The Central Valley Agricultural Coalition Essay Research

The Central Valley Agricultural Coalition Essay, Research Paper Introduction The Central Valley (also known as the Great Valley) is one of the most developed farming communities in the United States, and possibly the world. It is over four hundred and thirty miles long, and an average of fifty miles wide (about the size of England). It is totally enclosed by mountains including the Sierra Nevada. It is about one of the world?s largest valleys stretching from Redding to Bakersfield. It has two main water supplies, which are the Sacramento (from the north) River, and the San Joaquin River from the South. We, the members of the Central Valley Agricultural Coalition, each hold more than ten thousand acres of land in this farming paradise. We feed America. Without this Great

Valley, America and parts of the world would have to look for other sources of food. One of our main goals and interests is to provide the United States with the food that they need, want, and still make a profit towards California?s economy. Agriculture is one of California?s top industries. In 1997, the Central Valley contributed 26.8 billion dollars through direct sales, and we provide one in every 10 jobs. The Central Valley’s farm production in one year exceeds all of the value of gold mined in California since 1848 when California became very popular throughout the United States and parts of the world. The reason that this particular case involves us is because the City of Los Angeles now wants to cut into the Central Valley Project (a series of pipelines that take mostly

the Sacramento River and the San Joaquin water and diverts it to the fields). They want to build a pipeline that would take water from this pipeline to L.A. for their water needs. L.A. is trying to get the water rights (which is like owning a quantity of water that you own and have a right to use) to do this and we are entirely against it. We require this water for our agricultural needs and do not think it should go to a city that is overpopulated and is wasteful to their natural resources. We need the water that L.A. is trying to take to irrigate our farms and grow our crops. The ?Other? Groups One of the main problems with L.A.?s demands for more water from us is that it takes away from the agricultural fields that exist in the Central Valley. They have already taken water

from so many other sources such as Owens Lake, Mono Lake, and even today, they are taking more than their share of the Colorado River. Before they should steal water for agricultural purposes like the Central Valley, maybe they should start conserving water instead of taking it. Members of The Central Valley Agricultural Coalition have come up with solutions that you will hear about next, that involve, them conserving water and us conserving water as a compromise, and how to get more water for L.A. from other resources than Central Valley. As you know, other groups will come up with solutions that are not as good as ours are, or could possibly the same. We have come up with one solution from each group. The L.A. Chamber of Commerce is a group of large business representatives

that pretty much want to do what is best for their own interests and companies. If L.A. declines in population, then the businesses do not get customers, which means no money. Therefore, the Chamber of Commerce wants the water to come to L.A. so that the population can spur, and the new citizens can spend money on their big businesses. Of course, the L.A. Chamber of Commerce wants the water diverted from the Central Valley to their overcrowded city. The problem with that is that there will be no water left over for farming, which means that California?s economy will indeed plummet. The Mono Lake Committee is a group of small environmentalists that have studied Mono Lake?s ecological system. They concluded that since L.A. was taking water from the lake, the ecosystem would be