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Battle over water heats up in San Joaquin Valley

Posted by: Maven on June 29, 2009 at 6:55 am

From the Merced Sun-Star:

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar is coming here to ground zero in the state’s fight over dwindling water resources Sunday as agriculture and environmental interests have become increasingly polarized.

In Congress this week, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, blamed farmers’ woes on “government action to protect a three-inch minnow.” And Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, countered coastal fishermen are suffering their third collapse of the salmon industry in four years because “science has been put aside for politics.”

“It’s do or die,” said farmer Shawn Coburn, who said he lost a new $750,000 well this week because emergency groundwater pumping is depleting aquifers.

Salazar is holding a town hall meeting at California State University, Fresno to assess the impacts of a three-year drought and federal water delivery cutbacks from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to protect threatened fish. His visit comes 10 days after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked the Obama Administration to declare Fresno County a disaster area, and five days after state agriculture officials held hearings in Mendota, where idled farm workers contribute to a 40 percent unemployment rate.

Read more from the Merced Sun-Star by clicking here.

June 29, 2009 · Filed Under San Joaquin Valley

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