Drought Task Force met with Valley water leaders

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Governor Jerry Brown's Drought Task Force met with local water leaders, Wednesday.

It's not easy to live in a place like Mendota. There is a limited amount of water, jobs are hard to find and farms are drying up. Still, Mayor Robert Silva has hope.

"Mendota is picking up the pieces, we're getting along, I think we're gonna survive this thing," Silva said.

To survive, he says the town needs help -- from Mother Nature and from the state.

"The governor needs to listen to what's going on here in the Valley," said Silva.

The governor sent his people to do just that -- a few members of his drought task force. They held a private meeting at a library, it was closed to the public but open to the concerns.

Bill Croyle, who is a member of the task force said, "Find out what the challenges are, what's not working and take that back and making sure that all of the state agencies hear about that."

Mayor Silva says a lot of things aren't working. He says there isn't any surface water coming in, the supply isn't being managed properly and groundwater pumping is destroying the aquifers. The problems are listed on a letter, addressed to the governor and Silva handed it over to the task force.

"I've gone to so many meetings," Silva added, "sometimes, I get frustrated that we're singing the same old song but at the same time we have to keep it up."

34 miles away, in Fresno, another group is collecting signatures -- 100,000 in 30 days to also get the governor's attention and express the need for water storage.

"We're hoping that it'll just bring awareness to them," said Stacey Beachy, a woman who was collecting signatures, "That there are people that really would like to see a long term solution for California's water woes."