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Dan Bacher: The big lie unravels: Westlands will receive 86% of average water supply

Posted by: Maven on June 10, 2009 at 12:37 pm

From Dan Bacher at IndyBay.org, this commentary:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Central Valley agribusiness interests have since January issued a constant stream of press releases and staged frequent photo opportunities claiming that “drought,” compounded by pumping restrictions to protect Delta smelt and other fish species, will “devastate” San Joaquin Valley growers and farmworkers this year.

“This march is about opening our eyes to the reality of California’s water crisis – and the reality is that farmers do not have a reliable water supply they can count on, farm workers fear losing their jobs because crops are not being planted, and in towns across the Central Valley, unemployment is skyrocketing,” claimed Governor Schwarzenegger when he addressed the “March for Water” at San Luis Reservoir, organized by San Joaquin Valley agribusiness in April. “I am determined to getting a comprehensive solution done once and for all that will update our water infrastructure, increase our water storage and restore our Delta.”

Schwarzenegger, Westlands Water District and other San Joaquin Valley water contractors are cynically using the false claims of “drought” and the “devastating” impact of Delta pumping restrictions to campaign for a peripheral canal and more dams, an enormously expensive project that would only worsen the collapse of Central Valley salmon, Delta smelt and other fish populations.

Many reporters in the corporate media have constanly repeated these big lies, based on false and misleading hydrological and economic data, with little or no contrary data to combat their purveyors. However, Spreck Rosekrans, an Economic Analyst at Environmental Defense, has effectively exposed these lies in a short article posted on his blog on June 8, http://blogs.edf.org/waterfront/2009/06/08/water-supply-improvements-in-the-san-joaquin-valley/.

The “doom and gloom” and “fish versus jobs” scenario that has deluged the media over the past several months constrasts dramatically with the actual hydrological and economic data. In fact, information compiled by the California Department of Water Resources reveals that in 2009 water supply in most parts of the valley will be in excess of 80% of average, according to Rosecrans.

Read more of this commentary by clicking here.

June 10, 2009 · Filed Under Water Agency News

Comments

2 Responses to “Dan Bacher: The big lie unravels: Westlands will receive 86% of average water supply”

  1. The Underground’s Short Casts for 2009-06-11 | The Trout Underground Fly Fishing Blog on June 11th, 2009 6:00 am

    [...] Schwarzenegger, agribiz (like Westlands) lying about water deliveries, impacts? Bacher thinks so: http://aquafornia.com/archives/9349 [...]

  2. Fly Fishing Gear » Blog Archive » The Underground’s Short Casts for 2009-06-11 on June 12th, 2009 3:10 am

    [...] Schwarzenegger, agribiz (like Westlands) lying about water deliveries, impacts? Bacher thinks so: http://aquafornia.com/archives/9349 [...]

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