Water Woes Are Drying Up Farm Economy In Southern San Joaquin Valley's West Side

FRESNO -- Life on the west side of the Southern San Joaquin Valley may be withering along with crops that farmers have left to die.

Hundreds of farmworkers have lost their jobs as growers idled or abandoned crops because of severe water shortages. Hundreds more will lose work because of crops that won't be planted this autumn.

Signs of trouble are everywhere. The Spreckels Sugar plant in Mendota, a fixture since 1963, will close in September unless a grower cooperative can salvage it. Closure would mean 200 jobs lost.

Fordel, a major grower-packer-shipper of melons and other produce, is selling its Mendota facility after more than two decades. It is not harvesting or packing a crop this year. City officials say the company accounted for as many as 500 growing and packing jobs.

St. Joseph's School in Firebaugh is closing this month after more than 40 years, a casualty of declining enrollment and a shrinking pool of farmers able to give money.

Weather and pest challenges, along with abandoned acreage, are cutting processing-tomato production for Fresno County, the state's top grower, by as much as 400,000 tons. In 2006, the last year for which figures are available, farmers in Fresno County produced 4.4 million tons of processing tomatoes valued at $248 million. This year's cut will mean shorter hours of plant operation and less work for truckers.

Thousands of acres of cotton are being abandoned at a time when planted upland cotton acreage was at its lowest level on record. In addition, windy weather and roller-coaster temperatures have taken their toll.

Enrollment continues to drop in the Firebaugh-Las Deltas Unified School District. That means shrinking attendance funding from the state.

At the root of it all is the state's water crisis.

"Unless we deal with a way to reliably convey water from north to south, there will be no way to keep alive this agricultural marvel of the world," said Riverdale grower Mark Borba.

Several farmworkers gathered recently beneath the shade of a young tree outside a Mendota laundry. They talked about the grim economy and their hopes for a better future.

Rigoberto Fajardo is working just two to three days a week, weeding tomato and melon fields.

Like many in the Mendota and Firebaugh areas, the workers are hoping the season's upcoming cantaloupe harvest will bring them steady work.

"They tell us that there isn't as much work right now because the farmers don't have enough water," Fajardo said. "But how are we supposed to live? We barely have enough money to pay our bills or send money home to our families."

Fajardo and Jose Lopez said they've thought about returning to Mexico. Each has worked in the valley's fields for several years.

"You want to believe that things will get better, that the melon season will bring us good fortune," Lopez said. "But we just don't know right now. All we can do is hope that things get better."

Many fear it will get worse.

Sarah Woolf, a spokeswoman for the Westlands Water District, said at least 200 farmworker jobs have been lost in that district. She said an additional 300 jobs will not be filled this autumn because growers, lacking water, will cut back on planting.

Hard times for merchants

In Firebaugh, it was quiet recently inside Xavier & Sariah's Styles, a men's and women's contemporary clothing store. Manager Xavier Rivera relaxed on a sofa watching television. Foot traffic was slow, real slow.

"Business used to be good a few years ago," Rivera said. "I would go down to L.A. to pick up clothes every week. But now, we sometimes make just enough money to keep the lights on. It's crazy."

Rivera estimated his sales have dropped about 65 percent in the past two years.

"It all started with rising gas prices, and it didn't get any better after that," Rivera said.

Michael Santos, general manager for Westside Ford Lincoln Mercury in Firebaugh, said the cost of gas has cut into his sales, which are down 50 percent.

"But that wouldn't stop a farmer from buying a truck," said Santos, whose dealership's slogan is testament to the farmers and workers who buy his vehicles: "No suits, no ties, no lies."

"For them, the water is the factor," he said.

Water has always been a factor in the Westlands district. It's a reason that only 300,000 acres are being farmed in a district where 500,000 could be. From 1999 to 2001, 100,000 acres were retired.

Less farmland has meant fewer workers. The decline in jobs has spawned social problems.

"It's going to really be tough this winter when the unemployment runs out," said Miguel Arias, board president of the Mendota Unified School District.

'People are getting desperate'

The city's low-income housing is drawing unemployed families from nearby communities, causing enrollment in Mendota to rise. With it come stresses. One example: Two years ago, the district had four expulsions. Last year, there were 35.

"The bad part about what is going on is that even though we are seeing increases and getting some additional funding from students who used to be in Firebaugh and Golden Plains," Arias said, "these folks are not bringing in sales tax or property tax that allow us to build new facilities."

Worse, said Mendota Mayor Robert Silva, "some families are becoming dysfunctional." There are more reports of domestic abuse, shoplifting and theft of pharmaceuticals, some of it at the Mendota Food Center he manages.

Josie Munoz of Mendota said thugs recently robbed her husband, Pablo, of his $600 paycheck. They hit him on the head with a baseball bat as he was walking home.

"I have never seen it like this before," Josie Munoz said. "I think some people are getting desperate. There just isn't as much work as there used to be."

Pablo Munoz is working two or three hours less a day weeding tomato fields just west of the city.

"I tell him maybe we should leave, maybe he should get another job, but he likes what he does, he loves working in the outdoors," Josie Munoz said. "But me, I'm worried."

Family-owned store hangs on

Joe Gomez Jr. also is worried. His family-owned Western Auto Store in Mendota, open since 1969, is like many small mom-and-pop businesses in the city that have struggled to stay afloat.

Western Auto supplies nuts, bolts and spark plugs, but big sellers now are locking gas caps.

"People are stealing other people's gas," Gomez said. "It's rough."

Gomez has managed to outlast a few of his competitors and his sales are stable. But for how long, he is not sure.

At Ramon's Tire & Wheel in Mendota, owner Ramon Gonzalez has seen his sales drop 35 percent in the past several years.

Gonzalez, who came to the United States from Mexico in 1978, built his business from the ground up after working out of his home, sometimes going out to fix tires in the fields at 3 in the morning.

He employs eight workers and worries if he'll have enough business to keep everyone on the payroll.

At one time, his service trucks were running nearly nonstop providing tires and repairs to the region's biggest ranchers. But Gonzalez lost some of those big contracts.

They dried up, like some of the farms.

"Everything has changed," he said. "And we've had to change, too."

These days, Gonzalez still sells tires for passenger cars and tractors, but he also provides wheel alignments, lube, oil and filter changes and car detailing. He will soon be adding auto parts and doing front-end alignments for big rigs.

He also seldom leaves the shop, working seven days a week.

"I want to be here for my customers, especially if they have a problem," Gonzalez said. "The way things are, we can't afford to lose any business. You just don't know what is going to happen."

This story was originally published July 7, 2008 at 3:45 AM with the headline "Water Woes Are Drying Up Farm Economy In Southern San Joaquin Valley's West Side."