Hot Compost
03-04-2009, 01:25 PM
https://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11803992
All of the water used to nourish Coburn's orchards comes from the Central Valley Project. And on Feb. 20, federal water officials announced a "zero allocation'' to farmers — most likely for the rest of the year. Farmers who depend on water from the State Water Project are only slightly luckier — they have been told their allocation will be 15 percent of normal.
"In a few years this will all be gone,'' Coburn predicted as he walked through a cavernous warehouse stacked with bins containing 10 million pounds of almonds, about 70 percent of which will be sent overseas.
"Think of the business that will be lost at the Port of Oakland,'' Coburn said. "This is all going toward reducing our trade deficit.''
Business way down
O Street, the main drag of downtown Firebaugh, is shrouded in sadness.
Ramirez, the barber, says he understands why many of his longtime customers can no longer afford even a $10 haircut. Rivera, who owns the clothing and jewelry store Xavier & Sariah Styles with his mom, says his business is down the same as Ramirez's — 90 percent from a year ago.
"We're now ringing up only $50 in sales a day,'' Rivera said.
The rough times for Firebaugh started in August 2007 when U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger reduced the amount of water pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to protect the delta smelt, a tiny fish, from extinction.
The new restrictions decreased farming on the west side of the Central Valley, which is much more dependent on federal water than the east side.
The water nightmare caused by the pumping restrictions and dry weather has hit Main Street at a time when the recession and housing foreclosure crisis already are pummeling valley towns.
... that's just part of the article. just shows how interdependent many part of our society are.
you'd think a sane society would build aqueducts so that parts of the country that have too much water can share it with the drought-stricken parts. of course, pumping water takes energy ...
All of the water used to nourish Coburn's orchards comes from the Central Valley Project. And on Feb. 20, federal water officials announced a "zero allocation'' to farmers — most likely for the rest of the year. Farmers who depend on water from the State Water Project are only slightly luckier — they have been told their allocation will be 15 percent of normal.
"In a few years this will all be gone,'' Coburn predicted as he walked through a cavernous warehouse stacked with bins containing 10 million pounds of almonds, about 70 percent of which will be sent overseas.
"Think of the business that will be lost at the Port of Oakland,'' Coburn said. "This is all going toward reducing our trade deficit.''
Business way down
O Street, the main drag of downtown Firebaugh, is shrouded in sadness.
Ramirez, the barber, says he understands why many of his longtime customers can no longer afford even a $10 haircut. Rivera, who owns the clothing and jewelry store Xavier & Sariah Styles with his mom, says his business is down the same as Ramirez's — 90 percent from a year ago.
"We're now ringing up only $50 in sales a day,'' Rivera said.
The rough times for Firebaugh started in August 2007 when U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger reduced the amount of water pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to protect the delta smelt, a tiny fish, from extinction.
The new restrictions decreased farming on the west side of the Central Valley, which is much more dependent on federal water than the east side.
The water nightmare caused by the pumping restrictions and dry weather has hit Main Street at a time when the recession and housing foreclosure crisis already are pummeling valley towns.
... that's just part of the article. just shows how interdependent many part of our society are.
you'd think a sane society would build aqueducts so that parts of the country that have too much water can share it with the drought-stricken parts. of course, pumping water takes energy ...