Cameron County drought contingency plan impacting farmers
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Some Cameron County farmers are feeling the impact from the lack of rain water, which is adding problems on top of trying to deal with their irrigation district's drought contingency plan.
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Lupe Argullin, a farmer of about 30 years, says production has been low for the year due to a lack of rain.
"We need more rain," Argullin said. "We’ve had about half an inch of rain all year on it.”
Argullin is preparing to take a financial hit. Argullin says some of his farmland relies on rainwater, while other areas rely on irrigation water.
"Our water balance for the irrigation district is being depleted through use for our farming community at this time,” said Sonia Lambert, general manager of Cameron County Irrigation District No. 2.
The water district first rolled out its drought contingency plan in April 2021, restricting water usage to their farmers.
"We are required to have that plan for instances like this when we do go into shortages or drought conditions," Lambert said. "Right now we have both. We have a drought condition in the area and also low reservoir levels."
The water district says their hands are tied.
"We have a lot of losses due to the heat, to the weather and no inflows, so there’s no indication of when this might change, at least for our farmers," Lambert said. "They are still working on little to no water or water that we allocated since last year."
Everyone is at the mercy of the weather.
"This drought and water shortage affects everyone, not only the farming community, but also the municipalities," Lambert said. "At some point we will all feel the impact.”
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