Friday August 19, 2022
The Fresno Bee —
Led by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, federal and state leaders on Wednesday pledged “once in a generation” investments in water projects to help farmers in California’s central San Joaquin Valley through a crippling drought.
“The worsening drought crisis across the west is not just bad for business and farms. It’s an existential threat to our communities and to our livelihoods,” Haaland said during a visit to a Madera-based Specialty Crop Company almond orchard.
Haaland was joined by Camille Calimlim Touton, commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; Congressman Jim Costa, a Democrat from Fresno; Wade Crowfoot, California’s secretary of Natural Resources; Karen Ross, California’s secretary of Food and Agriculture; and local farmers.
Haaland and others used the news conference to highlight ways they said the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act would benefit Central Valley farmers.