Strange Bedfellows: Farmers Need Oil Industry To Survive Drought

California farmers, who compete with the oil-and-gas industry for water, are now in the unusual position of relying on energy companies to meet their water needs.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in Kern County. In a promotional video released by Chevron, a county water official sings the company's praises.

“Chevron is being environmentally conscious... [The company's recycled water program has] helped a lot of our farmers, helped our district, tremendously," David Ansolabehere, the general manager of the Cawelo Water District, says in the video.

Chevron is the largest oil producer in Kern County, a major agricultural center, where prolonged drought has placed crop values in jeopardy, according to Newsweek. As farmers struggle to keep crops alive, Chevron has begun selling recycled water.

"For every barrel of oil Chevron produces in its Kern River oil field, another 10 barrels of salty wastewater come up with it. So Chevron is selling about 500,000 barrels of water per day, or 21 million gallons, back to the Cawelo Water District—the local water district that delivers water to farmers within a seven-mile slice of Kern County," according to Newsweek.

The water is priced “essentially ‘at cost,’” according to Chevron spokesman Cameron Van As, per the report. "In a time when freshwater in the Central Valley is selling at up to 10 times the typical cost, it’s a good deal for farmers."

Chevron's wastewater is sold, without municipal treatment, to 90 local farmers of citrus, nut and grape plants. The company says oil products are removed. Still, this is not a permanent solution for Kern County farmers.

"The farmers understand that using the salty wastewater on their crops is an emergency measure. If all goes as planned, when the rains come back the excess salt will be flushed through the soil," the report said.

When it comes to water, farmers and energy companies are not always on the same side. In Kern County, they compete for water resources. Experts say tensions between farmers and frackers in this county foreshadow the kind of water conflict that may become typical in the coming years.

Kern County "is home to the North Belridge and South Belridge oil fields, the country’s sixth largest oil areas. A lot of the production in the Belridge fields has come from fracking," The Guardian reported. "The region, near Bakersfield, also is home to half of the country’s carrot crop and 40% of its pistachio production ... These two industries are in direct competition for water."

For more oil and gas news, check out Water Online's Produced Water Solution Center.