SPREADING THE WORD

FARMERS AND OTHER local agriculture leaders, city and county officials are trying to spread the word by testifying at public meetings and congressional forums. They also continually follow the water water issues on a local, state and national level.

“They spend thousands of dollars to educate the political leaders who hold power to destroy farming in Yuma County by taking our water, which they have no right to do,” McDermott said. “They collect information to demonstrate the importance of our agricultural economy to the state of Arizona and the nation.”

“We’re trying to make the case, like with that video, and we give tours to legislators and decision makers, let them see,” Brierley said.

His hope is that the decision makers and the public understand “really how unique and productive Yuma is with that water. Because if your perception is, oh, it’s just a dusty town down there, they’re farming in the desert, what a waste of water, then it’s easy to say, well, we need to cut that back and use it for the cities, but once people come and take a tour and see and hear the numbers, they feel differently,” he said.

“That movie that they produced, that was why they did that, to try to be able to get that message across,” Brierley said.

“There are going to be hard decisions made. I just hope that the people making the decisions have enough knowledge of all the implications of those decisions so that they make the right decisions. And I do think it’s definitely possible that Yuma agriculture will have to take some cuts, even with their high property water rights. And again, I hope it’s just not done lightly. I hope it’s done in a way that they can continue to produce.”