Water hearings, sometimes contentious, end with hope for agreement between farms, fish
BY KEN CARLSON, The Modesto Bee
August 22, 2018 05:20 PM
Two days of hearings before the State Water Resources Control Board created some hope of voluntary agreements with local irrigation districts, which are under pressure to release more water in rivers to help salmon.
Tuesday and Wednesday, the state board heard heartfelt comments from people concerned about collapsing fish populations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and fears about job losses and economic calamity in the Northern San Joaquin Valley if water rights are stripped from communities.
One speaker said the board’s proposal for delta water quality sent a shockwave through rural California, as evidenced by a rally Monday in Sacramento that drew more than 1,000 people from a Central Valley area stretching from Tulare to Redding.
In a state with nearly 40 million people, the board was urged to consider the impact of its decisions on people as well as fish.
