Federal Water For Development: Don't Ask, Don't Tell

An illegal water grab by a developer is overlooked by planners -- until he proposes a new suburb.

1 minute read

February 1, 2005, 1:00 PM PST

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, "on the eve of a Fresno County vote to approve the first phase of [a planned community of 1,000 houses, a hotel, shopping centers, conference halls and a second golf course] says it made a serious mistake when it allowed Ewell to pump water from the lake. The whole scheme amounts to an illegal diversion of federal water that bureau officials say they have known about for a decade but chose not to stop."

"...Dozens of developers are now seeking to turn the river from an engine of agriculture to an engine of suburbia. Some of them are pistachio and grape growers who want to convert their irrigation water to urban use. Believing the reclamation bureau will interpret water contracts their way, farmers-cum-developers have lined up behind Ewell with proposals to build thousands of houses along both sides of the river in Fresno and Madera counties."

Thanks to Laura Kranz

Read the full story: This Time, Developer May Not Get His Water

Monday, January 31, 2005 in The Los Angeles Times

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