President's Message

April 2013

Farmers throughout the valley are active during the start of another growing season! 

Hard work, long days, fertile soil, and plentiful water come together to produce half of the nation’s food supply.  But today a significant portion of that water will be lost due to poor regulatory decisions intended to reintroduce salmon to waters that are just too warm for them to spawn, and only cost the tax payers $2 billion for this experiment. 

The environmentalists say that taking San Joaquin River water away from its users can be made up through “more efficient use of water by agriculture and cities, along with wise development of other local water supplies.” 

This kind of statement exhibits a lack of understanding of how today’s farmers, especially those along the San Joaquin River are managing their water supply.  Efficient irrigation practices in California have helped double the volume of crop production over the last 40 years while using essentially the same amount of water.  I pray that we all have enough water to make it through the season.

 

See Ya

Tom Coleman