Rally for water rights hits downtown Fresno

Published online on Wednesday, Jul. 01, 2009

Ron Schafer and Alice Powlick aren't farmers or farmworkers. They are middle-school teachers who came to Wednesday's water rally in downtown Fresno on behalf of their students.

The teachers joined several thousand who jammed the front of City Hall to plead with the state and federal governments to provide the Valley with more irrigation water. Mike Lukens, city of Fresno spokesman, estimated the crowd at between 3,500 to 4,000 at its peak.

More than a dozen speakers, including Congressmen Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, and George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, blamed environmental protections along with a third dry year for the shortage of water for Valley farmers.

Schafer and Powlick say they see the ripple effects of the drought in their southeast Fresno classrooms.

"We hear the students talk about their parents being out work because of the drought," Schafer said. "And it is hard for them."

Powlick, a self-described "bleeding-heart liberal," said she doesn't agree with federal protections for smelt, a tiny fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a major artery for Valley irrigation water.

The massive water pumps at the southern end of the delta have been slowed and sometimes stopped so the fish wouldn't be sucked in and killed.

"I believe in the Endangered Species Act," Powlick said, "but when it comes to having food and keeping our kids in school, that easily wins over a fish."

After the noon rally, the diverse crowd of demonstrators marched for several blocks around downtown. Many carried signs that said: "If you like foreign oil, you'll like foreign food" and "Farm + Water = Jobs."

"We are marching because we need people to understand that without water, we don't have jobs," said farmworker Rosa Hernandez, of Firebaugh, who said she worked four days last month.

Other workers -- including Rigoberto Ybarra, an irrigator from the Five Points area -- are working fewer days a week. He said he was lucky his boss paid him to attend Wednesday's rally.

"Right now, we are all using money we have saved so we can pay our bills," Ybarra said. "Nobody has money to save this year."

The rally is the latest in a series of demonstrations that included a four-day march in April that began in Mendota and ended at the base of the San Luis Reservoir.

This year, farmers in the Westlands Water District, one of the largest farming regions in the state, received 10% of their federal water allocation. Many farmers said they were forced to fallow thousands of acres and lay off hundreds of workers.

Tim Riley, operations manager for Midland Tractor in Madera, sees the fallout of the drought at his store. Sales are down because farmers don't have the income to buy new equipment.

"I don't think people understand that this isn't just a problem for farmers. This affects a lot of different people," Riley said.

Among those in the audience was west side farmer Mark Borba, who said it is important to keep pressure on federal and state officials to make changes that balance the needs of all California water users.

"Some of these things are in place and can be done, but what is lacking is the political will," Borba said.

Among the short-term solutions Borba supports is a proposal to submerge massive barriers in the channels of the delta to protect threatened fish, such as smelt.

A.G. Kawamura, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture and a speaker at the rally, empathized with Valley farmworkers, saying the region has become the home of the frustrated and angry.

Rally organizers, including members of the California Latino Water Coalition, vow to take their battle for water to the streets of Los Angeles and the Bay Area.

Actor and comedian Paul Rodriguez, who chairs the coalition, said he will continue to fight on the region's behalf until they get the water they need.

"Unity is our strength," Rodriguez said. "And that's why I know we are going to win this."