How RGV Small Farmers Are Battling Ongoing Drought

RGV Farmers Adapting to Water Crisis

Words by Melissa Cortes Santiago

Edited by Abigail Vela

As the relentless summer heat intensifies over the Rio Grande Valley and any significant amount of rain eludes us, we continue to face one of the driest seasons in over a decade. For our communities, where agriculture is a vital part of our economy, farmers are facing hardships. With water levels at historic lows and irrigation supplies dwindling, they grapple with water shortages that threaten their crops and way of life.

The water shortages have already caused substantial economic losses in our communities. Earlier in the year, in March, the Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers Inc. closed the last remaining sugar mill after 50 years of operation, resulting in the loss of about 500 jobs.

Additionally, many counties in the RGV have issued disaster declarations due to low water levels and the ongoing drought and have extended them indefinitely– a sign that the situation is not expected to improve anytime soon.

Growing Concern Amongst Farmers

This crisis has many small local farmers worried about the viability of agriculture in the region, especially if nothing is being done to mitigate the situation and conserve water.

Priscilla Carjabal (she/her) is a textile artist and small commercial farmer based in the RGV. She has been farming in the region for five years and has serious concerns about our current water situation.

“I’m extremely worried about it. I’m actually kinda scared that there’s not going to be enough water, and after a conference we had in the spring, it was noted that a lot of farmers did not have accessible agricultural water,” she said.

Carjabal is not the only one with concerns. Stephanie Kasper (she/her), program manager for the School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences at UTRGV and the manager of the Hub of Prosperity Farm, is worried that city officials are not taking the crisis seriously enough or implementing the necessary water conservation measures.

“I think that the city’s water restrictions are not intense enough. They’re slow-rolling the response to the water shortage at the city level, and I think that it’s a short-sided thing to do,” said Kasper.

Currently, the levels at our water reservoirs are extremely low: The Amistad International Reservoir is at around 25 percent, and the Falcon International Reservoir is at around 13 percent. Meanwhile, the City of McAllen is still on stage two out of five of its Water Conservation and Drought Contingency Plan. This stage restricts sprinkler systems on certain days and asks residents to do their best to conserve water. However, it does not put any restrictions on commercial car washes, which are popping up at an alarming rate all over the RGV.

“I’m not sure that the city officials are recognizing exactly how extreme it is or if they’re just hoping for something different to occur. I don’t know what they’re doing when I see car washes going up every other block. It’s just a waste of water,” said Carbajal.

Innovative Resilience: Embracing Sustainable Solutions

Despite these challenges, farmers are not giving up. They are using innovative techniques and community support to navigate these difficult times. From planting drought-resistant crops to implementing dry-land farming techniques, local farmers are implementing strategies to conserve water and sustain their livelihoods.

The Hub of Prosperity and Sentli Center for Regenerative Agriculture, a nonprofit organization that helps connect local farmers to their communities, are leading the way in educating small local farmers and the community on more sustainable farming practices.

They host educational workshops and guide existing farmers and university students on conscious farming methods such as drip irrigation, composting, and rainwater collection.

Shakera Raygoza (she/her), executive director and co-founder of Sentli explains how being more conscious of water usage can play a big part in water conservation.

“Everybody can do their part whether it’s making sure their soil retains more moisture or just being more concise with where you’re putting the water or collecting it for usage like the rainwater collection,” she said.

There is no doubt that our current water crisis is terrifying. But by listening to our local farmers and implementing the sustainable practices they teach, we can begin to move towards a more hopeful future. This, however, cannot be done without the support of our entire community and especially the willingness of our city governments to listen to our farmers and work alongside them to preserve agricultural business in the RGV.

“We know how to grow a lot of food in the climate that we used to have, but don’t think that we have fully figured out how we’re going to keep growing that much food in the climate that’s to come,” said Kasper. “It can be an opportunity to develop these newer systems that are more efficient, that reduce some of the social and ecological harms of agribusiness as usual.”