NGA
Water Report- February 2002
Mike
Proffitt, El Modeno Gardens … Water committee chair
WATER
is our most valuable natural resource!
I would
like to introduce to our membership something new and exciting.
Each month this year I will be addressing the topic of water
and how it relates to the Nursery Industry and specifically
to the NGA membership.
In my first
report I would like to set the stage for the upcoming months.
Three main issues will be addressed, all may impact the NGA
membership as time progresses. These issues are:
1)
Water runoff from our nurseries. Orange county nurseries have
had the opportunity dealing with this issue for more than
10 years. Each year other counties are looking at this issue
and are implementing similar rules / demands that a nursery
must follow. It is our intent to inform the membership of
what counties are initiating water runoff demands as well
as different options a nursery can take to be compliant to
these rules.
2)
Future water. As the population of our state and its' metropolitan
areas increase the threat of water rationing for agricultural
use may be threatened. We will be investigating how our existing
water supplies shape up as well as when the agricultural industry
can expect any "new" water (reservoir construction, etc.)
to be coming on line.
3)
Water shed and the threat or talk of drought. Even though this
year does not seem to impose a threat of the "D" word (it is
snowing in the Sierra currently and the snow pack is of good
measure) we need to keep in contact with government agencies
involved to avoid future threats of water rationing.
As stated
these are the top three concerns we will be looking at. However,
please do not hesitate to add your concerns to this list. Our
members concerns are all important. Should you have other issues
please do not hesitate to get in touch.
I am very
honored to have working with me on this water committee two
people who share water as a concern to them. They are Jim Conner,
from Alta Nursery in San Jacinto and Jim Hessler with Color
Spot Nurseries in San Juan Capistrano.
Jim Conner
has been involved in working with the Department of Water and
Power as well as with the Riverside County Water Basin. His
experience with these two agencies will be very valuable to
us all.
Jim Hessler
has past experience with water conservation issues. He was part
of the San Diego water conservation task force that wrote the
ordinance addressing this issue. His first hand knowledge about
this topic will be invaluable to us all when this issue rears
its' ugly head again.
Please
feel free to contact any of us at any time.
