Despite drought, state agriculture doing better than rest of economy

Newspapers and airways are awash with accusations that a three-inch fish, the Delta smelt, has caused a man-made drought in California and that environmentalists and fishermen are seeking to starve people in order to save whales.

Congressmen, farmers and water agencies claim that 450,000 or more acres of land have been fallowed and 35,000-50,000 people have been put out of work all because of Delta smelt and the Endangered Species Act.

But, facts are stubborn things. And the facts tell us that these accusations are lies, bald-face lies to use the red-herring of economic recession as justification for depriving the Delta of essential water.

These lies can only be successful if the general public ignores the facts. The truth is more water won't wash away the Central Valley's recession and endangered species are the victims, not the problem.

According to official data collected by the California Economic Development Department, during three years of drought, from May 2006 through May 2009, farm employment generally went up.

Only in the smallest agricultural county of Kings, was there a decline.

While the present economic disaster has exacerbated conditions, farm unemployment has not fluctuated according to wet and dry years. Indeed, agriculture has fared far better in the current recession than other segments of the economy.

Even in counties reporting slight declines in agricultural employment. other employment sectors experienced far greater drops. In the last year of a three-year drought, statewide farm employment dropped by only 9,600 while nonfarm employment plunged 744,400.

Those who accuse fishermen and environmentalists of trying to starve families to protect whales appear incapable of exhibiting compassion for the depressed communities along the coast and wrecked livelihoods of commercial fishermen whose boats are either dry-docked or repossessed by the bank or lamenting the 23,000 people out of work or the $1.4 billion lost to the state's economy because of fishing closures.

There is enough water in California to provide for people and rivers, if it is used wisely. Reclamation, recycling, groundwater banking, conservation and desalination offer a virtual river far larger than any additional supplies secured via new surface storage or a peripheral canal.

Fish are not the problem. A dysfunctional water delivery system, greed and failure to comply with existing laws have brought us to the edge of disaster.

Common sense, sound science and a proper respect for law can lead us back from the abyss.

<B>Editor's NOTE:</B> CSPA is a non-profit public benefit organization established in 1983 for the purpose of conserving, restoring, and enhancing the state's water quality and fishery resources. CSPA's Web site is www.calsport.org.