Governor Discusses Water Reform at California Latino Water Coalition Press Conference

Well, good afternoon. We appreciate everybody coming on a hot, sunny day and one thing we probably could all use right now is a little bit of water.

I’m Mario Santoyo, I’m the director and technical advisor for what is known as the California Latino Water Coalition. We’ve been a group of folks that have membership throughout the state from San Diego to Sonoma County, representing basically the needs of water infrastructure throughout the state, in particular the Central Valley, which has been ground zero for water shortage. You will see behind us a number of farm workers who are the folks that have been principally impacted by water shortage in the Central Valley. That’s one of the reasons that we’ve been out here fighting as hard as we can to try to get a comprehensive water supply infrastructure program in place, so that we can put some permanent water supply structures out there so that we don’t have to fight water shortage on a year-to-year basis.

So today, I first of all apologize that our chairman, Mr. Paul Rodriguez, may or may not be here because there was fog in Van Nuys and so he may be coming here towards the end. So we’ll wait and see if that happens. Otherwise, I’ve been asked to go ahead and carry the program.

And today, again, we are here to talk about the importance of a comprehensive water infrastructure program consistent with the proposals that the Governor has been out there fighting for, for the past three years. We have a number of important people here. I’m going to name a few that are here and we then will reserve those for the speakers later.

But we want to recognize Mayor Armando Lopez, city of Parlier ( Applause ); Councilmember Mike Montelongo, city of Sanger ( Applause ); Board of Supervisors, Richard Valle, Kings County ( Applause ); Board of Supervisors, Phil Larson, Fresno County ( Applause ); Al Lopez, who is our Inland Empire co-chair from Riverside ( Applause ); Tim Quinn, who is the executive director for the Association of California Water Agencies ( Applause ). We’re also happy to have some Assemblymembers with us; Jean Fuller ( Applause ), Bill Berryhill ( Applause ), Danny Gilmore ( Applause ). And we also have Ag Secretary Kawamura with us today ( Applause ).

Now it’s my great pleasure in introducing our great Governor of the state of California and the fellow that has made it possible for the Coalition to be as effective as it can in terms of getting the word out relative to the importance of water. I can tell you that he’s always been gracious with the Coalition in allowing us to have private meetings with him and he’s always participated in all our events. So with that, I’d like to introduce Governor Schwarzenegger. ( Applause )

GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER:

Thank you very much, Mario, for the wonderful introduction and thank you all for being here today. It’s wonderful to be here today with all of you and especially at a time when the legislators are back there behind those steps in this building, debating the future of California. And I’m saying the future of California because it is our future when we talk about water. Water is our future, water is our economy, water is jobs, it’s food, water is our families and so el agua es la vida. ( Applause )

Now, around 150, 160 years ago the lifeblood for California was gold. And I think water today is like that gold; it’s our lifeblood. And I want you to know that I will do everything that I can and I’m 100 percent committed to get this done and to work with the legislators to make sure that we get a good package going here that is good for California and that rebuilds our infrastructure and that we have safe and reliable water for the future. I will fight for it all the way. I’ve been with you from the beginning, since the formation of the California Latino Water Coalition. I’ve been there every step of the way and on every rally with you. I’ve heard your voices, I’ve seen your t-shirts and I’m committed to your message, which is ‘No water, no work, no life.’

Now, there are many fronts, of course, of this war that need to be fought and one of them is, of course, the federal government and the judges with the decisions that they make and just turn off the water at any given time and make decisions based on what’s best for the fish rather than what’s best for people.

Now, of course, there are other challenges and other fronts that we have to fight, which is the global warming, drought for three years in a row. The infrastructure that needs to be built, infrastructure that should be for 50 million people, not for 18 million people and the list goes on and on. We also have to take care of the Delta and the ecosystem and so on.

We must make sure that Sacramento produces a water package that really actually deals with water and deals with all of those different items, because we must fix the Delta and we must fix the ecosystem. We must have reliable, high-quality water in the future and we must have a comprehensive water package. And like I said, the infrastructure is also extremely important.

I want you to know that I will not sign anything that does not have above-the-ground and below-the-ground water storage. ( Applause ) We need the whole package to restore our water today and to ensure that we have water for tomorrow. Water feeds California and California feeds America and California feeds the world. This is why the work that the Latino Water Coalition does is so critical and this is why I’m 100 percent behind you. And I want to thank the Coalition for pressing hard and keeping the water in the forefront and putting always the spotlight on this very important issue.

It is my priority too and I’ve been working on a water package now for the last four years. And as you know, sometimes here in Sacramento you can work on things for a long time. But eventually you get it done, so I never lose patience. We’re going to get it done this time, there are not two ways about it. It’s going to happen. Together we will make it happen, because water is our future and water is our hope. El agua es la vida.

Thank you very much. Hasta la vista. ( Applause )

MARIO SANTOYO:

All right. We now have Senator Dave Cogdill, who has also been very active for a number of years in the forefront for the same comprehensive water supply package. Senator? ( Applause )

SENATOR COGDILL:

Thank you very much. Thank you, Mario. I personally want to certainly thank you and all the work you’ve done and recognize Paul Rodriguez and his amazing commitment to this effort. Without him I’m sure we wouldn’t have gotten as far as we have and we all owe him, I think, a great debt of gratitude.

I especially want to thank the Governor, who it’s been my honor to work with on this very important issue—and on a number of others, as you know—but certainly on this issue, over the last four years, as he indicated. This has been a long, ongoing battle but there isn’t anything more important to the people of this state, our economy and our place in the world and, quite frankly, the security of the United States, in my opinion, than a safe and secure, clean and abundant water supply for California and the businesses that rely on it.

It’s something that we’ve been working on, as I mentioned, for an awfully long time and many of you in this crowd are painfully aware of the problems that we have in the existing system, where it lacks in its ability to meet our needs on an ongoing basis, certainly through a sustained drought like we’re facing now.

And the goal is to see to it that we don’t get back to this situation again, that it would take a much, much longer drought than what we’ve gone through in recent time to put us at the same peril that we’re in today. And we can do that by improving our infrastructure. There’s a lot of air being blown in this building behind us right now in discussions about a plan for the Delta and a new governance for the Delta. But ladies and gentlemen, we don’t need more bureaucracy on this issue. We need more water and we have it. ( Applause )

We in this state are blessed and historically have been blessed, with the amount of precipitation that falls naturally on this state on an average annual basis. But we don’t manage it properly. We let over 65 percent of it run into the ocean each and every year. And in heavy years that’s water that, if we had the right kind of infrastructure in place, we could hold back, we could regulate into the groundwater basins, we could have available not only for the people but for the environment, what we’re supposed to  be caring about here.

It’s very, very, very frustrating. It would be one thing if we didn’t have this natural blessing that we do as Californians. But unfortunately, we’ve chosen to follow Mark Twain’s adage to the letter when he said that “Whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting over,” and we’ve decided that’s what we have to do in this state. And the frustration for me and for many has been the fact that in reality we don’t have to do that. We can provide what we need for the people of this state and this economy and do it in a responsible way, protect the Delta and the environment that relies on it.

But you’ve got to be about that work and that has to be the shared goal. My concern is that that’s not the shared goal in this building right now. You’re at the epicenter of this problem; third year of a drought, you’re out of work, the crops are going fallow, permanent crops are dying. That should be unacceptable in a state where our largest economy is agriculture and where the world relies on us. I see the signs today about, you know, if you like foreign oil you’ll love relying on the foreign folks to provide us with our water or our agriculture. How true is that? It’s a national security issue and one we should all be concerned about. And again, it’s solvable. We could have done this decades ago.

This is why this Governor, I think, deserves the majority of the credit for taking this issue and standing as strong as he has on it. He’s had a lot of opportunities over the last three or four years to do some kind of piecemeal effort that this legislature would have put on his desk, that he could have said solved the problem. He’s chosen not to do that because of the integrity of the man and he knows that that does not solve the problem.

We have to improve the infrastructure in this state and allow us to manage wet-year flows. We can do that but only if all of you will continue your hard work. I know it’s been long and hard and again, you’re suffering more than anybody else but we’ve got to continue the effort. I believe, as the Governor does, we will get there but only if we have your support and the support of the rest of this state.

Thank you again for coming out, we truly do appreciate it. Thank you. ( Applause )

MARIO SANTOYO:

Well, our next speaker is a person that I am truly proud to present to you. I will tell you she has been the most active Latina in the state of California as it relates to water. Anna is a person who digs into the issue until she knows exactly what she’s dealing with and she’s progressive in finding solutions. She’s committed to solving this water problem because she believes, like we do in the Coalition, that water is not a Republican issue and it’s not a Democratic issue; it’s a people’s issue. So with that, I’m really honored to introduce Anna Caballero. ( Applause )

ASSEMBLYMEMBER CABALLERO:

Thank you very much, Mario. I am so pleased to be here in solidarity with all of you that are here today. My name is Assemblymember Anna Caballero and I come from an agricultural district. That agriculture is the backbone of the economy in our state and it pains me to be here with workers that are unemployed during the peak season because there was not enough water to plant.

And so I’m here learning about the issues, in solidarity with the legislators that you see here today, because we are committed to making sure that we can come up with some short-term solutions, to ensure that you have water next year and some longer-term solutions, as you heard the Senator speak, that ensure that it doesn’t happen again, that we have enough water for the fish, enough water for the people who live here and enough water for farming and all the way down the coast.

Two-thirds of our residents in the state of the California depend on this water, so what we decide here in the legislature is critically important and there are many, many of us working together to get it done this year. And I am so proud to have the Governor here with us because if we can get it done and put it in a comprehensive package on his desk I am sure, with his support, that we can get it done.

So let me thank all of you for coming out here and bringing to the public’s attention how important it is that we solve this water problem today, that we not wait any longer and that we ensure that the food that we eat is the food that we grow in the state of California and that the food that we eat is produced here in this state and results in people going back to work. ( Spanish ) ( Applause )

And now it gives me great pleasure to introduce the Reverend Samuel Rodriguez, who is president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Council, who is here in solidarity as well. ( Applause )

REVEREND RODRIGUEZ:

As stated previously, the struggle for adequate water distribution to central and inland California, for all of California, is without a doubt not a Republican or Democratic issue. I would argue it’s a moral issue. The moral canopy surrounding this issue stems from the fact that entire communities lie impoverished, strangled by federal restrictions and archaic state water infrastructure, producing a perfect storm impacting, by the way, more people than any natural disaster in American history. We must act now.

On behalf of our 25,434 churches around America, 3,000 in California, we are committed to bringing attention to this crisis. Right now faith-based organizations are active, particularly in the Central Valley, in supplying food, clothing and other resources to communities in need.

California leaders have a moral responsibility to address this issue in a manner that saves human lives, preserves communities, protects the environment and conveys a message of hope for tomorrow. We must reconcile public policy with the moral imperative of today. This is no longer a matter of political will; this is a matter of justice. ( Spanish ) Thank you very much. ( Applause )

MARIO SANTOYO:

And now, representing the Carpenters Union, is a good friend of mine who has been in the forefront since day one in this regard. I was going to make a joke about his name because he failed to mention my name correctly one time but I won’t do that to you, Danny. Danny Curtin. ( Applause )

DANNY CURTIN:

Thank you very much, Manny—I mean Mario. Sorry about that.

Governor, I do want to mention and all of you up here, take a look at the people at this event, the people behind us. There are farm workers, there are carpenters, many carpenters back here. I represent the carpenters, I’m the director of the California Conference of Carpenters.

This is what the people who work in California outside face every day. We are standing up here sweating, we’re hot, we’re really feeling the heat. These are the people who pick the crops, these are the people who build California every day in this heat. So you have to have respect for people like that. They are hard working; they want to work.

And I have to say one thing. Last week I was at an event that made me a bit ashamed to be from California and I didn’t think I’d ever say that. But I was in Mendota last week to talk about water and in Mendota there was a food bank with people waiting in line, not for what we’re standing here but for hours, waiting to get some food. And the crime of it was we were standing in the middle of the most productive agricultural valley in the world and there are 40 percent of the city of Mendota, the workers in Mendota, who are unemployed because of the drought and the dismal situation of the water in California.

Now, pretty soon—not quite yet but Los Angeles, Sacramento, the workers who build houses, the workers who build our infrastructure, we’re going to die. Without water, the economy dies. This infrastructure was built for 18 million people in the 1950s and the 1960s. It worked beautifully, by the way. In the 1950s and ‘60s nobody thought one though about the environment; they just built.

Times have changed. But we now have more than 30 million people and we will soon have 40 to 50 million people. This water system is broken. The federal system doesn’t connect to the state system. The water is over here; they can’t get it over there. So the Central Valley people in agriculture are suffering now but all of the state will suffer. It doesn’t work for the people.

And it doesn’t work for the environment, because the fish are also suffering. And I don’t mean to make light of that. We have endangered species; we have to be concerned about that. But we have to have a program that is just as much for the people as it is for the environment. They have to be co-equal, at a minimum, because people are part of the environment. That is us and we cannot have a system that just fixes the environment and doesn’t take care of water supply for the people.

This system is broke and it doesn’t work. So what do we do? We do what we always do when we are in trouble and we have a problem. We come together, we work together to solve the problem, not just to fix this problem for now. The last generation built a water system and an infrastructure system that we have been living on for two to three generations. It’s time for this legislature to step up to the plate and fix this problem for the next generation and the next generation. ( Applause )

Thank you. That means it cannot be a temporary, small fix. That means it just cannot be a little ecological twist over here and a water flow over there. It has to be a comprehensive, complete package. The Governor mentioned it, the senator mentioned it, the assemblywoman mentioned it. Anybody who doesn’t reside in this building understands we need a complete package.

·        We need water storage above and below ground and the Governor said he will not sign any bill that doesn’t have that.

·        We need a governance structure that can make water get from one place to another and the infrastructure that we need to get it there.

·        We need groundwater cleanup. Southern California has the most dangerous groundwater and they pump that groundwater and our children drink that groundwater. There are chemicals of all kinds in it.

·        We have to have ecological restoration because the Delta is the most important element in the state of California for the future of water and really for the environment of California.

So we have to have a complete and total package. It has to be done now, it has to be done in the next four weeks. Everybody in this building knows the issues, there are no unknown issues. They have to come together. And I want to remind everybody, in that building and outside, California is not a red state, California is not a blue state; California is the Golden State. And to keep it the Golden State we need to get this done and we need to get it done now.

And I want to thank everybody here, those of you who came to this press conference and certainly the Carpenters who are here behind me. Thank you very much. Keep the pressure on. Let’s get the package done. Thank you. ( Applause )

MARIO SANTOYO:

OK. As I promised you, Mr. Rodriguez was a little late; he had a little plane challenge. But he made it. So it’s my pleasure to introduce the California Latino Water Coalition chairman, Paul Rodriguez. ( Applause )

PAUL RODRIGUEZ:

Thank you very much. I apologize, Governor, for being late. I was Ritchie Valens Airlines. That’s a little crop duster.

The thing that’s disappointing and the reason why we are here, is because out of the five bills that are pending—or I don’t what the legal terminology is—none of them address what we really are all about. We want dams, underwater, above water. We need water to grow our crops. There’s no other language I could find. Let me tell you in Spanish. ( Spanish ) Tomatoes. Without that we’re out of business. ( Applause )

I realize that this legislative body has its own way. It’s a system that’s lumbering and it’s way too lumbery for us. I also realize that they’ve been working very, very hard and it’s very difficult to really beat them up when they’ve been already working so hard. The Governor and everybody is taking their lumps.

But be that as it may, let me tell you, if we don’t get water to these fields we won’t have a second chance. It’ll take three or four years for our almond trees to even begin to grow. You’ve heard all these stories before. What I haven’t heard is, we are willing to understand that the people on the other side of the fence, the aisle, the river—I don’t know what—out of all the money being apportioned for them, none of them addresses our concern. You could say everything you want. We’ve met with Secretary Salazar. I’ve tried to educate myself on all these other things.

And I realize I’m going to long and the Governor doesn’t need this tan. Some of you will get these jokes on the way home.

Let me repeat this. The reason why all of us are here, standing in this hot sun, is because this is important to us. This is not one of the sexy issues that the media gets ahold of. There’s no scandal here. I’ll make one up, if we have to.

But this is about as important as it gets, because the California that our fathers left us was a greener California, a more fruitful California. And in the worst economic times since the Great Depression the answer to us—the farmer who has done the best job, the most efficient job,  grown the most food with the least land and less water than anywhere else—is not to be rewarded. We’re not asking for a subsidy. We didn’t make bad loans, we didn’t make a car nobody wanted to buy. We didn’t do those things.

The American farmer did everything right. And the road to hell is paved with good intentions; our intention was to grow food to feed the world. They cut the water off to us. I don’t know what language to use but I hope you understand the desperation that my fellow farmers have in the Valley. This is the Central Valley. We’re blessed with perhaps the most fertile soil on this planet; we’re the stewards of that. But we can’t grow food in sand.

I hope that this body here of far more intelligent people, people that actually have high school diplomas, will understand that unless you gentlemen cross the aisle and get together and follow the leadership of this Governor, unless we can find a way to have a comprehensive bill for all of California—we’re not the enemies of the fishermen. They’ve tried to pit the fisherman against the farmer. We want the fishermen to succeed, we want fish. But there’s got to be some kind of common ground and it isn’t common ground when this side gets everything and we get excuses.

We need water because, as you know, if you’re planning to have salad or have vegetables or eat, you’ll want us to have water. Thank you very much. ( Applause )

GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER:

Very nice.

MARIO SANTOYO:

OK. Thank you very much and that concludes the press conference. “

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