Valley looks to tap into water bond

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Competition for project money in the recently passed $7.5 billion water bond will be intense. Proposition 1 was designed to better manage the water supply and improve water quality.

Temperance Flat Dam may be the Valley's big ticket item on the water bond but it is a decade long project.

Local grower Joe Del Bosque was the face of the California drought when he hosted President Barack Obama in February.

Del Bosque said, "Even though this is a victory for now on a long-term solution we still have a short term to get by. We're still in a drought. We're still in a crisis."

The water bond also includes $520 million for safe drinking water projects in disadvantaged communities.

Tulare County Supervisor Allen Ishida said, "Probably the biggest priority on our list in Tulare County is Orosi, east Orosi. If we can tie in east Orosi, Yettem, Seville, a lot of those small communities into one water system it will be sustainable."

The Fresno Irrigation District looks to tap into the $810 million set aside for urban projects to develop more water storage.

FID general manager Gary Serrato said, "The banking facilities, which is below the ground storage that they reference in the bill is going to be a major thing not just for FID but a number of districts in the Central Valley."

Dying trees and dry canals can still be found all over the Valley. Local Ag and political leaders gathered to say the fight for water is far from over.

Fresno County Farm Bureau executive director Ryan Jacobsen said, "Fresno County is ground zero when it comes to this drought. We've seen billions of dollars of lost production up and down the Valley. We've seen thousands of jobs that have been lost."

$725 million is also available for recycling projects. The city of Fresno seeks water bond funds to use treated wastewater for irrigating landscape and even school grounds.