President's Message

September 2014

Most of us will be finished with harvest soon and can breath a sigh of relieve. I know we all had to get by with less water than we needed. Now we are looking forward and praying that we will get at least a normal winter of rain and snow.

We have a state population that exceeds 38 million and an agricultural industry that feeds the nation. We have been struggling to meet the increasing demands for water after three years of drought.

In November we will be voting on a $7.5 billion water bond. The plan includes $7.1 billion in new borrowing and $425 million from previous bonds that would be redirected to the updated water priorities. Key components include $2.7 billion for additional storage. That is almost $1billon more than the governor originally proposed. Storage is essential if we are going to stay a viable industry. We are told that the bond has enough money so that we can actually build Sites Reservoir and Temperance Flat and they can’t get blocked by the Legislature in the future. Let’s hope we get some thing out of this drought we have all been struggling through.

See Ya,

Tom Coleman