Building continues amid drought

The front section of the May 10 Bee is filled with every kind of water story imaginable from drought legislation, to cloud seeding, to even going out to the water treatment plant to collect my own water for gardening purposes. All good, thought-provoking articles.

Somehow it all seems purposeless. While driving to Auberry I saw that ground is being broken and the land reshaped to accommodate large custom homes on Auberry Road, just before the dying eucalyptus grove.

I know people who live in that vicinity who have had to dig new wells because their wells have gone try. The tree fruit farmers across the street will probably not be getting their water allotment this year from the Friant-Kern canal that runs just east of that area, so where will the Chelsea Downs development get water?

And why is this tract being developed now? Is it because it is the extension of an older development and is already connected to either Clovis or Fresno water systems? Is it because 20 years ago when that area was first being developed it met non-drought environmental requirements? Is it for the usual reason? Politicians cannot resist developers with deep pockets.

Fresno

This story was originally published May 15, 2015 at 6:41 PM with the headline "Building continues amid drought."