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| Monday, 02 March 2009 17:00 |
SF Chronicle Editor, Recent rains and an increasing snowpack is good news for all Californians, especially Central Valley farmers who have been told to expect zero and 10 percent of their normal water deliveries from federal and State suppliers. We can keep our fingers crossed that those delivery expectations will rise, even if only minimally.
Unfortunately, two years of below normal water deliveries and court orders that reduce the amount of water flowing from the Delta have already resulted in a human toll. Farmers will leave hundreds of thousands of acres unplanted this year and have been forced to lay off a significant number of their employees. Some of these farmworkers remain jobless. Some have lost their homes and been forced to stand in food lines to provide for their families. More rain and snow may help them but court orders that place endangered species over the lives of our farmworkers remain. |
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