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Jeffrey Michael commentary: Water won’t wash away Valley’s recession

Posted by: Maven on May 1, 2009 at 8:09 am

From the Sacramento Bee, this commentary by Jeffrey Michael, director of the Business Forecasting Center and an associate professor at the University of the Pacific in Stockton:

What is causing unemployment in the San Joaquin Valley? According to water contractors and their political supporters, a “regulatory drought” has eliminated water-dependent farm jobs, and they point to high unemployment rates in farming communities as proof. Their solution is to suspend the Endangered Species Act and build a multibillion-dollar peripheral canal around the Delta.

However, the facts don’t support the water contractors’ view. The latest payroll data through March finds that farm jobs have grown faster than any other sector of the economy in the past 12 months, even outpacing health care. In fact, farm jobs have been growing throughout the three-year drought. Compared with 2006, farm jobs have increased 5 percent in California, while private nonfarm jobs have decreased 5 percent.

The same is true in Fresno County, home to communities such as Mendota that have been the focus of water exporters’ news releases. In Fresno County,farm payrolls increased 3.2 percent in the past 12 months,compared with a 3.4 percent decrease in private, nonfarm payrolls. Since the drought began three years ago, Fresno County farm payrolls have increased by 12 percent, while nonfarm employment has crashed, led by a loss of more than 7,000 construction jobs.

In light of these statistics, how can water exporters, politicians and others claim that rising unemployment in the Valley is a result of water shortages for farms rather than the broader recession?

Read the rest of Jeffrey’s commentary in the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.

May 1, 2009 · Filed Under General Water Issues, San Joaquin Valley

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