help tell their stories. A lack of rain and snow has extended the drought for a third year, creating the likelihood of widespread pain. One hopeful sign for the future would be carrying out a project that's been discussed and debated for decades, Sites Reservoir. Jerry Brown is general manager of the Sites Project Authority. Jerry, let's start with key updates on the project. First, can you relay the big news from the US Environmental Protection Agency, what happened, and how important is this news?

Jerry Brown: This really is a game changer. What happened was the Environmental Protection Agency is making an invitation to the Sites Reservoir Project to apply for what's called a WIFIA loan, Water Infrastructure And Finance Investment Act. And what that is, is a mechanism by which the federal government makes a loan available to a project like Sites. In this case, it's in an amount of about 49 percent of the project cost, which for Sites is roughly $2.2 billion. So it's a $2.2 billion loan that has been offered to the Sites Reservoir Project, and, additive to the other sources of funds that we have, a prior loan from USDA, the Proposition One money from the state, and the federal sources really rounds out our financing picture to a great extent and puts us on a track to where we are now in a position to fund the construction of the project, so that's pretty exciting.

Jim Morris: Let's talk about that construction. Realistically, and perhaps optimistically, what is your timeframe that you're looking at?

Jerry Brown: The loan doesn't really necessarily accelerate the project. There's still several steps that we have to take to get to the point where we can start construction. Probably most notable is the upcoming application that we're making for our water right. We are going to be seeking a new water right for the Sites Project, and that will be submitted within the next month. And, with that, it will kick off about an 18 to 24 month period that the State Water Resources Control Board takes to evaluate our application and make a final determination as to the water right that will be established for the project.

Beyond that, there are some very critical permits that we need to secure through the Fish and Wildlife Service of both the state and the federal government. Those are under way. We've made an application recently for one of those, and there's a couple more to do, and we expect those to occur within the next 18 to 24 months, as well. So those critical activities will lead up to the point in time when we will be able to have the assets in place to then secure the loan with the federal government through WIFIA. Once that occurs, we'll be able to initiate construction fairly shortly after that. So, hopefully, by mid to late 2024, we'll start construction. And it's about a six-year period, which would put us at operational completion in about 2030.

Jim Morris: If Sites were in place now, how much of a difference would it make?

Jerry Brown: Because largely of the 2017, 2019 wet years, if we would've had Sites in place then, Sites would've started the 2020 year completely full at a million and a half acre feet. We estimated last year, had we had Sites in place, we would've had about a million acre feet of water in the reservoir for the farms and cities and environment. With the use that was projected last year, we would probably have about 400,000 acre feet available this year, which is still a very substantial amount, especially considering the very low conditions at our upstream reservoirs, Shasta, Oroville, Folsom.

Jim Morris: We have three distinct segments in California, and they sometimes intertwine, the environment, cities, and farms. How would each of these benefit if Sites is built?

Jerry Brown: The one piece of this, while I believe the benefits for the cities and farms are very important and necessary to make the project work, is the environmental element. I don't think there's ever been a project like Sites that will provide the kind of assets and benefits for environmental purposes. We're still figuring the final participation by the federal government, but, on a high end, there could be up to around 40 percent of the project, the Sites Project, that would be dedicated for environmental purposes. And that is huge, because never before has the state or the federal government owned and operated an asset like Sites, that will have both storage and water supply for the environment in the driest of years.

And with that, we recently entered into some collaboration with some environmental groups to evaluate how we can optimize the use of this environmental storage to provide the optimum benefit for all the different environmental objectives that are out there. So we're super excited about that. And the board is very committed to this as a component of the project.

I think one other thing to note, one of the criticisms about the Proposition One investment in environmental purposes is that maybe it's going to be somewhat of a bait and switch where we say we're going to do something, and then, when times get tough, it's not going to happen. But I can tell you with a hundred percent confidence that this board and this project is going to seek to have an ironclad contract with the environment, with the State of California, to the point where, as long as there's a California, there will be an environmental component to the Sites Reservoir.

Jim Morris: When you look at rice, we have shown that you can grow a crop that's very helpful for our cuisine and incredible for our economy, but then we also have the Pacific Flyway Benefits, and looks like salmon will be benefiting from rice farming as well. So does it need to be an or conversation, or can Sites be part of a greater and picture that help our water overall in California?

Jerry Brown: I've been involved in California water for decades. And we are at a stage where it seems like we are at odds a lot in terms of what kind of strategy to take to improve our situation. There's the or camp, which seems to be of a mindset that we can extend and optimize what we have. That we don't need to do much of anything, but we just need to conserve and recycle, and that will take care of all of our issues.

That is a strategy, but I believe that what we're seeing today and the stresses that are occurring in our natural and developed systems, which are significant, we're seeing the results of that just an or strategy. There is an element to extending our supplies that we have, but there's also the and part of this, which is we need to build new facilities and find smart ways to extend the resources that we have to provide for the changing climate, the growing population, and all the needs of California, including the environment. And we think Sites Reservoir is a great tool that will allow us to do the and.

Jim Morris: I've lived in the Sacramento Valley my entire life. And, I have to say, it's a big concern when we look at what the drought is doing to our region. So let's talk about some optimism. If not now, when would this ever happen? What kind of momentum do you see for this project, and what kind of optimism do you have at this time that this is going to get done and help our state?

Jerry Brown: We are at a critical juncture where the Sites Reservoir and other storage projects, whether it be groundwater, storage, or surface storage, recycled water, conservation, desalination, all of these things are necessary to secure our future. And with SGMA, with the stresses that our existing resources are under, we have to invest. And I think more and more people are recognizing that. Somebody asked me this the other day, "What is different today than maybe 10 or 20 years ago in terms of the possibilities for Sites Reservoir?"

And I think a big part of it is the recognition of the changing climate and the effect that that's having on the availability of our water supplies. And, I think, people see the sensibilities of essentially providing additional storage of water, so that as we get more of our precipitation in the form of rain instead of snow, that we have someplace that is reserving this supply, diverting it during the wettest periods, when that can be done safely, and saving it for the dry periods when we really need it most, all of us.

Jim Morris: I appreciate Jerry Brown taking time to visit on this key project. As the year progresses, we will keep you updated on developments with Sites Reservoir, as well as drought impacts in the Sacramento Valley. You can find out much more at podcast.calrice.org. We appreciate your comments, questions, and reviews. Thanks for listening.

A generation ago, it may have seemed far-fetched that Sacramento Valley rice fields could play a vital role for millions of birds. However, changes in rice growing methods in the early 1990s – a shift from burning fields after harvest to adding a few inches of water to break down leftover rice straw - led to just such an occurrence. Area rice fields are now home to nearly 230 wildlife species, including 7 to 10 million ducks and geese every fall and winter. The 'surrogate wetlands' are now crucial to the massive Pacific Flyway wildlife migration.

California's struggling salmon may be next to benefit from those same rice fields.

This is year three of pilot salmon research by the California Rice Commission, UC Davis, California Trout and other partners. This project will test and refine rice farming practices designed to provide habitat and food for fish. If successful, baby salmon will rear in flood bypass rice fields in the winter, when no rice is grown, then head off to the ocean. Every step of the process is being monitored to understand the best practices moving forward. If all goes well, this project will move from pilot to voluntary adoption on suitable Sacramento Valley rice farms. This work is supported by a grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, major sponsors including Syngenta, State Water Contractors and a long list of contributors.

Additionally, there are major modifications to existing water infrastructure planned that will allow juvenile salmon on their way to sea better access to food-rich floodplain habitats.

This nutrient-rich food web develops naturally in winter flooded rice fields, due to organic matter and sunlight.

Finally, the Fish Food program is working with rice farmers and wetland managers on the protected or "dry side' of levees. While these fields and wetlands are not directly connected to the river and can not host salmon they can still support salmon populations by creating fish food. A dense invertebrate food web rapidly grows in nutrient rich, sun-soaked shallow waters of flooded rice fields. Several weeks after being inundated this veritable bug buffet can be strategically drained into the river to provide much-needed nutrition for small juvenile salmon migrating downstream to the ocean.

Jacob Katz, Senior Scientist with CalTrout, is a passionate advocate for salmon. He said he is very hopeful that the collaborative work being done in the Sacramento Valley will ultimately help fish, as well as birds, people and farms.

"There are two big reasons for my optimism," Katz remarked. "The first is the science. It's really clear that, if we meet every link in the chain, every type of habitat that these critters need, including salmon, we can expect a really dramatic response – an increase in abundance. The second is collaboration. Everywhere I turn, I see farmers dedicated to more ducks, more geese, more salmon – and opening their farms to a rewilding; a way of thinking about welcoming the wild back onto the farm. We're not talking about going back. We are still going to be one of the most productive farming areas on Earth. But, in the non-growing season, floodplain farms can be managed as fantastic habitat for multiple species."

The first baby salmon will soon be added to rice fields participating this year. The ultimate goal for the project is to benefit natural-origin fish – salmon that would swim onto the fields naturally when flooding occurs. However, in the event that the bypass doesn't flood, eggs from hatchery fish raised at UC Davis will be utilized to test the practice. We will keep you posted on key developments and findings as they become available.

Episode Transcript

Jim Morris: Following one of the driest years in decades, we're off to a great start for rain and snow in California. Sierra snowfall in December shattered a 51 year old record and the California water year, which started October 1st, has already been more productive than the entire year prior. But water is hardly ever an easy subject in our state. Finding enough for the environment, cities and farms is frequently contentious. One creative plan involves what at first may seem like an unlikely pairing, rice fields and salmon.

Jim Morris: Welcome to Ingrained: The California Rice Podcast. I'm your host Jim Morris, proud to have worked with California farmers and ranchers for the past 32 years to help tell their stories. I'm at Montna Farms, a rice farm near Yuba City, here they grow premium sushi rice. It's also a haven for wildlife and they participate in a pilot program that may help the state's salmon population, which has been struggling.

Jim Morris: The salmon project involves many partners - the Rice Commission, UC Davis, landowners, water districts, and California Trout. Jacob Katz has a PhD in ecology and is senior scientist with CalTrout. Jacob, there's several things that are going on to help salmon. Can you tell us about what's happening to try to improve that population?

Jacob Katz: All three of the efforts underway involve floodplains or the marshlands that run adjacent to our rivers and tributaries here in the Sacramento Valley. The first we call fish food and that's understanding that bugs, that fish eat, that make fish populations really aren't grown in the rivers themselves, but in the adjacent marshlands. And most of those marshlands are no longer attached to the river. So maybe 95 percent of the marshes that were once flooded by the Sacramento River and its tribs are now behind levies.

Jacob Katz: And the fish food program works with farmers that now for the most part farm those lands to mimic those flood patterns out on their fields to spread and slow water mid-winter when they're not farming to allow bugs to grow in those fields. And then to actively drain that flood plain rich water, that natural wealth back to the river where the fish are.

Jacob Katz: The second thing is actively managing fields within our bypasses, within the floodways that are the parts of the former floodplain, which are still hydrologically connected to the river. And then the third is actually changing, upgrading often obsolete infrastructure so that it allows the river and fish to connect to those flood plain bypasses more frequently and for a longer duration.

Jim Morris: Let's start with the fish food. It's amazing at first glance that there's not enough food in the river, but that's certainly true. Correct? How much of a difference can the food that's being raised in rice fields be for the salmon?

Jacob Katz: Well, over the last 10 years or so, we've been running around the Sacramento Valley, throwing our plankton nets, looking for bugs in every kind of aquatic habitat. And what we found is that the rivers themselves are essentially food deserts. There's very little food for small fish to eat there.

Jacob Katz: Whereas the adjacent marshlands, whether that's a flooded field or a marsh habitat managed for waterfowl or a natural marsh, all of those are teaming with invertebrate life. With what I call floating filet, the exact right kind of food if you're a young salmon, trying to get strong and fit on your journey to sea.

Jim Morris: When we look at the pilot program of raising salmon in rice fields, works out perfectly because there's nothing grown in the fields during the winter. How optimistic are you with what you've seen so far with that project?

Jacob Katz: Well, what we see is that when fish are exposed to the kind of conditions, the physical, or I call them biophysical conditions, because the depth and duration of flooding that you would've seen before, which is to say, when you allow a fish to recognize the river system that it evolved in, that it's adapted to. When you put a salmon into a puddle, what you find is that there is ample food there and these little guys are swimming around with their eyes closed and their mouth open, getting big, getting fat. And that's really critical because it increases their chances, not just of making it out of the river system, but critically it increases their survival in the ocean so that they have a much better chance of returning as an adult. And that is one of the most important things we can do to bring back these salmon populations in the Central Valley.

Jim Morris: So the fish that are grown in the rice fields, how is their survivability relating to the wild population?

Jacob Katz: It looks like fish that find something to eat, and that's what the rice fields really provide is access to the kind of habitats that fish would've been rearing or feeding in previously. And when they do that, when they get food, they get strong and they have a better chance making it out of the river system.

Jacob Katz: The Rice Commission and UC Davis have done some great studies showing that their survival improves on the way out to the Golden Gate, but what's even more important is that ocean survival. Is that leaving fresh water well, their survival's increased, but it's coming back that you get the really big payoff. That's what we're all after is making sure that more of those juvenile fish return as adults and a bigger fish that hits the Marine environment, that hits the salt, that's a fish that's more likely to return as an adult.

Jim Morris: Looking at another big aspect of this is making sure the infrastructure is correct, not only to help cities and farms, but also make sure that fish are healthy and what can be done there?

Jacob Katz: Several things can be done. One thing is to increase the habitat benefit to the fish that actually get onto our floodplain bypasses. These are the flood protection areas in the Sacramento Valley, in the Sutter and Yolo Bypasses. And the Rice Commission is piloting a study now that helps manage rice fields in those bypasses so that they better serve the salmon when the salmon get out in there.

Jacob Katz: The other is increasing the frequency in which fish can actually get out of that food desert of a river and on to that food buffet that is the bypass, or is the floodplain. And that's done by putting gates or lower areas within these levees and weirs that allow the river to spill out of its heavily channelized leveed bank more often to access, to hydrologically connect from the river onto the floodplain, and allow those small fish to get out to where the food is.

Jim Morris: So this new type of thinking, actually I guess it's a nod toward the old way things happened in historic California. How optimistic are you that this is going to work?

Jacob Katz: I'm incredibly optimistic. When you allow a salmon to recognize the river system that it's adapted to, that it evolved in, that when we manage our rivers and our farmlands in such a way that we mimic those natural patterns. The slowing and spreading of flood water out over the shallow marshlands, that once really dominated and characterized the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys. What we get is an explosion, a natural explosion of biomass, of abundance.

Jacob Katz: We've seen that this works with the fantastic efforts from the rice industry and regulators and others that revolve around making farm fields better for waterfowl and for shorebirds. And now in Butte Creek, we see that when we do the same thing, when we focus on creating the kind of habitat that salmon need at each part of their life history, making sure that the small fish on their way to the ocean have something to eat, making sure that the big fish on their way back have unfettered access to their spawning streams and have adequate cold water for holding in before they spawn.

Jacob Katz: If you hit every link in that chain, we see that the fish populations respond and respond dramatically. That we can get very rapid increases in population. Similar to what we've seen with ducks and geese in the Sacramento Valley. I believe that we can have the same thing for salmon, and it really takes this landscape-scale approach where we're not doing this on hundreds of acres or even thousands of acres, but tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of acres. And it takes the collaboration of farmers, and regulators, and environmentalists all working together to create an ecologically functioning valley.

Jacob Katz: And when we do that, we can create a valley that once again can create salmon abundance, and in so doing can create a system where water can much more easily be moved from where it's more abundant to where it's utilized by both agriculture and our cities.

Jim Morris: I'm reminded of what grower Fritz Durst has said many times focusing on the fix, not the fight, which is a great way to go if you can do it. It seems to be happening in the Sacramento Valley. So when we look ahead, Jacob, in our lifetimes do you foresee a water situation that has improved to a point that is best serving the cities, the environment and farms?

Jacob Katz: Well, absolutely and that's because we need to get the most pop per drop, right? And there's two real big reasons for my optimism. The first is the science. It's really clear that if we meet every link in the chain, every type of habitat that these critters need, including salmon, we can expect a real dramatic response, an increase in abundance.

Jacob Katz: And the second is collaboration. I see wherever I turn farmers dedicated to more ducks, to more geese, to more salmon and really opening their farms to a rewilding, a way of thinking about welcoming the wild back onto the farm. We're not talking about going back. We are still going to be one of the most productive agricultural regions on earth, but in the non-growing season, floodplain farms can be managed as just fantastic habitat for multiple species and can be done in such a way where they spread in slow waters so that that water sinks back into our aquifers. To the bank of our most precious resource, water.

Jacob Katz: So when we have functioning river ecosystems, when we have a functioning Sacramento Valley, what we really have is a system that works for fins, for feathers, for farms and for people, and is better able to meet the challenges of a changing climate with resilience and ultimately with this recovery of natural abundance.

Jim Morris: As the salmon work ramps up, we will have much more in the coming weeks. For now, I appreciate spending time with Jacob Katz on this important subject. You can find out much more at podcast.calrice.org. Please subscribe and tell your friends. Thanks for listening.

Taro Arai has an electric personality. As Chief Dreaming Officer for Mikuni, with nine popular restaurants and sushi bars in Northern California, his enthusiasm and generosity are well known throughout the region.

But it wasn't an easy road to success. After arriving from Japan, the Arai family opened their first Mikuni restaurant in 1987. Reverend and Mrs. Arai prepared food in the kitchen, while Taro and siblings Noamichi and Keiko worked as greeter, busser and server. After a lot of hard work and perseverance, Mikuni continued to grow and prosper.

Their success has left an indelible imprint on Northern California.

Before the pandemic slowdown, Mikuni served more than 1 and a half million customers a year, utilizing about 20 tons of California rice every month.

Taro said he is continually humbled by their success and vows to maintain their approach of giving back to the community.

Mikuni has supported more than 80 charities. Their rescue rolls have raised tens of thousands of dollars for many who have suffered through disasters. Their golf tournament has raised millions of dollars for charity.

Why do so much?

"Without God and our community, we're not here right now," Taro remarked. "We need to give back. To be here, share the joy and help charity, I'm living a dream right now. The least I can do is to go out every day, spread the joy and help others as much as we can."

Episode Transcript

Jim Morris: Welcome to a special bonus episode of Ingrained. I'm Jim Morris with the California Rice Commission, visiting with one of my favorite people on the planet, Taro Arai, Chief Dreaming Officer at Mikuni, a fantastic group of restaurants and sushi bars in Northern California. Taro is an author, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and one of the kindest people I've ever met. And I've often suspected you don't sleep, Taro, and now you're planning your daughter, Chiyoh's, wedding. So how do you balance all that?

Taro Arai: Ooh, I'm so excited. I've been waiting. I had a tuxedo ready two years ago, and also a speech for the wedding. I have been ready, so I'm excited about it. My wife keeps telling me, "It's not your wedding," so that's the thing I have to remind myself every day.

Jim Morris: That's awesome. Tractors are working in the fields, airplanes are flying over seed, there's a new season underway in rice country in the Sacramento Valley. You have seen this process firsthand, so what are your thoughts as we're starting a new season for rice in California?

Taro Arai: I love it, and also it's a new season for my family too. Right? So getting marrieds great, but for me having a grandchildren, next generation of workers, that's exciting too. I love always something new.

Jim Morris: You have more than 50 different sushi rolls, so how important is it to have local, affordable, high-quality rice to work with?

Taro Arai: I mean that's everything. Sushi without sushi rice, that's not sushi! Of course, I grew up in a culture that rice is the most important thing in the food culture. Then I can't imagine without having rice, and also having a rice in our backyard, how blessed are we? We're spreading all over the love of rice to United States too. Right?

Jim Morris: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah.

Taro Arai: I mean I'm so proud of California rice, and I'm so fortunate to be here.

Jim Morris: You have seen the rice fields in Japan and probably have a lot of experiences when you grew up, so tell me a little bit about being a child in Japan and some of your experiences in rice.

Taro Arai: We used to play baseball on the rice field. Oh, I get yelled at because we make it dirt so hard while baseball season. And here when I went there, you see the big truck, the big airplane. I mean it's totally different way of raising rice here.

Jim Morris: And we owe so much to the Japanese culture, not only as one of our big customer bases, but also the Japanese varieties, Koshihikari, Akitakomachi, on, and on, so we are incredibly grateful for that relationship. Let's get to the here and now. We're sitting at your restaurant in Roseville and there's people here eating. It is so refreshing to see. But tell me a little bit about how the pandemic has been. It has just been really tough for restaurants.

Taro Arai: Toughest thing is we had an unknown future, so we couldn't plan anything. That was the hardest things for us. We don't know if we can open the restaurant, close the restaurants, and then all the employee are going through COVID protocol. I don't know. Every day we have a new challenges. It was a really long time suffering or overcoming this COVID thing. But meanwhile, my job was to encourage my managers. We don't want to just survive, but let's thrive in this, let's keep our hope, so that was my message to our managers all through this COVID season. And then we got a lot of benefit too through this. We learned so much about each individual managers, and also even sushi class too. I used to do 35 people max. Now I do a virtual, so we learn how to do the virtual sushi class. We did for 300 people the other day.

Jim Morris: Oh wow.

Taro Arai: So a lot of things. Through this we learn positive things, too.

Jim Morris: We are getting closer to maybe a full reopening, so how excited are you to get more people back in the restaurants?

Taro Arai: I'm excited, but I just want to focus on thanking our community since we're closed a long time, we had amazing support in to-go's, curbside, I mean delivery. We never seen anything like it in the past. Like two, three hours of waiting they waited for us to deliver food. I mean I can't thank enough to our community. I can't wait to give back as much as we can in the future too.

Jim Morris: And you have given back considerably, tens of thousands of dollars to charities with your Rescue Rolls, and also I believe more than 80 charities Mikuni has supported. Why do you do it to that degree, especially in a time when it's hard to run restaurants?

Taro Arai: Without God, without our community, we're not here right now, so at least we can do is give back. For example, last August we had a golf tournament that was 25th annual. Middle of the pandemic, heat waves, smoke from the fire, they told us, "Please, you should just cancel it." But I said, "People still need money, help, so we have to have it. If we can get together, we do 4x4, just nine-hole tournament." So we pushed forward, and then we raised $300,000. That was a record breaking with a nine-hole tournament because people are so supportive here, and we ended up raising $2.5 million just from the golf tournament for charity. So anything we do, again, we can't do ourselves. We just make sushi. The community has to come together and support. That's why we could do amazing things.

Jim Morris: You have been rolling sushi for more than 35 years. Mikuni has more than one-and-a-half-million customers every year. That's pre-pandemic, and I'm sure you'll be back to that. So what keeps you motivated and positive? Our world needs more positivity right now.

Taro Arai: Every morning I wake up, first thing I thank God for, my life and then also people around me. I don't know. I kept thinking so many things that I can't wait to go out there and spread the joy that I have in me. So every morning I'm so passionate about it, just meeting people. I do a lot of private parties nowadays. I just can't wait to go out there and then share Mikuni's story because we don't deserve to be here. Coming from Japan with nothing, no friends, no language, to be able to be here and share the joy and help the charity, I'm living in the dreams right now. So at least I can do is go out there every day to spread the joy, help others as much as we can.

Jim Morris: Don't ever change, Taro. Thanks so much, Taro, for your time, and thank you for listening to this bonus episode of Ingrained. You can find out more at podcast.calrice.org.

Like clockwork every fall and winter, Sacramento Valley rice country welcomes millions of visitors. They're here for several months, to rest and refuel, before continuing on their epic annual journey.

The millions of visitors are ducks, geese, shorebirds and many other birds that make the annual trek along the Pacific Flyway. Some come from as far north as Alaska and the Arctic and travel as far south as Chile and Argentina.

A fantastic way to view our seasonal visitors are wildlife refuges, and there are several outstanding options in the Sacramento Valley.

"The National Wildlife Refuge System in our country is the greatest network of protected lands anywhere in the world, if you care about wildlife, fisheries and habitat conservation," remarked Paul Souza, Regional Director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, California Great Basin. "In California, Nevada and the Upper Klamath Basin of Oregon, we care deeply about migratory birds. This is the heart of the Pacific Flyway. Coming through in the fall, we have a tremendous number of birds. Millions and millions of birds rely on the refuge complex."

"Be prepared to be amazed," said Curt McCasland, Refuge Manager with the Sacramento National Refuge Wildlife Complex. "In the Sacramento Valley, from November through January, this is an incredible place, where millions of birds stack into this area, visiting the national wildlife refuges, state wildlife areas, but also the ricelands in between those. Everything from clouds of geese to the sheer noisiness of these areas. It's absolutely amazing!"

Photographer Sue Graue has made countless trips to local wildlife refuges, providing an awesome array of photos and building great memories. Especially during a year as challenging as 2020, she encourages people to take in the vibrant beauty at local refuges.

"It takes you away from the mundane parts of your daily challenges," she said. "There are no challenges here. You can surrender to the moment."

Sacramento Valley rice fields provide vital wildlife habitat to nearly 230 wildlife species. After harvest, a shallow amount of water is added to the fields to break down rice straw. This coincides with the Pacific Flyway migration, providing key habitat to millions of birds. Rice fields provide more than 60 percent of the fall and winter diet for the several million ducks and geese visiting the Central Valley every fall and winter.