From Senator Andy Vidak’s office:
“
Today the Senate unanimously approved Senator Andy Vidak’s (R-Hanford) Senate Joint Resolution 25, which urges President Obama to exercise his authority to find innovative ways to get desperately-needed water to the Central Valley before the breadbasket of the nation dries up.
“I deeply appreciate the unanimous bipartisan support on this critical issue,” said Andy. “President Obama has the power to help alleviate the real human suffering being experienced by thousands of people in our Central Valley because of this devastating drought. I hope he hears us.”
SJR 25 reads:
WHEREAS, According to the Department of Food and Agriculture, California’s 80,500 farms and ranches produced over $44.7 billion in agricultural products in 2012; and
WHEREAS, California agriculture relies on an adequate water supply system for irrigation; and
WHEREAS, California is currently experiencing drought conditions that have not been experienced in the state since 1976 and 1977; and
WHEREAS, As a result of the current drought conditions, no water has been allocated from the Central Valley Project to agricultural users, and only 5 percent of water from the State Water Project has been allocated to agricultural users; and
WHEREAS, The agriculture industry estimates that without any additional water provided for agriculture, the current drought will result in the fallowing or removal of trees on 800,000 acres of agricultural land, an economic loss of $7.48 billion for the state, as well as the loss of tens of thousands of farmworker jobs; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature calls on the President of the United States to use his executive authority to find innovative ways to provide more water for agriculture in California; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the Senate, each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the author for appropriate distribution.
Co-authors of SJR 25 are:
Senators
- Tom Berryhill (R – Twain Harte)
- Ted Gaines (R – Roseville)
- Jim Nielsen (R – Gerber)
- Jean Fuller (R – Bakersfield)
- Anthony Cannella (R-Ceres)
Assemblymembers
Rudy Salas (D – Bakersfield)
- Connie Conway (R – Visalia)
- Frank Bigelow (R – O’Neals)
- Dan Logue (R – Marysville)
- Kristen Olsen (R – Modesto)
For a copy of SJR 25, click here.
Here’s Senator Vidak’s speech:
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