Feb 25, 2022

California Farm Bureau president responds to Central Valley Project announcement

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced Feb. 23 that it anticipates zero water allocations this year from the Central Valley Project, likely marking the second straight year that California farmers and ranchers will be denied critical water resources.

California Farm Bureau President Jamie Johansson said the announcement underscores why California needs to act now to build water infrastructure supported by voters.

“We are disappointed, but not surprised, by the Bureau of Reclamation’s Central Valley Project water allocation announcement,” Johansson said in a news release. “This demonstrates the overdue need for new water storage. In 2014, California voters were promised $2.7 billion as a down payment on building new water storage after they overwhelmingly approved Proposition 1, a $7.1 billion water bond initiative. Construction has yet to begin.

“We can no longer afford to neglect our aging water infrastructure, which was once the envy of the world. If we are serious about water resilience and addressing climate change, we must invest in water storage and delivery infrastructure to capture precipitation in wet periods to sustain us amid our new norm – longer, harsher periods of drought.”

The California Farm Bureau works to protect family farms and ranches on behalf of nearly 31,000 members statewide and as part of a nationwide network of nearly 6 million Farm Bureau members.