Water activists to rally in Fresno

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, expected.

Published online on Tuesday, Jun. 30, 2009

Organizers of a second Rally for Water are expecting several hundred, if not thousands, to descend on downtown Fresno on Wednesday as they continue their fight for more water.

Farmers, workers and elected officials have been invited to attend the noon rally in front of City Hall. A march around the downtown area will follow.

Mario Santoyo, a member of the Latino Water Coalition and organizer of the event, said the group wants to continue the momentum it gained from a four-day protest march in early April.

Several thousand participated in the march that began in Mendota and ended at the base of the San Luis Reservoir with a rally that drew Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"We are not going away and we want to continue to keep this issue alive," Santoyo said. "We hope that this will help expedite getting a solution to the problem."

The problem, Santoyo and farmers say, is a result of three consecutive dry years and environmentally driven pumping restrictions at the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a major irrigation artery for farmers in west Fresno County.

Santoyo said Sunday's visit to Fresno by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is an example that elected officials are listening to their plight.

Salazar spoke to about 800 people at California State University, Fresno, saying the Valley's drought and its toll on the regional economy have the attention of President Barack Obama.

"Having Secretary Salazar here was not because he penciled it into his schedule, it got penciled in," Santoyo said.

But several farmers said that while they appreciated Salazar's appearance in Fresno, they were hoping for more.

"We are glad he came out but he did not offer any real fixes to our situation," said Ryan Ferguson, a west Fresno County farmer who attended Sunday's meeting. "We need some relief right now and he did not allude to anything of that nature."

A shortage of irrigation water on the west side has caused farmers to fallow thousands of acres and lay off or reduce the hours for many farmworkers in the area.

Salazar did, however, list several actions that he is taking or plans to take, including assigning Interior Deputy Secretary David J. Hayes and Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Mike Connor to work with state officials on short- and long-term water supply plans, and continuing efforts to distribute $160 million in federal Recovery Act funds to the federal Central Valley Project.

Also Monday, Schwarzenegger announced the appointment of Lester Snow as a new state coordinator on issues relating to the water shortages. Schwarzenegger said Snow, of the Department of Water Resources, will coordinate work on long- and short-term fixes on the state government side.

Westside grower Frank Williams said it was important for Salazar to visit the Valley.

"I think he understands that this is real and we are hurting," Williams said. "And we are hoping that our concerns will gain traction and momentum among legislators, because something has to change.