save the smelt and kill the farms?
FRESNO, Calif. — A federal judge recently turned down California farmers' emergency request to suspend water pumping restrictions in the state's delta. The restrictions were put in place to protect the smelt, a finger-sized fish.
Farmers across the fertile San Joaquin Valley argued those restrictions have caused hundreds of millions of dollars in crop losses as the shortages have forced them to fallow their fields and lay off thousands of farm workers. The farms produce half the nation's fruits and vegetables.
"We can't plant any of our annual crops until we know what kind of water supply we're going to get," said Don Devine, a Fresno farmer who grows organic sweet corn and cantaloupes on the valley's dry west side. "It's a heartbreaker to have to lay people off, but we've had no choice because there's no water."
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Here is another example of government restrictions on landowners:
Rain that falls on private property is not considered to be "owned" by the landholder in all states, making rainwater collection potentially illegal. Several Western states and Alaska have regions that require homeowners to get permits first, and in Utah catchment is prohibited.
