Drought threatens Calif. agriculture business
Thursday, April 02, 2009 6:48 PM
By Nannette Miranda
SACRAMENTO, CA (KGO) -- Three years of drought are also threatening to destroy California farmers, and the state's multi-billion dollar agriculture industry.
The news of the smaller snowpack doesn't improve the dry situation in the usually fertile Central Valley. That means farmers can't expect to see more water for their crops.
Making the problem worse is a still in-tact court order to reduce pumping in the delta to save endangered fish.
"On the high side, they're getting a 20 percent delivery. Only 20 percent of the water they would normally count on is going to be delivered. And they can't make a crop with that amount of water," said Timothy Quinn from the Association of California Water Agencies.
It's heartbreaking to see the area that supplies 40% of the nation's food supply vanishing, with farmers refusing to plant or just ripping up their crops. Read More
In visiting with several friends from CA over the last couple of months, they have all told me that California doesn’t have a water problem, they have a water storage problem. California is our biggest agricultural state. When food producing areas get hit with some sort of disaster I don’t think most people give it a second thought. Our food has to come from somewhere, it doesn’t just magically appear.
2 comments:
I'm right in the heart of it here in Fresno, CA. Part of it is because of the Smelt up in the Delta and also restocking Salmon in the San Joaquin River. Salmon in the San Joaquin sounds like a cool thing to do but not at a time when water is critical to sustain a domestic fresh produce source and keep family farms alive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9Qpk29TT6g
WE ARE NOT BENG TOLD THE TRUTH ABOUT THIS SITUATION AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE SHOULD BE OUTRAGED. THIS FISH, MINNOW, REASON FOR TURNING THE WATER OFF IS NOT BUT A LIE. THERE'S ALOT OF POLITICS GOING ON HERE. THEY ARE DELIBERATELY GOINGTO DRIVE UP THE PRICE OF FOOD. NO ONE IN THEIR RIGHT MIND IF THEY LOVE THEIR COUNTRY AND WANTS WHATS BEST FOR THE USA WOULD DO THIS. THIS IS PURE EVIL POLITICS. WHERE ARE THE PEOPLE IN CA THE ONES WHO ARE THE VOTERS? YOU NEED TO GET ANGRY ENOUGH AND TAKE BACK YOUR STATE. START WITH THE GOVERNOR ON DOWN. YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. YOU ALL NEED TO GET MARK LAVINES' BOOK "LIBERTY AND TYRRANY" AND READ IT. THEN MAYBE YOU'D UNDERSTAND WHAT BOXER, PELOSI, AND FEINSTEIN ARE DOING IN WASHINGTON TO RUIN YOUR GOOD STATE, BUT IT'S GOING TO TAKE YOU FOLKS TO RISE UP AND TAKE BACK YOUR RIGHTS AS CITIZENS TO MAKE A CHANGE AND RESTORE LIBERTY TO CA.
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