IF WATER IS CUT

“Ygood place to cut back because it’s such an important part of the food supply,” Brierley noted.

UMA’S NOT A

McDermott imagined Yuma without the water it needs. “If agriculture is forced to reduce the acres they farm, which is what will happen if water supplies are cut, it will cause a domino effect through all related industries,” she said.

This would mean fewer farmed acres, fewer jobs, less equipment needed, reduced fertilizer sales, seed sales, agricultural chemical sales, and people who produce and provide those services, McDermott noted.

There would be fewer farm workers needed to do the necessary labor, and no longer would 20,000 to 30,000 folks cross the border daily. Schools would then lose students as families followed their jobs.

Retailers would have fewer customers, and as the population declined, new businesses would not come to Yuma. Upgrades to the internet, phone systems and technical industries would pass by Yuma.

“Yuma will not overnight become a technical or educational mecca. We basically have a great blue-collar community doing amazing things, but the young people would not be able to find many of the types of jobs that have been developed in the progressive and thriving agricultural industry if it were reduced or gone,” McDermott said.

In addition, city and county services and activities would have to be reduced as less tax dollars are collected.

However, the impact would be felt across the nation, not just in Yuma. “Where water flows, food grows. No farms, no food. Not a very happy thought,” McDermott said.