The California Farm Bureau Federation, the state's leadingagricultural organization, filed suit in U.S. District Court in Fresnoagainst 18 state and federal agencies who have worked on the CalFedplan.
CalFed is a state and federal effort to restore the ecosystem ofthe San Francisco Bay-Delta while providing more reliable water sourcesfor urban and agricultural needs. However, farmers argue that the CalFedplan fails to address their water needs with the exclusion of new damsand reservoirs from the blueprint, and in addition, as much as 224,400acres of farmland would be purchased by the state and federal governmentto be mostly converted to wetlands or other wildlife habitat.Restoration work should be conducted on land already owned by governmentagencies and not farmland, the agriculture industry asserts, while stateofficials counter that all sales would be from willing sellers.Water officials are concerned that the lawsuit could lead to theultimate failure of the CalFed plan, considering that it has encounterednumerous setbacks since its initial inception. However, state ResourcesSecretary Mary Nichols is confident that an agreeable resolution is inthe future, despite the obstacles encountered.
Thanks to California 2000 Project
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