Water is essential for fish, families and farmers

Water for family, fish and farmers

I came here 50 years ago because of the water. I wanted to stay in San Francisco, where my husband had just finished his residency at UCSF. He wanted to move to the Valley because of water. As it turned out, his foresight was right. The water in our rivers provide for the fish, farmers and our families – everything important to me. I do not want to give away our right to use the water that sustains our lives in this lovely Valley. Water is, and will be, most important in our lives.

We need better roads, not signs

What are all the signs about on side streets along north College Avenue? They state your tax dollars are being spent on improvements. That is not what we voted for. We don’t need money being spent on signs, we need road improvements. Quit wasting your time and our money on some clown making signs. Start by finishing the sidewalks in the 1700 block of College before the rain starts and the school kids have to walk in the mud. And don’t give me the old story that there is no money for sidewalks. You just replaced them on Woodman Way. Fed up 54-year resident of College Avenue.

But what plants do well here?

I was disappointed in the article “Vermillionaire cuphea a must-have plant for birds and butterflies” (Page 4B, Aug. 9). Why are you printing articles from a paper in Georgia? A plant recommended for Georgia’s clay soil with plenty of rain probably won’t do well in the Central Valley’s sandy loam and rainless summers. Your gardening section should be promoting drought-tolerant, native plants for our area.

You could, and should, be getting information from places such as the UC Davis Arboretum, the California Native Plant Society or UC Botanical Gardens at Berkeley. You use these resources to produce your annual planting guide in February, which is extremely helpful for establishing a year-round food garden.

For those who liked the plant, I suggest California Fuchsias, or “Zauschneria californica.” It’s drought tolerant once established and has lovely fuchsia-red trumpet blossoms, which attract lots of hummingbirds, bees and butterflies.

Harder’s money comes from SF

Josh Harder is so out of touch with the Valley he didn’t even think it was worth his time to show up to water rally that almost every Valley Republican and Democrat attended. Most of Harder’s donations come from the Bay Area. Seems disingenuous for someone who claims to be “local” to have so many donations from outside the district. We need to keep Jeff Denham, who lives here and understands our lives.