[env-trinity] Salmon Water Now, Westlands, Salmon and Reason

[Tom Stokely]

Bruce Tokars wrote:

  Hello --

  They didn't like our last video, Bullies of Westlands, and they let us know about it.  The California Farm Water Coalition made a point of letting the world know just how wrong that Salmon Water Now video was from start to finish.  Here is a link to their review: http://www.farmwater.org/Current-News/Videos-provide-half-truths.html   So, our new video is for the farmers, and those in the Valley who believe that we want to steal all the water.

  It is available on Vimeo uninterrupted and on YouTube in two parts.  As usual we encourage sharing and embedding.  Here is what it is all about:


  Westlands, Salmon, & Reason  (21:18)
  Our last video, Bullies of Westlands, blamed the powerful Westlands Water District for being the primary reason wild California King salmon are on the edge of extinction. It seems we hit a nerve.
   
  We received many comments thanking us for drawing a line between Westland's deeds and actions and the sad condition of what was once a thriving fishery.  But the majority of the comments we received came from Central Valley residents who took heated exception to our claims.  Accusing us of "having no respect for our audience", of presenting "one big logical fallacy" and asking us "to provide evidence to support the accusations."  Many of the comments were angry and critical.  Some were more thoughtful.
   
  Rushing to the defense of Westlands by way of a point-by-point rebuttal was the California Farm Water Coalition ( http://www.farmwater.org/Current-News/Videos-provide-half-truths.html ).  According to their website, they represent a cross-section of the agricultural industry.  Their membership includes individual farmers, ag water districts, the California Farm Bureau Federation, and many farm related businesses.  They hated our Bullies of Westlands video.  They said, "the half-truths presented in these videos will be well received by those who want to take water away from California farmers."
   
  Salmon Water Now stands by our claims about Westlands and the collapse of the salmon fishery.  
   
  Our new video, Westlands, Salmon, & Reason, offers further evidence to support our position.  We state unequivocally that our fight to pull salmon from the edge of extinction does not need to be at the expense of agriculture.  We believe there is no reason that healthy runs of wild salmon cannot co-exist with productive and profitable agriculture.  But restoring salmon, and the health of the Delta, requires that the Westlands Water District take a good long look at their political agenda that pushes hard for water policies which have created misery for thousands of people along the coasts of California and Oregon.
   
  Westlands, Salmon, & Reason is a positive, detailed refutation of those who feel that the Westlands Water District was a victim in Salmon Water Now's Bullies of Westlands video.  At the end of the new video, Salmon Water Now offers a proposition to the California Farm Water Coalition that we believe can help put an end to the constant bickering over water policies.  We seek to expand understanding between agriculture interests and fishermen.  We want a productive dialog between Valley farmers, agriculture, fishermen and costal residents.  
   
  Watch Westlands, Salmon, & Reason and see in detail why we say that Bullies of Westlands was justified as a way to kick-start a meaningful discussion about water, politics, and people. We are reaching out to farmers, and those who depend on agriculture, to join Salmon Water Now's efforts to bring sanity to California water politics and that means REASON to Westlands.
   
  YouTube Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC3o8VXulH0&hd=1
  YouTube Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEZH52bL2r8&hd=1
  Vimeo: http://www.vimeo.com/14982246 


  B.


  Bruce Tokars
  www.salmonwaternow.org

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