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<DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Tahoma>SAN JOAQUIN RIVER<SPAN class=733241817-16092004>
/ ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ISSUE</SPAN></FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><STRONG>Fight surfaces in salmon ruling
</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><STRONG>Orange Cove mayor, others say water shift would
hurt economy. </STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><STRONG>Fresno Bee - 9/16/04</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><STRONG>By Mark Grossi, staff
writer</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
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<P></P>
<P>Orange Cove Mayor Victor Lopez rallied Wednesday for a war against a court
ruling that he fears will take water from farmers and jobs from Central
California to restore salmon in the San Joaquin River. </P>
<P>"I cannot believe that fish would take the place of food," said Lopez, whose
community depends on farm-related jobs. "We are going to fight together in the
San Joaquin Valley to reverse this decision."</P>
<P>Lopez joined 10 other speakers at Fresno City Hall to announce their battle
against the ruling handed down last month from U.S. District Court Judge
Lawrence Karlton in Sacramento. Karlton decided the federal government's
operation of Friant Dam on the San Joaquin violates a state law protecting
downstream fish. It resulted in the death of two Chinook salmon runs in the
1940s.</P>
<P>The 16-year-old lawsuit now will turn to possible fixes, meaning the river
will eventually need more water for restoration. East Valley farmers, who use
river water, could lose irrigation supplies in the process.</P>
<P>Farm officials Wednesday speculated any significant loss of water could take
a deep bite out of the $4.5 billion east-side economy.</P>
<P>Studies have not been completed on water needs and economic effects. But
leaders from Lindsay, Kerman and Chowchilla as well as the United Farm Workers
said they don't want to give up the river.</P>
<P>"It's not just Fresno County," said Kerman Mayor Pro Tem Trinidad Rodriguez.
"It's going to affect this whole Valley. We have been left out of the picture
time and time again." </P>
<P>Assembly Member Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto, said he wanted to convene a hearing
with state and federal officials in October over the possible effects.</P>
<P></P>
<P>The Natural Resources Defense Council, the environmental legal group that
filed the river lawsuit, said that the farm economy would not suffer. The
defense council said river restoration can take place without harming the
economy. "This is not a fish-versus-people issue," said lawyer Michael Wall.</P>
<P>Fresno-area environmentalist Lloyd Carter said Karlton's ruling showed
sympathy toward farmers and indicated the river's restoration would be done in a
reasonable way.</P>
<P>Carter said much of the river's water for decades has been diverted at Friant
Dam south into Tulare and Kern counties, far from the river's natural run to the
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in Northern California.</P>
<P>The delta is home to many farming acres and huge pumps used to send water
down the California Aqueduct to Southern California residents. Environmentalists
said those people will get cleaner water when the San Joaquin is restored.</P>
<P>"Farmers downstream on the river will be happy as will the 20 million
Californians who get their drinking water from the delta," Carter said.</P>
<P>But that may be years from now. An appeal of the federal court's August
ruling is expected from the Friant Water Users Authority, representing water
agencies and farmers from Chowchilla to Bakersfield.</P>
<P>The river's water supports 15,000 farmers, working about 1 million acres.
Ground-water supplies would soon be drained if they lost river water, officials
said. Economic ruin would follow, they said.</P>
<P>Ed Murray, mayor of Lindsay in Tulare County, said his city knows about
economic devastation. The city reeled from a killing frost that virtually wiped
out the citrus crop in 1990-1991.</P>
<P>"We had 67% unemployment," he said. "The crime rate quadrupled. It took us
three years to get it under control."#</P>
<P><A
href="http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/9149354p-10050126c.html"><U><FONT
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