A bipartisan group of lawmakers, farmers and farm workers gathered on the Capitol steps today to call on California Governor Jerry Brown to declare a drought.
The Latino Water Coalition also wants to see legislation that would put a water bond on the 2014 ballot. Supporters say the state is experiencing some of the driest conditions on record, and farmers livelihoods are at stake.
Republican State Senator Anthony Canella from the Central Valley says increased water storage should be part of the water bond package.
Canella: “When we don’t have enough water, farmers don’t farm, workers don’t work and people don’t eat. And California’s agriculture is bigger than just California it feeds the world. So it’s important that we invest in water in California, it’s important that we get this bond passed and it’s important that we keep water in the water bond.”
Lawmakers delayed putting an $11 billion water bond on the ballot in 2009. Critics argued that it would be too costly and was full of pet projects.
