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Marchers will seek water for Valley; Group supported by farmers and farmworkers will begin trek in Mendota, aims to draw attention to real victims of water crisis

Posted by: Maven on April 13, 2009 at 6:30 am

From the Fresno Bee:

They have rallied and lobbied, pleading for more water to revive the downtrodden west Valley. That hasn’t worked — so now they will march.

Hoping to bring national attention to their cause, members of a group called the Latino Water Coalition will lead a four-day “California March for Water” that begins Tuesday in Mendota and ends near Los Banos. If all goes as planned, thousands of farmworkers, farmers, college students and others will make the trek, which covers portions of Highway 33 and Interstate 5, ending at the San Luis Reservoir on Friday.

Organizers make no bones about it — they want to evoke memories of Cesar Chavez and his legendary marches for farmworker rights in the 1960s and ’70s. “Mexicans know what a march means,” said Mario Santoyo, a member of the Latino coalition. “It means that they’re willing to sacrifice for a cause.”

But these are different times, for sure. Chavez led boycotts of growers in his drive to unionize farmworkers. The Latino Water Coalition, which includes Hispanic business and civic leaders, works in concert with growers. Together they lobby for state money for dams and canals and the lifting of pumping restrictions at the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that were imposed to comply with environmental laws. The cutbacks and drought have forced growers to fallow land, leaving farmworkers without jobs.

The march “is kind of a union between the farmworkers and the farmers because they’re both hit,” said Santoyo, an assistant general manager at Friant Water Users Authority, which represents east Valley growers.

Not everyone is participating, though. More on the controversy and what environmentalists think by clicking here.

The Fresno Bee is supportive, calling the unemployed farmworkers “the real victims of water crisis” in this editorial:

Legal protections for threatened species of fish in the Delta led to the court’s ruling shutting off the pumps and the water flow. But it’s people here in the Valley who pay the price for that decision. And there has to be a way to mitigate that impact. If it means a short-term easing of environmental regulations, so be it.

Some measure of water must be moved to the west side to ease the terrible burdens facing those who’ve been put out of work by the failure of elected leaders and the intransigence of special interests. It may already be too late to salvage most of the growing season for many crops, but some of the damage may be avoided.

And by damage, let’s be clear what we’re talking about: This is about people’s lives and the lives of their families.

For the long term, we have long endorsed the goals being advanced by the water coalition. California needs new surface storage, expanded underground water banking and dramatic increases in conservation efforts.

That comprehensive solution won’t be achieved until all the parties understand that there must be compromise. It is difficult for us to believe that, with all the skills and talent arrayed on both sides of the water issue, it’s not possible to find a compromise that meets most of our needs for reliable water supplies and a healthy, sustainable environment.

And we hope the world’s attention is focused on the marchers as they deliver that message in their 50-mile trek from Mendota to the San Luis Dam. They and their families have gone unnoticed for far too long. It’s time their needs are factored into the equation.

You can find the full text of the editorial by clicking here.

April 13, 2009 · Filed Under Agriculture, Drought, Weather & Snowpack

Comments

One Response to “Marchers will seek water for Valley; Group supported by farmers and farmworkers will begin trek in Mendota, aims to draw attention to real victims of water crisis”

  1. dfb on April 15th, 2009 12:03 am

    There is something inherently wrong with this picture. The coalition appears to be financed by the growers who refuse(d) the unionization movement and pay the farmworkers less than …. Should this movement succeed, the farmers should reward their farmhands with better compensation.

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