Water Storage is Needed, Above and Below Ground

By Jessica Theisman, Associate Editor

California Ag Today recently spoke with Ryan Jacobsen, CEO and executive director of the Fresno County Farm Bureau, about the importance of below ground and above ground water storage, and how Temperance Flat Dam will help.

“I am first and foremost to say we need both. They go hand in hand. You can’t capture all this water at one time and stick it in the ground. You’ve got to have above ground storage,” Jacobsen said. “The water has to be allowed to percolate back into the ground level.”

“We need both types to go hand in hand, and I think anybody that knows the success of what Temperance Flat Dam is going to bring to this area knows that this is good,” he explained.

Ryan Jacobsen, Fresno County Farm Bureau CEO

Farmers are trying to get their voice heard when it comes to new water policy. Jacobson says the best way is through personal letters. They are getting hundreds upon thousands of emails.

“If you get that handwritten letter or that personal letter coming from somebody through the old school snail mail, it makes a difference when it comes to the commissioners,” he said.

“The more the commissioners can hear about the support and potential successes of this project or in the local community, the more attention it will get. It’s important to our region,” Jacobsen said. “Because agriculture is a large portion of the San Joaquin Valley economy.”

Send your personal letters to the California Water Commission at PO Box 9428 Sacramento, California.