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<td width=548 valign=top style='width:411.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><!-- BEGIN Component: FresnoBee : component/z_CodeBlue/storylevel/header_logic1.comp --><!-- BEGIN Component: FresnoBee : component/z_CodeBlue/indexlevel/columnists/mugshots.comp -->
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<p class=il-sectionname><b><font size=5 color="#314d63" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:18.0pt'>Bill McEwen<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
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face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'><a
href="mailto:bmcewen@fresnobee.com"><b><font size=1 color="#cc6633"><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;color:#CC6633;font-weight:bold'>E-Mail Bill</span></font></b></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=sl-headline><b><font size=4 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:13.5pt'><!-- END Component: FresnoBee : component/z_CodeBlue/indexlevel/columnists/mugshots.comp --><!-- END Component: FresnoBee : component/z_CodeBlue/storylevel/header_logic1.comp --><!-- BEGIN Component: FresnoBee : component/z_CodeBlue/storylevel/normal.comp --><!--BEGINCONTENT--><!--STORYHEADLINE-->Battle
cry on water rings hollow <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=sl-byline><font size=1 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.5pt'>Bill McEwen / The <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Fresno</st1:place></st1:City> Bee <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<!--/STORYHEADLINE--><!--STORYBODY-->
<p class=sl-body><span class=sl-pubdate1><i><font size=1 color="#999999"
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt'>(Updated Tuesday, September 21,
2004, 5:30 AM)</span></font></i></span><br>
<br>
<!-- BEGIN Component: FresnoBee : component/z_CodeBlue/storylevel/noinstoryad_notools_sec.comp --><!-- BEGIN Component: FresnoBee : component/z_CodeBlue/storylevel/noinstoryad_notools_ind.comp --><!-- BEGIN Component: FresnoBee : component/z_CodeBlue/storylevel/image_main.comp -->The
sky fell -- again -- the other day. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=sl-body><!-- BEGIN Component: FresnoBee : component/z_CodeBlue/storylevel/body_nophoto.comp --><!-- delete here --><font
size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Farmers and
politicians played Chicken Little after a federal judge ruled in favor of
more water in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> and less in
canals irrigating east-side farms.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=sl-body><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>I should've brought a hard hat. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=sl-body><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>Instead of offering a strategy that makes river
restoration work for everyone, the big people gathered at <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Fresno</st1:place></st1:City>'s City Hall talked the same tired
talk.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:9.0pt'><font size=1 color=black
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:9.0pt'><font size=1 color=black
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'><br>
Salmon vs. people. This is the end of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
life as we know it. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=sl-body><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>Let's fight these know-nothing judges and
environmentalists until our dying breath.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=sl-body><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>If you listened closely, you could hear the sounds
of "Yesterday."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=sl-body><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>That special time when a farmer's troubles seemed
so far away, and cheap water was here to stay.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=sl-body><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>Ag has sung "Yesterday" so many times,
it just might be the fifth Beatle.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=sl-body><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>Instead of living in the past and waging more
legal battles, the Friant Water Users Authority ought to face reality.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=sl-body><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>Although irrigation water diverted from the <st1:place
w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:place> has made the desert bloom, it also has
brought surplus crops, a Third World economy and decades of double-digit
unemployment.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=sl-body><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>Now is the time for small towns such as Lindsay
and Orange Cove to diversify their economies. It's also time for
politicians representing these towns to deliver legislation that will
retrain and educate farmworkers who lose their jobs.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=sl-body><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>Instead of pandering for votes by saying salmon
shouldn't come at the expense of farm jobs, these same politicians ought to
lead efforts to increase water storage on the river.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=sl-body><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>There are two problems with Friant Dam: It wasn't
built high enough, and it was built in the wrong location. Storing more
water in heavy rain and snow years would provide extra water for farms and
fish.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=sl-body><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>Among the possibilities is constructing a large
reservoir at Temperance Flat above Friant. Critics say it would cost too
much. Given the demand for water in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>,
the reservoir would be a bargain.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=sl-body><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>If I were on the payroll at Friant Water Users
Authority, I'd push a whole different message than the one last week.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=sl-body><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>I'd resume negotiations with the Natural Resources
Defense Council, lead plaintiff in the 16-year-old lawsuit about the
river's future. Farmers and environmentalists worked out agreements on
water releases from the <st1:place w:st="on">Kings River</st1:place> long
ago. Why not the <st1:place w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:place>?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=sl-body><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>I'd tell the public that east-side farmers want a
healthy, fish-filled <st1:place w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:place> flowing
from the Sierra uninterrupted to the delta. And I'd point out that keeping
more water in the river benefits farmers along the river.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=sl-body><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>For east-side farmers, it's all about the future
now.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=sl-body><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>To keep the water flowing to their liking, they
need a bigger reservoir on the <st1:place w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=sl-body><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>That requires a new tone and a new way of selling
themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=sl-body><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>You don't rally public support for such a huge
project with the stale cry of fish vs. farms.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=sl-body><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>You can't pretend it's OK to destroy a great and
scenic river that is the heart of the Valley.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=sl-body><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>You can't keep trotting out Manuel Cunha and
Victor Lopez to say the sky is falling on farms and farmworkers.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=sl-body><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>The future is here.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=sl-body><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>Wake up and deal with it.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><em><i><font size=3 color=gray
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker</span></font></i></em></st1:PersonName><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends of <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
River</st1:place></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Consultant, California Trout, Inc.</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>PO Box</span></font></i></em></st1:Street><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'> 2327</span></font></i></em></st1:address><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>Mill Valley</span></font></i></em></st1:City><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'>, <st1:State w:st="on">CA</st1:State>
<st1:PostalCode w:st="on">94942-2327</st1:PostalCode></span></font></i></em></st1:place><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810 ph</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 519 4810 ce</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 9562 fx</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net">bwl3@comcast.net</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org"><em><i><font
face="Times New Roman">bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</font></i></em></a><em><i><font
face="Times New Roman"> (secondary)</font></i></em><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="http://www.fotr.org">http://www.fotr.org</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
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