EDITORIAL: Water supply is first step
In a nation still hamstrung by a slow-to-recover economy, California is among the states with the highest rates of unemployment. Nearly all of the state's hot spots of joblessness are in predominantly agricultural areas, according to figures released last week by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The report for September showed that among the 13 metropolitan regions with unemployment rates of 15 percent or greater, nine were in California -- farm-driven Kern County among them.
Bakersfield-Delano registered a 15.1 percent unemployment rate, essentially as bad as Fresno and Redding (15.2 percent) and Visalia-Porterville (15.9 percent). Yuba City, Merced, Modesto and Stockton had rates above 16 percent and 17 percent.
Even in normal economic times, Central Valley unemployment typically yo-yos throughout the year in cycles directly related to seasonal agricultural work, but Kern's numbers have been persistently high for the last two or three years.
The county's farm-water supply, hampered by drought, environmental projects and politics, is the prime culprit as thousands of migrant farmworkers are left on the sidelines with too few opportunities to earn.
Outside of agriculture, the general economic malaise, assisted by layoffs and a major downturn in the housing market, is a factor, too. The state Employment Development Department also reports some 232,000 Californians have used up their unemployment benefits.
If we're ever to get things moving again, finding immediate solutions to the water problem is the first step. We need our representatives in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., to ensure adequate supplies come our way, reinvigorating the farm industry and starting a chain reaction of economic recovery.
It won't be easy: There are several cooks in the kitchen, and they all have their own recipe. We must insist they put aside their differences, come to the table and negotiate agreements that are balanced and practical. Striking one-sided deals and allowing ideological trappings to trip up remedies to a problem that affects us all is unacceptable.
In addition to exploring new ways of delivering irrigation water from the source to the field, the agriculture industry must work with government to explore ways of growing more with less. No matter how effectively the delivery system is improved, California's population growth is sure to keep growing, which means farmers must continue to look for ways to remain productive and profitable in the face of ever-expanding competition for that most coveted resource.
The argument up to this point seems to have focused almost exclusively on turning on the delta pumps, and keeping them on, but the ultimate solution, if such a thing exists, will be much broader than that.
The Central Valley's vital role in feeding the world, long term, depends on innovative answers to the problem of finite resources. The same goes for the valley's persistent unemployment issues.
