Valley residents flood capitol for water answers
SACRAMENTO -- Hundreds of Valley residents and accompanying lawmakers descended upon the state capitol Thursday to rally support on several water issues in the face of a potentially disastrous growing season.
From young to old and spanning a variety of ethnicities, residents from cities as far south as Orange Cove and north as Madera gathered on the capitol steps around 11 a.m.
The rallying crowd and several speakers appeared intent — after California’s driest year in recorded history in 2013 and several seasons of low rainfall — to make the water conversation personal by discussing the impacts to people, not plants, if immediate action is not taken by officials.
“My city, they call it the cantaloupe center of the world,” Mendota mayor Robert Silva said. “But in a couple of months it’s going to be the food line capital of the world … We need water, we need action.” ...