MAY | JUNE 2015
Almond Facts
27
limited storage that hasn’t kept
up with the needs of California’s
population, environmental goals and
food production. While it’s too late
to lament these variables, it is not too
late to come together to work toward
a water policy that makes sense for
everyone.
Blue Diamond Growers
is committed
to collaborating with industry peers,
water and environmental experts,
consumer groups, regulatory bodies
and policy-makers to address several
key factors to combat the water
shortage. Those factors include:
• Increasing political will to ensure
smarter, longer-term thinking
about the way the state manages its
water supply;
• Expanding and modernizing water
storage systems;
• Fixing a literally leaking
infrastructure;
• Capturing more usable water from
environmental flows;
• Continuing innovation in irrigation
systems, water reclamation and
recycling, desalination, and any
other promising solutions.
“This is a wake up call,” Governor
Brown said on ABC’s “This Week”
shortly after issuing the executive
order. It “requires action and changes
in behavior from the Oregon border
all the way to the Mexican border.
It affects lawns, it affects how long
people stay in the shower and how
businesses use water… In a drought
of this magnitude, you have to change
that behavior and you have to change it
substantially.”
Farmers know this. It’s time for the rest
of the state to follow suit.
Several
Blue Diamond
families
participated in a water storage rally
at the California State Capitol on
April 27 in support of AB 311. The
bill, authored by Assembly Member
James Gallagher (R – Yuba City) and
supported by Assembly Republican
Leader Kristin Olsen of Modesto,
would have streamlined environmental
reviews of water storage projects
– specifically Sites Reservoir in the
Sacramento Valley and Temperance
Flat Dam on the San Joaquin River.
Supporters of the bill held signs that
read “We Need Water” and “Water =
Food,” and chanted this call to action:
“We need water, build storage now!”
“Water is absolutely critical to the
strength of our economy, to our ability
to grow economically in all of our
regions, and our ability to continue to
be the breadbasket of the world. No
civilized society seeks to destroy its
own food supply…and that is exactly
where government policies are headed
in California if we don’t do something
about it,” Olsen said from the steps of
the Capitol.
The bill was rejected by the Assembly
Natural Resources Committee in
March and again failed on the April
revote that followed the rally.
Members Show Support for State
Water Storage Bill
Blue Diamond
member Theresa Heinrich
with Angie Bohn, sister of Assembly
Member Olsen, and their children sport
signs in favor of AB 311.
Supporters of AB 311 gather on the steps
of the Capitol amid dead almond trees.
Former
Blue Diamond
young leaders
Jason and Misty Bayer of Modesto brought
their daughter to the rally.
Donovan and Sandy Dunlop,
Blue
Diamond
members from Modesto, show
their support for the bill.
Assembly Republican Leader Kristin
Olsen addresses the crowd and media.
