WCN Dec e

THOSE WHO ADVOCATE
FOR SOLVING OUR
WATER PROBLEMS
COMPLETELY ON THE
BACKS OF FARMERS
EITHER DON’T REALIZE
OR DON’T CARE ABOUT
THE CONSEQUENCES.
The San Luis Reservoir, at 12% of capacity on August 16, could be more difficult to fill if proposed
State and Federal cuts hit future water supplies.
to institutional interests, driving out family-owned operations,
which is the exact opposite of what Californians say
they want. Whatever farms remain will have no choice but
to plant crops that provide the highest return per unit of
applied water. The long-term future of California’s historic
crop diversity, such as tomatoes, nuts, lettuce, broccoli,
melons, sweet corn and many other examples of healthy food
products we count on to keep our families healthy, won’t be
possible, again the opposite of what Californians want.
Because of California’s highly productive soil and climate,
our production can’t simply be moved to other states. Nature
provides assistance to California growers that simply can’t be
transplanted to other states. Growing less in California will
lead to more imported food, much of it from countries with
less stringent safety regulations as well as less diversity of
food products and higher prices for consumers at the grocery
store.
The Ugly
Dismantling water rights is also touted as an easy fix
when the exact opposite is true. Water rights are attached to
the land, are a form of a vested property right, are long-established
law and are rooted in historical precedent going
back to English common law. Ending water rights strikes at
the very foundation of our system and raises serious constitutional
questions at both the state and federal level.
We may face further assault from federal agencies that
want to revert to old, outdated operating rules for both the
Central Valley Project and the State Water Project. If enacted,
the new plan would throw collaboration out the window,
abandon the holistic approach to managing our environment
that the latest science tells us we need and remove operational
flexibility that is critically needed, especially in a drought.
It would revert to measuring fish impact through a calendar
system rather than by gathering data in real time as we do
today.
If we don’t embrace the good and work to avoid the bad,
we could be left with ugly. Punitive measures and fin-
‘
ger-pointing create strife and chaos as well as endless litigation
while doing nothing to solve our very real problems. As
Californians, we’re all in this together and must work toward
common solutions.
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PLANT GROWTH REGULATOR
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