Lance W. Johnson: Fear of proposed water rules understandable

Re “County to pay $90,000 for study of river plan” (Page 3A, July 13): Being retired from 35 years in the California water wars working with, for and representing the farmers and water agencies in our Valley, I understand the justifiable fear of Stanislaus County officials and water districts if the State Water Resources Control Board imposes new rules to dedicate 35 percent of unimpaired flows on your local rivers to benefit fish. I’ve seen such devastation myself.

On both our Valley’s westside and eastside in the Central Valley Project service area I’ve witnessed not only the heartbreak of multi-generation farming families and agricultural-related/dependent businesses losing everything, but also hundreds of thousands of acres of farm land fallowed and retired, and high levels of unemployment and property values tanking. That isn’t fiction. That’s fact.

Everyone also needs to remember the water lost to increased river flows would be but half of the “double whammy” of impending regulatory water supply impacts. The second part is the recent requirement to regulate groundwater pumping that has historically been the reserve supply to get farmers and our agricultural economy through droughts. So if more river water is dedicated to fish there would be less water available to recharge and maintain stable groundwater aquifers leading to more land retirement.

This story was originally published July 27, 2016 at 3:04 PM with the headline "Lance W. Johnson: Fear of proposed water rules understandable."