Western Growers issued a harsh response to
the U.S. Bureau of Reclamations following the announcement that Central Valley
Project farmers south of the Delta will receive a water allocation of 65
percent this year.
“With record-level precipitation and
flooding, and fear of more to come, a 65 percent Central Valley Project initial
water allocation for farmers south of the Delta defies logic,” said Western
Growers President and CEO Tom Nassif. “While an improvement over the zero to
five percent allocations of the past three years, the stark reality is
inescapably obvious: Regulatory actions
are depriving farmers and millions of Californians dependent on the farm
economy of their livelihoods.”
Nassif criticized the intended purpose of
the rationed water allocation—to protect certain fish populations—as lacking results and pointed out that local water managers are struggling to
stay within groundwater pumping limitation set forth by state law but are
still not able to replenish those basins.
“It is time for California to get serious
about the building of additional storage capacity, as directed by the voters in
approving the 2014 water bond,” Nassif said. “It is equally important for our
elected officials to work with the appropriate government agencies to remove
the punitive and unjustified regulatory chains jeopardizing the future of
thousands of California farmers and the economic and social vitality of
millions of our fellow Californians.”
