Prop 84 important to Valley future

By Sarah Cairns
The Collegian

PROPOSITION 84, CALIFORNIA’S clean water bond, is more than just a Proposition. It is an opportunity to make a difference in California’s environmental quality. Current funding for water quality is lacking, making Proposition 84 one of the most important issues to think about this November.

Reports from the Great Valley Center predict the population of the San Joaquin Valley to grow 24 percent by 2010. Such growth is causing profound stress to the remaining natural resources of the Valley. Air quality is perhaps the most obvious example of these stresses. But how many of us are thinking about the Valley’s clean water concerns?

Fresno’s City Source water supply, which is our only supply of water, received a failing source water protection grade. Our tap water is subject to contamination from agricultural, sewage and general urban runoff such as motor oil dumped in sewage drains.

We should also be concerned about a reliable water supply for the Valley. Proposition 84 will provide clean drinking water for all of California.

Funds will also be dedicated to restoring and protecting drinking water at the local level. Through education about conservation, Proposition 84 will ease some of the strain on our current supply of water. I imagine many students on this campus enjoy spending vacation breaks at various beaches along the California coast.

Last year many beloved beaches were forced to close because they were polluted by toxic runoff.

Proposition 84 will help protect these beloved beaches from further toxic contamination.

For the first time, since the construction of the Friant Dam, the possibility of a salmon run in the San Joaquin River is realistic.

A historic settlement agreement between the Natural Resources Defense Council, Bureau of Reclamation and the Friant Water Users Authority has called for the restoration of more than 100 miles of the San Joaquin River.

Proposition 84 will provide $100 million in funding for the implementation of this settlement agreement, considered to be one of the most important restoration projects in California’s history.

Hurricane Katrina gave us a horrifying image of what happens when preparation for natural disasters is not in place. California’s flood infrastructure is aging, and the possibilities of earthquakes and severe weather are ever present.

The mass flooding of the San Joaquin Valley in January 1997 caused millions of dollars in damage.

Proposition 84 will provide support for repairing our dated flood infrastructure, so perhaps California will not provide the next disaster story.

It is apparent that as our population continues its pattern of rapid growth, our need for environmentally sound policy increases.

We should consider that it is only a brief matter of time before the damage to our local environment becomes irreparable. The time to contemplate our current environmentally degrading actions and our foreseeable future has arrived.

I challenge you to imagine what our community will look like in 20 years; what do you see? Will we become a formidable waste dump, or will we be able to breathe clean air and drink clean water?

Proposition 84 is an opportunity to restore, repair and secure the well being of our environment.

I urge each of you to vote this November and as a student, member of this community and environmentalist I ask you to remember this final thought: your vote on Proposition 84 determines what your future in the San Joaquin Valley looks like.

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