Posted on 03/02/2009 9:25:44 AM PST by Mike Fieschko
... The disaster coming this spring and summer is no movie, and nothing menacing is falling from the sky. It's about what's not falling from the sky rain. After three years of below-average rain and snowfall, coupled with new pumping restrictions to protect endangered fish, California's farmers are running out of water. The devastating impact has trickled down to dozens of small Central Valley farming communities. ...
The farmers who will be slammed the hardest are those who depend on the Central Valley Project, the massive federal system of dams, reservoirs, pumps and canals that helped spawn California's $36 billion farming industry the state's largest. ...
All of the water used to nourish Coburn's orchards comes from the Central Valley Project. And on Feb. 20, federal water officials announced a "zero allocation'' to farmers most likely for the rest of the year. Farmers who depend on water from the State Water Project are only slightly luckier they have been told their allocation will be 15 percent of normal. ...
The rough times for Firebaugh started in August 2007 when U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger reduced the amount of water pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to protect the delta smelt, a tiny fish, from extinction. ...
The huge Westlands Water District, wholly dependent on federal water, predicts up to 400,000 acres of its 611,000 acres of farmland will lie fallow this year. Farmers such as Coburn are spending millions of dollars desperately digging wells. But the water underground contains so much salt and boron it will kill orchards and vineyards in two or three years.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
Westlands ping.
You guys might enjoy this thread:
You can sort the thread responses in order by date, putting the older ones first. The thread has over 500 posts and is still being updated with new posts. Lots of good memories here:
http://fresnofamous.com/node/1464
This will raise the price of food.
If you told me Al Radka was still on the air I wouldn’t doubt it for a minute.
The late Al Radka has a park named after him, located between Clovis Avenue and Armstrong on East Belmont in the Sunnyside area.
He deserved a statue. I wonder how many kids grew up listening to him. Has to be millions.
I had to be home by midnight and many a Saturday night KMJ would sign off with the McGuire Sisters? singing “Dream when your feeling blue” and I was still a few miles from home. A few years later it was Wolfe Man Jack on the late shift but that may have been out of Bakersfield?
A high school class mate became assistant athletic director at Fresno State.
I have cousins who lived in Burrell.
I think Al Radka did the Bulldog games in my day? I was into Hot Roads and ball games didn’t interest me. I drag raced at Hammer Field, Kingdon and Formosa aka the Smokers...
Ever run against Butch Leal? He ran pro stock.
But you’re forgetting that Pelosi owns several vineyards. Of course she could just take the loss and make the government reimburse her in a special program that only covers her property.
Anyone remember the Milagro Bean Field Wars? These farmers will have to do the same or we are on our way to transforming our country from the breadbasket of the world to a huge Zimbabwe.
The central valley is not arable without irrigation. Fifteen precent. Zero percent. It doesn’t matter. Crops can’t be grown, cattle will have to be moved.
Fortunately, most of the east valley gets its irrigation water from Sierra runoff.
You are MUCH braver than I - I salute you!
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