Ag profits off of its water without helping others who suffer

So, let me see if I have the Sept. 15 paper right: Madera County crop values are at a record high of $2.2 billion, and recent county reports for Fresno show like record-high production and export.

We are presented with the risible proposition that closely-monitored drip irrigation, and not high water consumption, is responsible for such success. Meantime, do we see this booming agricultural community rallying around to help urban and rural residents whose wells are dry?

Clovis residents have been fined a half million dollars over two months for not keeping a close eye on their toilets and showers, and for watching their now-meager, golden landscapes maybe survive.

Agricultural jobs are certainly important, but so it seems is personal profit and foreign export of what is grown with the water that remains in the Valley.

This story was originally published September 18, 2015 at 9:31 AM with the headline "Ag profits off of its water without helping others who suffer."