Fall Convention Special Session: Weather Trends, Water Rights

As the western U.S. continues to suffer the effects of a withering three-year drought, issues involving weather and water are making headlines across the nation. In California alone, the drought is expected to cost $2.2 billion this year in direct losses and related expenses for the agriculture industry, and water rationing and restrictions have citizens boiling. But it’s not just a California concern.

During the past six months, dozens of sources have reported that the sprawling Ogallala Aquifer beneath the Great Plains, which provides about 30% of the ground water used for irrigation in the U.S. and drinking water to more than 1.5 million people between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River, is being depleted at an alarming rate.

To address these issues, the speaking program at the Fall Convention will include a presentation by Paul Wenger, President of the California Farm Bureau Federation and a third-generation farmer, and Daniel Berc, Warning Coordination Meteorologist for NOAA’s National Weather Service. Mr. Berc graduated from Northern Illinois University with a B.S. in Meteorology and worked as a forecaster in Riverton, WY, before joining the National Weather Service in 2007. Since 2012, he has served as NOAA’s Warning Coordination Meteorologist in Las Vegas, focusing on weather hazard mitigation, warning services and emergency communication. During the special session starting at 2:45pm on Wednesday, Nov. 5, Berc will talk about national and regional weather trends, and water storage, use and conservation.

Come hear Wenger’s and Berc’s perspectives and find out why water rights should be on your radar.

For more information about the convention, visit FarmEquip.org/FC. S