Jeff: I grew up in the Central Valley (although I don’t live there any more) and I remember when my Uncle Tommy turned on the valve at the end of WWII to irrigate his fields. It was a glorius day. The government had forced him (the last son on my grandmother’s farm) to remain in dairy farming (tough for a lone farmer) throughout WWII, but at the end of the War he was released from forced servitude, and the water was turned on.
THe great Central Valley WAter Project was started during the Depression, I think, and there is a chan of lakes and reservoirs extending from the peaks of the Sierra Nevada Mountains down into the foothills. The water is contained and released slowly as the snow melts and it is measured into the fields, as it is needed. At least, that is how it is supposed to work.
The lakes behind the dams have become popular, low cost, recreational resources for the people. I know that there were agreements with the farmers at one time, and I don’t know what happened to them. It is my understanding that the farmers paid fees and special taxes for thel rights to that water.
The Central Valley Water Project also served as a flood control device. Prior to its installation, the Valley flooded in the spring and homes were threatened and water was wasted.
The dams and the lakes they held back were off limits during WW II because of the fear that they might be damaged by terrorists — German and Japanese in those days. But, after the war, access to the lakes was opened to the public.
MY BIG QUESTION is: What have these smelt been doing for the last 70+ years while the SJValley farmer has been growing food for this nation on that land? THey certainly haven’t become extinct.
TURN THE WATER BACK ON!
Those are just lame excuses, supported by junk science, activist judges, and agencies gone amuk.
It's about control...it's about tyranny. The farmers need to stand as one and do what they must to turn their water back on...and then we must support them four-square.