ADVOCACY REPORT
California Coast Hit by Fourth Storm Since Clean-Up. -New York Times – 1/27/1983
California Storms – Wettest Weather Years so far in 122 Years of Record. -Mercury News – 3/8/2017
California Rain Breaks All-Time Records. -Los Angeles Times 10/25/2021
Record Setting Rain in Early 2023 in California. Honestly, What’s New?
Rain in California isn’t new. We know it’s coming, we know it comes after a drought, so why aren’t we doing anything about it ? We knew 40 years ago, and if you look back at the cycle of drought and rain in California we knew even as far back as the 1860’s, but all we do is play the blame game on who gets the water when it rains.
Today, one million Californians lack access to clean drinking water, hundreds of thousands of agricultural acres fallow, and specific fish populations continue to dwindle. There is no villain in this situation, only victims. California’s water challenges shouldn’t be an “us versus them” situation. That’s not how we find a solution. Our water infrastructure was last updated 55 years ago for less than half our current population. This system was originally built for two water users, people, and food producers. Because of numerous state and federal regulations and legislation, we now have a third straw: protected species and environmental protection legal requirements. Everything impacted by water is essential for our state whether it’s growing food like almonds and citrus, or dairy and salmon. As the fifth largest economy in the world, we should not have one million of our people living without water in their homes. After knowing for decades what the ecosystem is, we should be able to figure out a way to save the water we need for the future. We need to stop talking and start doing. We applaud Governor Gavin Newsom and his administration for looking at all sides, listening to various groups, and working to produce short-term solutions as we
Enough is enough.
We need to stop the blame game, the fight on dividing water, and work to find solutions. We would be in a better position to do so if over the last four decades our elected leaders did something to preserve water when we get it. But that’s water under the bridge — literally. The question is what we do now, today, to start solving this problem. California’s lack of 21st-century water storage, technology, and policy impacts us all. Allowing farmers to use existing infrastructure for movement and storage right now helps everyone — fish, people, farmers, and the environment. It is better to store water now than run into the ocean, because that water can be used later by fish, underrepresented communities, cities, and farms.
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ALMOND FACTS
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