[env-trinity] Fresno Bee- More on San Joaquin River Ruling

[Tom Stokely]

SAN JOAQUIN RIVER / ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ISSUE
Fight surfaces in salmon ruling 
Orange Cove mayor, others say water shift would hurt economy. 
Fresno Bee - 9/16/04
By Mark Grossi, staff writer

Orange Cove Mayor Victor Lopez rallied Wednesday for a war against a court ruling that he fears will take water from farmers and jobs from Central California to restore salmon in the San Joaquin River. 

"I cannot believe that fish would take the place of food," said Lopez, whose community depends on farm-related jobs. "We are going to fight together in the San Joaquin Valley to reverse this decision."

Lopez joined 10 other speakers at Fresno City Hall to announce their battle against the ruling handed down last month from U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Karlton in Sacramento. Karlton decided the federal government's operation of Friant Dam on the San Joaquin violates a state law protecting downstream fish. It resulted in the death of two Chinook salmon runs in the 1940s.

The 16-year-old lawsuit now will turn to possible fixes, meaning the river will eventually need more water for restoration. East Valley farmers, who use river water, could lose irrigation supplies in the process.

Farm officials Wednesday speculated any significant loss of water could take a deep bite out of the $4.5 billion east-side economy.

Studies have not been completed on water needs and economic effects. But leaders from Lindsay, Kerman and Chowchilla as well as the United Farm Workers said they don't want to give up the river.

"It's not just Fresno County," said Kerman Mayor Pro Tem Trinidad Rodriguez. "It's going to affect this whole Valley. We have been left out of the picture time and time again." 

Assembly Member Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto, said he wanted to convene a hearing with state and federal officials in October over the possible effects.


The Natural Resources Defense Council, the environmental legal group that filed the river lawsuit, said that the farm economy would not suffer. The defense council said river restoration can take place without harming the economy. "This is not a fish-versus-people issue," said lawyer Michael Wall.

Fresno-area environmentalist Lloyd Carter said Karlton's ruling showed sympathy toward farmers and indicated the river's restoration would be done in a reasonable way.

Carter said much of the river's water for decades has been diverted at Friant Dam south into Tulare and Kern counties, far from the river's natural run to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in Northern California.

The delta is home to many farming acres and huge pumps used to send water down the California Aqueduct to Southern California residents. Environmentalists said those people will get cleaner water when the San Joaquin is restored.

"Farmers downstream on the river will be happy as will the 20 million Californians who get their drinking water from the delta," Carter said.

But that may be years from now. An appeal of the federal court's August ruling is expected from the Friant Water Users Authority, representing water agencies and farmers from Chowchilla to Bakersfield.

The river's water supports 15,000 farmers, working about 1 million acres. Ground-water supplies would soon be drained if they lost river water, officials said. Economic ruin would follow, they said.

Ed Murray, mayor of Lindsay in Tulare County, said his city knows about economic devastation. The city reeled from a killing frost that virtually wiped out the citrus crop in 1990-1991.

"We had 67% unemployment," he said. "The crime rate quadrupled. It took us three years to get it under control."#

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/9149354p-10050126c.html


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