4th Generation Modoc Rancher To Take California Cattlemen’s Association Reins

Modoc County Cattleman to Serve for Two Years as California Cattlemen’s Association President

By Kyle Buchoff, California Ag Today Reporter

Bill Flournoy is a fourth generation cattleman in the city of Likely, nestled in California’s northeast Modoc County, and the upcoming CA Cattlemen’s Association president.

Many generations of his family contributed to the ranch, “We came here in 1871 to this valley and I live in the house where my Dad and Granddad were born,” said Flournoy. “I’ve got a grandson here–that’s fifth generation–and a granddaughter who is sixth generation, who help me.”

When the California Cattlemen’s Association meets with the California CattleWomen’s Association at their 98th Annual Convention, Flourney will begin a 2-year term as president. The event will be be held from November 20-22 in Sparks, NV.

He was very modest about his new responsibility, “Well that’s kind of the way it ended up. I didn’t volunteer for this; I was asked to, and I am going to respect that. I believe in the California Cattlemen and that’s why I’m going to do the best job I can for them.”

Flournoy is very close to his two brothers, who are also his business partners. He noted, “We’ve been partners for forty-five years. We run a cook house, have breakfast and lunch together everyday, work together and get along pretty darn good.”

When asked to reflect on good and bad days on the ranch, he was surprisingly positive: “Oh yeah, I’ve worked this ranch all my life, and I haven’t had very many bad days. I’ve had some family die and that made bad days, but working on the ranch and with the cattle and the men that I’ve worked with, I can’t say I’ve had too many bad days. I’ve been pretty fortunate.”

For more information on the 98th Annual Convention, please visit the Cattlemen’s website.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:32:20-07:00October 15th, 2014|

California CCA Certified Exam Feb. 6 2015 Registration Opens

Online Registration is Now Available Testing throughout the State

Crop consultants in California and Arizona have the opportunity until December 5, 2014 to register for the February 6, 2015 California CCA (Certified Crop Adviser) Exam. The exam will be given at locations in Sacramento, Salinas, Visalia, Ventura, and Yuma. Individuals can register for exam online. An exam review session will be held in Sacramento on January 9, 2015, registration and session information will be available at www.capcaed.com.

There are more than 930 CCAs in California and Arizona, 80% of the California CCAs are also licensed pest control advisers. CCAs have expertise in Nutrient, Soil, Water, Crop and Pest Management. Growers interested in finding a CCA in their area can go the “Find a Professional” section of the International CCA program website.

Many California CCAs have received additional training in optimizing nitrogen management from the California Department of Food and Agriculture and University of California. The consultants that have completed this training are qualified to write Nitrogen Management Plans that are or will be required of growers by the regional water quality control boards.

The partnership between CCAs and growers is integral to protecting the environment and providing food and fiber for the world. The program is a voluntary certification program that has been in existence for more than 20 years, administered by the American Society of Agronomy and overseen by a California board of directors. More information on the California program is available at http://cacca.org/.

For more information contact Steve Beckley at (916)539-4107 or sbeckley@aol.com.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:33:22-07:00October 9th, 2014|

California Citrus Mutual to Contribute $150k to Water Bond Campaign; $50k to Latino Outreach

California Citrus Mutual (CCM) will directly contribute $150,000 to the campaign to pass Proposition 1, the water bond measure.

The CCM Board of Directors voted unanimously to support the measure in order to secure a reliable and sustainable water supply for California agriculture and communities across the state.

“We are in a state of unprecedented crisis in terms of water supply,” says CCM President Joel Nelsen. “CCM worked closely with members of the legislature to create a long term solution path for the State’s water infrastructure and sustainability needs. It is essential to the future of agriculture in California that voters approve Proposition 1 this November.”

Proposition 1 includes $2.7 billion to build additional water storage that will alleviate pressure upon Millerton Reservoir and water users on the Friant-Kern Canal in critical drought years such as this. Approximately 58% of U.S. fresh citrus is grown by farmers in the Friant service area who received zero surface water allocation from the Central Valley Project for the first time in the project’s history this year.

“CCM’s contribution of $150,000 is an investment in our future, and the future of California,” says CCM Board Chairman Kevin Severns. “It is critical that voters understand the importance of the issue and vote to pass Proposition 1.”

Additionally, CCM has committed $50,000 to the “El Agua es Asunto de Todos” (Water is Everybody’s Business) outreach campaign to raise awareness among the Latino community about the importance of a reliable water supply for California’s economy and jobs.

“CCM is proud to support the ‘El Augua’ campaign in its effort to empower the Latino community to support policy that creates water for California,” concludes Nelsen.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:33:23-07:00September 29th, 2014|

Commentary: Groundwater Legislation: “One Size Fits All” Just Doesn’t Fit

By Sen. Tom Berryhill; Ag Alert

In the waning hours of the legislative session, three bills that will drastically alter California’s groundwater management were passed with little vetting by the public or stakeholders impacted by the proposed changes. Senate Bill 1168 and Assembly Bill 1739 had been making their way through the legislative process, but in a completely different form than what was presented in the final days of the legislative session. Senate Bill 1319 was added to the package with just hours to go and voila, the legislative leadership declares a negotiated groundwater management package that works for all of California.

Far from it. “Negotiated” implies people of opposing viewpoints had input, something that did not happen.

Almost universally, agriculture was opposed, and I would imagine had it not been “negotiated” behind closed doors, there would have been an outcry from other regions and stakeholders throughout the state as well. Make no mistake, these groundwater bills will radically change decades of California water policy and give unprecedented authority to the state’s water bureaucracy to declare winners and losers. All without an appeals process. This is no way to craft policy.

Legislators of both political parties immediately sent a joint letter to Gov. Jerry Brown requesting that he veto the bills and call a special session of the Legislature to develop a reasonable groundwater management plan.

Earlier this summer, the Legislature put together groundbreaking water bond legislation. We did it in the light of day with months of negotiations and years of work behind the policy changes. These negotiations were a true victory for the people of California and a shining example of how well we can do something when we work together.

As a farmer and a Californian, I am absolutely concerned about increasing conditions of overdraft in many groundwater basins and the long-term effects on access to groundwater and land. But I believe California is playing a dangerous game if it pursues the one-size-fits-all approach of these bills.

Add into the mix a devastating drought that has severely tested our ability to prioritize where dwindling supplies of water should go—agriculture, environment or homes—and any solution becomes murkier.

Some basins have been critically overdrafted for decades, and in those instances state oversight may be an appropriate option as a way to spur local-management improvements. However, other basins have little or no overdraft problems or already have effective management systems in place. These bills treat all scenarios the same, a de facto punishment of the basins doing it right.

What started earlier this year as a legislative effort to remedy overdraft of aquifers in specific areas of the state morphed into a policy package that addresses issues well beyond mitigation of overdraft, all done at the last minute, without policy hearings, in the final weeks of the legislative session.

The regulatory regime for groundwater extraction enacted in these bills will not only invite lawsuits, it turns a blind eye to the differences between the 500-plus water basins in California and ignores ongoing local overdraft mitigation efforts. This is a bureaucratic power grab by the state’s water agencies, not an honest solution to a problem.

It took us more than 10 years to craft a good water bond that addresses the needs of a variety of communities, interest groups and industries. Was three weeks enough time to fully consider and seek consensus on the numerous, substantial policy changes made to groundwater management? I think not.

In the coming years and decades, the authorities granted in this bill will radically change the landscape of groundwater management. That will have a de-stabilizing impact on those who depend on groundwater supplies, particularly in Northern and Central California, thus the virtually unanimous opposition of the agriculture community to these proposals.

Yes, it is time to craft groundwater regulation that meets today’s needs, but these bills won’t get us there. Let’s go back to the drawing board and craft a narrower, more effective measure focused on basins where real problems exist, encouraging them to implement management measures modeled by other regions and providing a mechanism for the state to partner with areas when local management fails. We came together and passed the water bond; we can, and should, do the same for groundwater management.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:33:24-07:00September 21st, 2014|

West Hills, Fresno City Colleges Among $1 Million Job-Training Partnership Recipients

West Hills College Coalinga Receives Funding for Job-Training Program

West Hills College Coalinga is among five other colleges selected to participate in a new $1 million job-training partnership this fall between the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, the Employment Training Panel and the California Community College Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO). The agencies are providing $1 million to workers and employers for job training in drought-affected areas in California. WHCC’s irrigation technician program qualifies for this funding.

“West Hills College Coalinga, in concert with other influential organizations and other educational institutions, is pleased to participate in the drought-related training initiative and applauds the funding commitment to the Valley,” said Stu Van Horn, vice chancellor of educational services and workforce development for West Hills Community College District. “Our experience in delivering irrigation systems workforce training programs will enable Central Valley residents affected by the drought to take advantage of emerging opportunities in this high demand workforce industry.”

WHCCD paved the way for this sort of movement through its first Essential Elements session last March, “The Very Last Drop.” The session focused on water issues in the San Joaquin Valley and what industry leaders and educational institutions can do to help.

“The Very Last Drop highlighted irrigation innovation happening in the region and provided our faculty and staff cutting-edge insights into the latest demands of area employers that will help us in retraining displaced workers,” said Van Horn.

The partnership is effective Sept. 15, 2014 through June 30, 2016, with job training classes beginning this fall semester. Funding is made available through drought-aid legislation that was signed into law earlier this year. The CCCCO will coordinate with Yosemite Community College District to market this program.

The campuses selected include West Hills College Coalinga, Fresno City College, Reedley College, Modesto Junior College, Merced College and College of the Sequoias.

With this funding, 12 training programs of approximately 250 hours each will be offered at no cost to local residents. After completing one of the programs, students will receive an industry-recognized certificate. A full list of eligible programs at participating colleges includes Irrigation systems, evaluations specialists and designers, logistics technicians, electrical maintenance technicians, water treatment operators, forklift and warehouse technicians, food safety technicians, qualified pesticide applicators and manufacturing production technologists.

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AMY KESSLER, Marketing Assistant,  amyseed@whccd.edu| fax 559-934-2849

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:33:26-07:00September 15th, 2014|

Food donations underscore drought impact

By Kate Campbell; Ag Alert

Central Valley farmers and businesses donated and shipped about 30 tons of fresh fruits, vegetables and nuts last week to help address food shortages at California food banks. A newly organized grassroots coalition, “California Water Feeds Our Communities,” was joined by the California Community Food Bank, Westlands Water District, the California Water Alliance and El Agua Es Asunto De Todos to bring valley-grown produce to those in need across the state.

Fresno County farmer Bill Diedrich said the impact of fallowing hundreds of thousands of acres of irrigated cropland in the San Joaquin Valley this year translates into significant economic losses for the valley’s small farming communities.

“It’s the people—and the communities that depend on agricultural production—that are getting hurt,” Diedrich said at a news conference in Fresno to announce the donations. “For example, the schools are being hurt. If people are moving on, there’s no reimbursement for (school) attendance and the children of those families who’ve stayed are losing out. Besides the school districts, cities and counties also are being affected and their ability to help in this crisis is reduced.”

Diedrich said that when he drives through the valley’s small towns, he sees workers standing around idle, “because there’s so much fallowed ground there isn’t the normal demand for labor. We’re looking at a disaster and we’re hoping for regulatory relief,” noting that Congress will be considering drought-relief bills in coming weeks.

Kym Dildine with Fresno-based Community Food Bank said one in four people in Fresno, Kings, Madera, Kern and Tulare counties copes with food insecurity, a situation made worse by the ongoing drought.

Prior to the drought, she said the agency was serving about 220,000 people a month. With the drought, that number has increased by another 30,000 people a month in the five-county area.

“Every food bank we’ve spoken to is really grateful to be receiving an entire truckload of fresh produce grown right here in the valley,” she said. “Because less fruit is available, they’re having a harder time accessing it.”

To help address the problem, 15 trucks were loaded with boxes of fresh produce at Simonian Fruit Co. in Fowler before heading to food banks in Fresno, Merced, Bakersfield, Los Angeles, Watsonville, Salinas, Santa Maria, Oxnard, Riverside and San Diego.

“The food we grow here extends far and wide,” said Gayle Holman of the Westlands Water District. “In fact, most people don’t even realize the food they may be eating in other parts of the state, or across the United States, actually originates here.”

The Fresno County Farm Bureau, along with many valley farms and businesses, supported the food donation effort, as did irrigation districts and service groups such as the Girl Scouts of Central California-South and the Fresno Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, as well as California State University, Fresno.

Participants said the coalition hopes not only to bring attention to the impact of the drought and how far-reaching it is, but also to set the stage for future food donation drives as the crisis deepens during the winter. Diedrich said the effort also brings attention to the fact that an unreliable water supply jeopardizes everyone’s food security.

“The drought has impacted California’s food banks because they can no longer adapt to the spike in food prices resulting from a lack of water for farmers,” said Cannon Michael, president of Los Banos-based Bowles Farming Co. “This campaign has been launched to feed the needy and raise awareness about how the drought hurts the most vulnerable people in the state.”

Drought-related land fallowing brings “many unintended consequences,” Michael said.

“We hope raising awareness about the drought will bring all stakeholders together to find short- and long-term solutions,” he said.

Westside farmer Sarah Woolf said the coalition will continue to support food banks.

“This was just one small aspect of how we’re trying to help,” she said.

When the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced a zero water allocation for farm customers south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, Mendota Mayor Robert Silva said his community knew it was facing “a terrible situation.” But he said the city learned from the drought in 2009 and immediately began preparing.

“We got service agencies and utilities to come in and set up assistance programs right away,” Silva said. “We’ve added recreational opportunities for our youth to keep them busy and we’ve been finding ways to support our schools.”

In 2009, Silva said water shortages led to severe social problems such as domestic violence and higher school dropout rates that might have been eased with adequate social services. The unemployment rate in Mendota today is in the range of 35 percent, he said, compared to 50 percent at the same time in 2009.

“Unemployment is still high, but not as bad as we feared,” Silva said. “But we’re not out of danger yet. I understand it’s going to be a short growing season this year, harvest is nearly over, and that means more people will be unemployed for a longer time. We haven’t seen the worst yet.”

He said Mendota residents have been planning ahead and “trying to get the resources they’ll need to get by until they can go back to work next year,” and more agencies are prepared to help.

“But it’s going to be a long winter,” Silva said.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:33:26-07:00September 10th, 2014|

Drought leaves Tulare County homes without water

By Associated Press

Hundreds of rural San Joaquin Valley residents no longer can get drinking water from their home faucets because California’s extreme drought has dried up their individual wells, government officials and community groups said.

The situation has become so dire that the Tulare County Office of Emergency Services had 12-gallon-per person rations of bottled water delivered on Friday in East Porterville, where at least 182 of the 1,400 households have reported having no or not enough water, according to the Porterville Recorder.

Many people in the unincorporated community about 52 miles north of Bakersfield also have been relying on a county-supplied 5,000-gallon water tank filled with non-potable water for bathing and flushing toilets, The Recorder said.

Emergency services manager Andrew Lockman, said the supplies of bottled water distributed by firefighters, the Red Cross and volunteer groups on Friday cost the county $30,000 and were designed to last about three weeks but are only a temporary fix. To get future deliveries, officials are asking low-income residents to apply for aid and for companies to make bottled water donations like the one a local casino made a few weeks ago.

“Right now we’re trying to provide immediate relief,” Lockman said. “This is conceived as an emergency plan right now.”

Officials said the problem is partly due to the shallowness of some residential wells in East Porterville that are replenished by groundwater from the Tule River, the Fresno Bee said. But river flows are way down due to the ongoing drought, leaving some wells dry.

East Porterville resident Angelica Gallegos fought back tears as she described being without water for four months in the home she shares with her husband,, three children and two other adults.

“It’s hard,” she told The Bee. “I can’t shower the children like I used to.”

Farmworker Oliva Sanchez said she still gets a trickle from her tap, but dirt started coming out with the water about a week ago.

“I try to use the least possible. I’ll move if I have to,” she said.

Along with experiencing inconvenience and thirst, some residents have been reluctant to speak up about being waterless because they are afraid their landlords will evict them or social workers will take their children away, The Recorder reported.

“We want to make it abundantly clear we are not going to make this harder for anyone,” Lockman stressed. “These lists aren’t going anywhere. (Child Welfare Services) isn’t getting a list. They (CWS) made it abundantly clear they are not going to remove children because of no water. We just want to help the people.”

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:33:29-07:00August 26th, 2014|

Farm Beat: Farmers can sell near and far

Source: John Holland; The Modesto Bee

At one event next month, food producers can learn about exporting to China, South Korea and Southeast Asia. At another, they can learn about selling to school cafeterias close to home.

A Sept. 10 trade show, A Taste of California, will bring Asian food buyers to Fresno to see what the state has to offer in the way of fruits, vegetables and other goods. The Ceres Chamber of Commerce is a partner in the event and invites producers in Stanislaus County to take part.

On Sept. 19, the third annual Northern California Farm to School Conference will take place at the Stanislaus County Agricultural Center. It will deal with how to get local food onto schoolkids’ plates, along with educational activities related to farming.

The close timing of the events highlights the dual nature of food production in the San Joaquin Valley.

On the one hand, growers and processors serve local markets. This was by necessity in the days before trucking and refrigeration. Now it’s by choice for people who like to eat truly fresh food and to support nearby farmers.

On the other hand, exports play a key role in keeping Valley agriculture thriving. The majority of our almonds and walnuts go to other nations. Industries that mostly sell domestically – dairy, wine, canned tomatoes and others – count on foreign sales to boost their income.

Last week, Stanislaus County reported that its gross farm income hit a record $3.66 billion in 2013. Most of it was from U.S. buyers, but the report also touched on exports. A total of 133 commodities were shipped to 102 countries. Dollar figures were not broken out, but it’s safe to say that plenty of foreign money entered the local economy and sustained many jobs.

The Fresno show offers ways to boost the trade even more. The tickets are pricey, at $250 or $500, but they could be worthwhile if food producers score new markets abroad.

“We are so excited to be a part of this international event,” said Renee Ledbetter, president of the Ceres chamber, in a news release. “We recognize this as a great opportunity not only to help promote Ceres producers and exporters, but to promote food and ag businesses throughout Stanislaus County.”

The organizers said the Asian buyers want to see a variety of products, including dried fruits and nuts, processed produce items, frozen foods, confections, beverages, spices, sauces, jams, breads, grains and pastas.

The delegation will go to similar events next month in Oakland and Los Angeles. They are put on by the California Centers for International Trade Development in collaboration with the state Department of Food and Agriculture.

The farm-to-school event also could open new markets for farmers and processors in the Valley. It is part of one movement that seeks to make school meals healthier and another that aims to connect consumers with farmers and reduce hauling costs.

And there’s an extra treat on the agenda that day – a cooking contest modeled on the “Iron Chef” television show.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:33:29-07:00August 26th, 2014|

Regulatory Agency and Farmworkers Negotiate Accord

A farmworker advocacy group and the agency that regulates pesticide use in Monterey County today announced the establishment of a farmworker advisory committee to advise the agency and to connect field workers to resources that the agency can use to help them. “The advisory committee gives us direct access to farmworker leaders; to their concerns and to their suggestions,” commented Eric Lauritzen, the Agricultural Commissioner of the County of Monterey.

“This gives us the opportunity to engage in positive, productive conversations that will help us fulfill our obligations to the farmworker community and to the agricultural industry in general.”

Farmworker leaders trained by the Center for Community Advocacy (CCA) will compose the advisory committee.

“CCA strives to develop leadership capacity among farmworkers at the neighborhood level,” explained Juan Uranga, CCA’s executive director and lead attorney. “We use CCA’s housing, health and poder popular programs to spot, recruit and engage neighborhood leaders throughout the Salinas and Pajaro valleys.

These leaders first improve conditions in their housing units and neighborhoods. We then create venues where these neighborhood leaders can use their collective power to strengthen their families and create positive change in their communities.”

Six of these CCA-trained neighborhood leaders will comprise the advisory committee.

“We are excited about creating this opportunity,” said one of the CCA neighborhood leaders. “We are pioneers and we hope we’ll be able to work together to help our brothers and sisters who work in the fields. We had a ‘meet and greet’ session with the Commissioner and his staff and we were impressed by their willingness to work with us.”

The Committee will advise the Commissioner’s Office on policies and practices as they impact field workers in Monterey County. The advisory committee and the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office will strive to improve protocols that protect farmworkers from pesticide exposure and other protocols within the Commissioner’s jurisdiction that protect the health and safety of farmworkers.

The partnership will also help disseminate information about resources and programs that the Commissioner’s Office can make available to the farmworker community.

The advisory committee comes after negotiations that led to a Statement of Purpose between CCA and the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office.

The Statement describes the following functions for the committee:

To meet at regular intervals with the Commissioner and his/her staff to exchange information and ideas that will improve the safety of farmworkers.
To help disseminate safety information from the Commissioner’s Office to the farmworker community, as the need arises
To host annual community dialogues where farmworkers and the Commissioner’s Office meet to discuss the Commissioner’s jurisdiction over agricultural lands in Monterey County.
To promote a more sustainable agricultural economy in Monterey County by protecting its most critical resource: farmworkers.

Discussions about forming the committee began several years ago when the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office and Poder Popular, then a program of the Community Foundation for Monterey County and since a CCA program, hosted a community forum.

Working through a rocky start, both the Commissioner’s Office and CCA saw the incredible potential in developing a working relationship. The two agencies had never worked together. Each had questions about the other’s willingness to work cooperatively.

The two agencies developed their relationship by working together on several projects including the AgKnowledge Program hosted by the Grower-Shipper Foundation and a series of small forums between the Commissioner’s Office and CCA-trained leaders. Now, both the Agricultural Commissioner’s office and CCA look forward to this joint effort.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:33:29-07:00August 25th, 2014|

Voters to decide fate of water bond this November

Source: Kate Campbell; Ag Alert

Finding agreement on the $7.5 billion water bond measure headed to the November ballot wasn’t easy—it involved years of hard work by many stakeholders, including the California Farm Bureau Federation—but participants in the discussion said it’s a key step in addressing the critical need to upgrade the state’s broken water system.

“The severe water shortages we’re currently experiencing result from 30 years of neglecting our water-storage system,” CFBF President Paul Wenger said. “That neglect is magnified by the drought, and it’s time to reverse that pattern of neglect. Placing this water bond on the November ballot gives Californians a chance to provide more water for our cities, for food production and for the environment.”

CFBF Administrator Rich Matteis said passage of the water bond bill last week marked the end of more than five years of sustained effort.

“Farm Bureau has been involved in this issue since the beginning, working for a bond that would maximize the investment in new water storage for California,” Matteis said. “But as much as the passage of the bond bill marked the end of that process, it also signaled the beginning of a campaign to show Californians the essential need to invest in our state’s water system.”

Matteis noted that the water bond will come before voters in less than 11 weeks, meaning that supporters of new water investment will need to move quickly to solidify support for the measure.

“Farm Bureau members are uniquely positioned to work at the grassroots level to educate and build public awareness for much-needed water improvements,” Matteis said. “Every Californian has a stake in the voter outcome in November, but none more than farmers and ranchers who depend on adequate, reliable water supplies.”

The revised bond measure includes $2.7 billion for water storage projects and that money will be continuously appropriated, Matteis noted, meaning that future Legislatures will not be able to redirect it to other uses.

“This bond represents the state’s largest investment in water storage in more than 30 years,” Wenger said, “and it couldn’t come at a more critical time.”

The current drought has shown that California has lived too long with an outdated water-storage system, he said.

“We need to update that system to match changing weather patterns, in which more precipitation will fall as rain rather than as snow,” Wenger said. “Additional surface storage can capture those strong storm surges when they come, reduce flooding and bank that water for later dry times.”

In addition to new surface and groundwater storage projects, proceeds from the sale of bonds—if approved by voters—would be used for regional water reliability, sustainable groundwater management and cleanup, water recycling, water conservation, watershed protection and safe drinking water, particularly for disadvantaged communities.

Association of California Water Agencies Executive Director Tim Quinn called the revised water bond the “right size at the right time for California.”

Noting the bond includes $100 million that can be used by local agencies for groundwater plans and projects, the Kern County Water Agency commended those who negotiated the final version of the measure. The water bond also includes new funding for a variety of local water programs through integrated regional water management plans, or IRWMPs. Specifically, the bond measure would allocate $34 million to IRWMPs in the Tulare/Kern watershed.

The California Water Alliance, whose members include Central Valley farmers and agricultural businesses, applauded the bond’s placement on the November ballot.

“Most importantly, it recognizes that Californians statewide, from all walks of life, cannot afford to carry the burden of a dysfunctional water system that has been exacerbated by the worst drought in California history,” said Aubrey Bettencourt, executive director of the alliance.

The drought, she said, has resulted in dramatic levels of unemployment, higher food prices, increased utility costs, water rationing and severe losses for California farms, many of which have had to fallow thousands of acres.

“This bond provides the means to begin upgrading California’s water system for the 21st century, including new storage facilities and clean water projects for underprivileged communities,” Bettencourt said.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:33:30-07:00August 22nd, 2014|